ABSTRACT
Sport by its very nature engendered conflict as individuals or teams strove to defeat opponents. But team sports also required cohesion, as team members pulled together for victory or tried to avoid losing. Players and spectators imagined opponents as the ‘other’ even though opponents often had very similar social backgrounds and could be seen as allies in other social contexts. The conflicts and forms of co-operation found in sport were given added intensity by, and had the capacity to deepen, other forms of identities and loyalties.
