Britain and the Olympic Games: Past, Present, Legacy

218 Pages·2011·3.47 MB·English

by  Matt Rogan

Matt and Martin Rogan are a father-and-son team.
Matt Rogan has worked in and around professional sport for 15 years. He is
Group Board and Commercial Director at Lane4, a performance development
consultancy with a heritage in Olympic sport. Having graduated from
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, Matt’s career has involved roles at
NBA (US Basketball league), running the European Sponsorship division for
MTV and strategy consulting for British television networks, cable operators and
Premier League football clubs. Matt is also a Board Director of the European
Sponsorship Association and a regular media commentator and speaker on the
sports industry. He plays County level tennis and is an Ironman triathlete. He
lives in Oxfordshire with his wife Claire, a regional level hockey player, son
Conor and daughter Niamh.
Martin Rogan has been involved in British sport for 50 years – as participant in
his own right (football and marathon running), father to three sporting children
and an avid fan at the elite level. Now retired after a senior career at Nortel, he
combines writing, helping his less than able children do up their homes, running
daily and a keen interest in family genealogy. Martin’s wife, and Matt’s Mum,
Marion has taught tennis to local juniors for 20 years. Together Martin and
Marion have more than 40 marathons to their names.
Britain
and the
Olympic Games
PAST, PRESENT, LEGACY
Matt Rogan and Martin Rogan
Copyright © 2011 Matt Rogan and Martin Rogan The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study,
or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with
the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries
concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
Matador
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ISBN 978 184876 575 7
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 11pt Sabon by Troubador Publishing Ltd, Leicester, UK
Printed in the UK by MPG Biddles Bodmin and Kings Lynn Matador is an imprint of Troubador
Publishing Ltd
This book could not have been created without the family and friends
who have debated, discussed and shaped its contents along with us.
We dedicate it to Marion and Claire, without whose support and love
it would have remained a pipe dream.
Contents
ABOUT THE AUTHOUR
FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
PART ONE
1 Sport and Games in Britain to 1945
2 The Rise, Fall and Rescue of the Early
International Olympic Games
PART TWO
3 Facing the Challenge
4 International Instability
and Domestic Crisis
PART THREE
5 The London 2012 Olympic and
Paralympic Games in Context
6 The Political and Financial Landscape
7 The Question of Legacy
8 A Tale of Two Bids
PART FOUR
9 1948: Performance, Athlete Support
and the Rise of International Rivalry
10 2012: Building Team GB, Competition
and the Rise of Sports Science
PART FIVE
11 1948: The Myth of Amateurism and the
Emergence of the Health Agenda
12 1948: The Dawn of the Paralympic
Games and the Idea of Legacy
13 2012: Reversing Amateurism and New
Attitudes to Health
14 2012: Paralympism Comes of Age and
the Application of Legacy
PART SIX
15 1948: The Roots of Mass Media
Coverage
16 1948: The Birth of Branding and Commercialism
17 2012: A New Media Age
18 2012: New Commercial Realities
CONCLUTION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LIST OF INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS
ABBREVIATIONS
FOREWORD
In 1976, when I was 12, I saw David Wilkie win 200 metre breaststroke gold in
Montreal. That was critical for me. It was the first time I had connected what I
did with something so big. I thought, ‘I do the same stroke as him. Wouldn’t it
be good if I could achieve that, too?’
A year later, David was hosting swimming clinics around Britain and he held
one in Liverpool which my parents took me along to. He took us through his
gold-medal race and, I can’t remember whether I’ve made this up or whether it
actually happened, but I’m pretty sure he asked: ‘Who of you here wants to win
at the Olympic Games?’ He suggested it would be hard work, but it was
possible. It made it real and for me that was a defining moment. I realised my
goal in Seoul, but the iterative journey towards it began for me with that one
question.
I am involved with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on a
number of levels, but most actively in my role as Managing Director of Lane4.
As a business we believe passionately that the Games are far more than a
sporting event. They will touch every area of the British way of life and perhaps,
in a quiet moment, offer each of us a chance to challenge our own thinking about
our lives inside and outside of work. So much of my early life was influenced
and shaped by Olympic sport. In the run up to London 2012 I now have the
pleasure of seeing the Games make a difference to so many more lives on a daily
basis.
Matt and Martin’s book offers you the chance to make the Olympic and
Paralympic Games of London 2012 more real for yourselves. While it may be a
little too late for a David Wilkie-type moment of inspiration for some of us, I
hope it challenges you to think just a little differently about what London 2012
might mean for you, and what your own personal legacy might be.
Adrian Moorhouse MBE
Olympic Gold Medallist, 100 metre Breaststroke, Seoul 1988
Managing Director, Lane4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We have both grown up playing, watching, debating and reading about sport.
Despite this, it was hardly in our minds to write a book on 6 July 2005 as
Trafalgar Square erupted in celebration. Instead, the idea of writing a book on
the genesis of Britain and the Olympic Games grew slowly and over time.
There were some specific turning points along this journey – a Lane4 Client
Conference where we tested some of the content; the encouragement of our
family to push on with the research beyond this point; the support and friendship
of Marzena Bogdanowicz along the way; the creativity and energy of
photographer Helen Turton who designed our front cover and the empathetic
commitment and challenge of Martin Cloake, our editor. We would also like to
thank Karen Earl, Dominic Mahony and Steve Hacking who took the time to
offer us feedback on some early versions of our book.
We have been fortunate enough to be able to capture insights from so many
inspirational and engaging people as we have researched and written this book.
Yo u will meet them along the way; however, a full list of their names and roles
are given as part of the reference material after the main body of the book.
Thanks to all of them for being so giving of their time, and in particular to Sylvia
Disley and John and Dorothy Parlett, all of whom competed in London 1948 and
were both kind and inspirational company.
We have also gained ideas and insight from many of the team at Lane4 on
this journey, several of whom feature in these pages. Those who do not, but have
been no less instrumental in our journey, have been Clare Hopkins, Fran Nash,
Natalie Benjamin, Austin Swain and Tom Smith.
We have also had access to some very helpful other sources through the
course of our writing this book, and would encourage you to dip into the
Bibliography if you are looking for further reading. In particular, we were able
to gain significant insight into the 1948 story from the work of Janie Hampton
and Bob Phillips and access to the British Olympic Archive.
If Britain reacted with delight and surprise when Jacques Rogge read the
word ‘London’ from the all-important envelope in 2005, it is nothing compared
to the surprise and sense of pride we feel in publishing this title. On one level we
have modest ambitions for it. We do not imagine that it will inspire many to
choose sport in the first place, as the Olympic and Paralympic Games
themselves surely will. We would, however, hope to offer more context and