Het bruine monster en de 'king of sports'. De uiteenlopende populariteit van voetbal en cricket in Nederland, 1870-1930

Samenvatting

The Brown Monster and the 'King of Sports'. The Diverging Popularity of Soccer and Cricket in the Netherlands, 1870-1930 In the late 1800s, soccer and cricket were both limited in their popularity in the Netherlands, being played by the sons of the wealthy in the more modern cities. There were even several clubs whose members practiced both sports. However, soccer expanded in popularity during the twentieth century, while cricket remained as an elite sport. Historical analysis shows that, even in the 1800s, cricket players tended to be aristocrats and were usually older than soccer players. Cricket, with the highly institutionalized English traditions, conventions, symbols, rules, equipment, and behavior, offered the upper class (Uc) a vehicle to distinguish themselves from the lower class (Lc). In contrast, soccer was a commercialized sport in England, where It was already popular with the Lc by the time it was introduced to the Netherlands in the 1880s. By the 1920s, there were many more Lc soccer clubs than Uc ones, leading to a revival of cricket among members of the Uc who sought a sport symbolic of their high socioeconomic status. 6 Photographs, 35 References.