ABSTRACT
Illustrated by examples of both good and poor practice, this paper makes a plea for sports historians to utilize more statistics in their studies. It accepts that some research is not amenable to a quantitative approach, but suggests that generally counting and basic statistical display can benefit the researcher. Numbers enable comparisons to be made, events to be put in perspective, and the typical to be distinguished from the unusual. However, statistical evidence needs to be rigorously checked for reliability and validity and in undertaking statistical research the quantitative sports historian must not neglect their skills as historians.
