Rugby Reloaded

In Richard Hoggart's classic book 'The Uses of Literacy', he describes the scenes in May 1934 when Hunslet returned triumphantly with the Rugby League Challenge Cup followed by thousands of young boys. Harry Jepson (1920-2016) was one of those youths. This is an interview I did with him in 2009 about his extraordinary life in rugby league. Born in Hunslet at the start of the 1920s, Harry became a teacher while at the same time serving as secretary of Hunslet RLFC, before moving to Leeds to become a key figure at Headingley in the 1970s and 1980s. His list of achievements and honours in the game are far too extensive to list here but his Wikipedia entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Jepson) does justice to his life. It's a long listen at 100 minutes but entirely worth it for anyone with an interest in rugby league or the social history of Leeds and Hunslet.

The Rugby Union World Cup has kicked off in France this week, so this episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' goes back in time to look at when France was expelled from the international game in 1931. Not only was France kicked out of the Five Nations but its clubs were banned from playing British teams. We look at how and why this happened, and explore how deep-rooted British suspicions of the French led to rugby union's greatest crisis since 1895. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Rugby Reloaded is back for a brand new series and we kick-off with a blockbuster interview with Anthony Broxton about his new book ‘Hope and Glory: Rugby League in Thatcher's Britain'. Anthony's book explores the history of the sport during a pivotal decade for Britain. It was the era of Hanley and Offiah, when the pro game expanded as far as Kent, but it was also the decade of the miner's great strike and social devastation across the sport's heartlands. We talk about these topics and much more, and ask what can learn from the 1980s. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Matthew Brown about his new book 'Sports in South America. A History'. It's a panoramic view of the birth of modern sport on the continent from the mid-1800s to the first FIFA world cup in 1930. The book covers the full range of sports but our interview focuses on some of the key themes of football history: why ideas about 'fathers of football' are mistaken, questioning the importance of railways in soccer's development, why rugby never became a mass spectator sport, the problems faced by women athletes, and much more. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Duncan Stone's new book 'Different Class: The Untold Story of English Cricket' is both a history of cricket from the grassroots and an analysis of the roots of the sport's attitudes to race and class. Duncan uncovers the reality of cricket behind the myth, and reveals the true story of working-class cricket in the south of England. For anyone wanting to understand English cricket's current crisis 'Different Class' is essential reading. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This week's episode talks to Geoff Armstrong about his latest book, the second volume of 'Spirit of the Red V', his in-depth history of St George Dragons. St George are one of the most significant clubs in the history of Australian rugby league. Famous for its unparalleled run of 11 straight premierships in the the 1950s and 1960s, the club's fortunes have risen and fallen as much with off-field trends as they have due to on-field factors. Geoff's book tells the story of the club, its players, its fans, and how it has survived in a changing sport and society. For more details about 'Spirit of the Red V' and how to order it, go to: www.stokehillpress.com/store/p34/Spirit_of_the_Red_V_%28Both_Volumes%29.html And for more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

On 5 November I was invited to give a talk about Huddersfield and its role in rugby's split of 1895 by the Huddersfield Local History Society (https://www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk). In it, I look at the growth of rugby in the town, the rise of the rugby club, the role of its most infamous administrator Frank Marshall, and how the split played out in the town during the 1890s. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

On Friday, the 21 October 2022, I gave a talk at the Museum of Wigan Life titled 'Roy Francis, George Bennett, race and rugby league' as one of the museum's Black History Month events. The talk looks at the lives of the two players, examines the impact of the 1919 racist riots on their lives and the sport, and for the first time reveals how George Bennett was excluded from the 1936 Lions tour to Australia because of racism. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The new Rugby Reloaded talks to Stewart McGill and Vince Raison about their fascinating new book, 'The Roaring Red Front: The World's Top Left-Wing Football Clubs' (Pitch Publishing). They travelled around the world visiting soccer clubs which have a reputation for left-wing politics, sampling the match-day atmosphere, and exploring the histories of a diverse range of clubs, from Dulwich Hamlet to Detroit City, Boca Juniors In Argentina to St Pauli in Germany. It's a rich and passionate story that tells us a lot about the place - and the future - of football in the modern world. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Rugby History 101: the shape of the ball. The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' investigates why the rugby ball is oval - and, as usual, the answer is not as obvious as you might think. It's a long story where technology, traditions and tournaments converged in an evolutionary process to create the oval world. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The new 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the career of Maurice Lindsay, who died last week. From Wigan to the RFL to Super League, Maurice changed the face of rugby league as radically as he divided opinion about himself. Part visionary, part inveterate self-publicist, Maurice created the greatest British rugby league team in generations, spearheaded the move to Super League, and became a household name in rugby league in two hemispheres. We examine the irresistible rise, indelible impact and final legacy of rugby league's most charismatic administrator. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' talks with Jonty Winch about his new book 'World Champions: The Story of South African Rugby'. For the first time, Jonty tells the complete story of South African rugby union from its beginnings to the present day by including all sections of society, black, white, 'coloured', and women. It's a major publication for the history of rugby, and Jonty takes us through some of the key issues in that story. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

In the second episode of our two-part special on the history of rugby union and concussion, we take a look how attitudes changed with the coming of professionalism in the 1990s. For a sport that came into the world with deep links to the medical profession, the 21st century saw it abandon its past in favour of new relationships with sports scientists - and it would be the players who lost out. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This week's episode is the first of a two-part special looking at the history of rugby union's changing attitude towards head injuries. The sight of Wales' Tomas Francis staggering around Twickenham during February's England-Wales match after a head clash has reignited the debate about rugby's treatment of concussion. I also have to declare a personal interest as I've done historical research on concussion and rugby for Ryland's Law, the solicitors acting on behalf of the players who are currently taking legal action against the rugby authorities. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to former 'Sydney Morning Herald' rugby league journalist Steve Mascord about his new book 'Two Tribes'. It chronicles the rollercoaster year of 1997, when rugby league down under split into two competitions, Super League and the Australian Rugby League. Featuring over 100 interviewees with the key protagonists, Steve's book is an oral history of a tumultuous time which gets under the skin of rugby league's culture and describes a season that was simultaneously a disaster and a triumph. For more on the history of rugby league and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com - where you can find a discount code for the book - and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Rochdale Hornets may not have been the most successful rugby league team but they are an exemplar of the sport's struggles and culture. The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Jim Stringer and Mark Wynn, the authors of a brand new history of the club - 'Triumph and Disaster : 150 Years of Rochdale Hornets' about the club's origins in Victorian England, how its fate was tied to the fortunes of the cotton industry, why the town became a colony of Fiji in the 1960s, its time as a supporter-run club, and its future in the post-Covid world. For more on the history of the football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Hugh Godwin about his fascinating new biography of the England winger of the 1930s, Prince Alexander Obolensky. 'The Flying Prince' is a meticulously researched book which examines how a Russian noble came to be the hero of English rugby union by scoring two devastating tries in England's first ever win over the All Blacks in 1936. Along the way, it paints a detailed picture of the sport in the interwar years, discusses the history of international eligibility, and reveals the truth behind Obolensky's death in World War Two. For more on the history of the football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

It's 75 years since the British Rugby League Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. And to talk about their new book about the 'Indomitables', as the tourists were nicknamed, 'Rugby Reloaded' is joined by Martin Whitcombe, grandson of tourist Frank Whitcombe, and acclaimed historian Huw Richards. We discuss the political origins of the tour, the backdrop of World War 2, the reception in Australia, the tour's controversial end, and Martin's moving story about the writing of the book. This is most definitely essential listening! For more on the history of the football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

'Rugby Reloaded' this week talks to Professor Gavin Kitching, author of 'A Fateful Love; Essays on Football in the North-East of England 1880-1930' about what history can tell us about the recent takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabian investment fund. Is the hyper-commercialisation of football today a consequence of the commercialism which led to the creation of the Football League in the 1880s - or does it represent something new? Why don't fans reject billionaire takeovers of their clubs - and what does it even mean to talk about 'their' clubs? The Newcastle takeover illustrates the issues which face not just soccer, but all sports which base themselves on free-market capitalist commercialism. For more on the history of the football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Derek Catsam about his new book on the strange, sanction-busting Springbok of the USA in 1981, 'Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America's Anti-Apartheid Movement'. This is story of the interlocking of rugby union politics, apartheid, the Cold War and some inconsequential rugby matches. Coming straight after the the hugely controversial 1981 test series between the All Blacks and the Springboks, the American tour probably qualifies as one of the strangest events in rugby history. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This month's 'Rugby Reloaded' chats with Huw Richards about the past, present and future of rugby league in London following the London Broncos' decision to revert to part-time pro status. We look at the history of the club and the problems facing rugby league expansion in London, as well as its achievements over the past 40 years, before gazing into the oval crystal ball. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This month's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Dr Hendrik Snyders about the attempts to start rugby league in South Africa in the 1950s and the influx of black, 'coloured' and white South Africans into British rugby league in the 1960s. It's a story of politics, race, RFL accommodation to apartheid, and British rugby league providing a home for non-white rugby stars. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

In the last of the current weekly series of 'Rugby Reloaded' I catch up with journalist and fellow Hull-born leaguie Trevor Gibbons to talk about growing up league in Hull, the psycho-geography of the city's sport, the eternal battle between the red and the black, and what it all means to the city of Hull. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

On 4 July 1914 the greatest rugby league test match of all time took place - the third and decisive game of the 1914 Ashes series. Led by Harold Wagstaff, a nine-man British Lions team overcame Australia 14-6 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It set the template for international rugby league and became the benchmark for what was expected of players. But why did it become known as the 'Rorke's Drift' test match, despite the towering performance of Wagstaff? The new 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the controversies that dogged the game and explains why it became the sport's totemic match. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

It's Game 4 of the Stanley Cup tonight and so this week's episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Bruce Berglund about the history of ice hockey and his new book 'The Fastest Game in the World: Hockey and the Globalization of Sport'. We talk about hockey's origins at the same time as the emergence of the football codes, how it reflected Muscular Christianity, how it spread around the world, the role played by women, and much else besides. How far from the truth is it to call hockey the third rugby code? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

'Rugby League is dying' has been a refrain that has dogged the sport throughout its history. But rugby league hasn't died, and in fact has survived numerous attempts to kill it off. So why does this 'meme' continue? The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at its history, asks why it has re-emerged recently, and argues that the sport is no closer to death today than it was at any other time when its mortality was being predicted. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Joseph Platt was the man who organised the historic meeting at the George Hotel in August 1895, and he remained secretary of the Northern Union for 25 years. He steered the NU through the split, rule changes, international expansion, and World War One - yet his attempts to expand the game were hamstrung by the self-interest of the founder clubs. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at his life and career, and asks if British rugby league has changed significantly in the century since Platt's death. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Psychotherapist and former Huddersfield Giant Jon Bell joins us on the podcast this week to talk about his work on vulnerability, mental health and rugby league. Over the past decade, mental health has become an increasingly important issue in the game, and is linked to issues such as masculinity, de-industrialisation and the changing nature of professional rugby league - and is part of a general mental health crisis affecting large numbers of working-class people. This new episode discusses Jon's unique insights into these problems and looks at rugby league is doing to help. For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The new 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Gavin Kitching about Sunderland, Sunderland Albion, and how soccer overtook rugby in the North East of England in the 1870s and 1880s. Gavin's new book 'A Fateful Love: Essays on Football in the North-East of England 1880-1930' is a detailed investigation of the myths and realities of football's rise, and also deeply thoughtful exploration about the nature of football, its appeal and what is perhaps its fateful contradiction. For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This week 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the literature and poetry of rugby union, and explores how its patriotic message helped the game expand dramatically after World War One. 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' helped launch rugby union in the mid-19th century and its themes became part of the sport's culture. But World War One gave rugby union its most important moral mission, and its success in promoting its militarist message meant the 1920s became the decade of the 'Rush to Rugby'. For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This week's episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at how Leicester Tigers saved rugby union in the early 1900s. The history of folk football in Leicestershire extends back into the middle ages, and rugby was the first football code to take root there in the 1870s. Just as in the north of England, rugby became a mass spectator sport run on professional lines. But after 1895, the Tigers made themselves a bulwark of the RFU, which in turn whitewashed the club's many breaches of amateurism. If Leicester had switched codes, the history of rugby would have been very different - but, instead, they became the club that saved English rugby union from the rugby league threat.

This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the origins of rugby in Hull and its strange twist of geographical fate. The city was and remains a heartland of rugby dating back to the 1860s. Like the rest of the north of England, the game in Hull was begun by former public schoolboys, but it quickly captured the imagination of dockers, shipbuilders and factory workers across the city. And East Hull was the home of Hull FC and Hull KR were the pride of West Hull... This new episode explores the social history of early rugby in Hull and investgates how its premier sporting rivalry was flipped on its head. For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

It's the FA Cup Final on Saturday - so 'Rugby Reloaded' investigates whether the FA Cup was directly inspired by Sheffield's Youdan Cup. The Youdan Cup kicked off in Sheffield in 1867 and was won by Hallam FC by two rouges to nil. Many Sheffield fans believe the cup was the model that FA secretary Charles Alcock used for the FA Cup when it kicked off in 1871. But as usual in football history, the truth is far more complex and fascinating than this simple origin myth. As this new episode explains, the Youdan Cup and its successor the Cromwell Cup were early, failed models of football's commercial, sponsored future - but they came at a time when football's local and national leaders believed that football was the antithesis of popular entertainment. For more on the history of rugby, soccer, and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

In 1913 the French modern artist Robert Delaunay exhibited his ground-breaking painting 'The Cardiff Team'. It was an important painting in 20th century French art which used rugby as a metaphor for the newly industrialising nation which France was becoming. Rugby was part of the 'shock of the new' heralded by avant-garde artists like Delaunay. But why was the painting named after Cardiff FC? What was the link between France and Wales? As this new episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' explains, 'The Cardiff Team' is much more than a depiction of a rugby match. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Rugby and coalminers in the north of England formed an unbreakable bond as far as back as the 1880s. Rugby league was built on pit villages and mining towns. Of the first ten members of the RFL Hall of Fame, three were miners. But as this episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' explains, this link went much deeper, because both mining and rugby league were seen as exemplars of working-class toughness, teamwork and identity, a spirit which continues even today, long after the last pits have closed. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

For 140 years, Welsh rugby players have travelled to the north of England to find fame and fortune. At first they went to play for the powerhouse clubs of northern rugby union, and when those clubs created rugby league, Welsh players became an integral part of the 13-a-side game. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' investigates the players who 'went North' from the 1880s to the 1930s, looking at their stories and motivations. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Cricket's County Championship began last week, so this week's episode looks at the huge role that cricket played in the birth of the football codes. In the mid-nineteenth century cricketers across Britain took up football and cricket clubs started their own football sections. The rugby and football authorities borrowed from cricket and took their lead from cricket's attitude to professionalism. But within two decades, the tables had turned and cricket started to rely on football for financial security. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Thursday 8 April is the anniversary of the 1995 meeting in Wigan when British rugby league agreed with Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd to switch to a summer Super League. It was part of the biggest revolution rugby had seen since 1895. Not only was rugby league changed forever, but rugby union was forced to embrace open professionalism. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' examines the birth of Super League in Britain, looks at rugby union's dash for cash, and assesses the legacy of those dramatic days for the British game. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

29 March 2021 is the 25th anniversary of the very first game in Super League, so part one of a special double episode steps back in time to examine the events that led up to the summer rugby league revolution. We trace Super League's roots back to the problems that British rugby league faced from the 1970s, which escalated in the 1980s. Wage inflation, spiralling transfer fees, and the costs incurred after the Bradford City and Hillsborough disasters took the sport to the brink... and then came the satellite TV boom. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com - where you can find the links for this episode - and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Barely six months after Super League pulled out of Toronto, the US-based XFL is in talks with the Canadian Football League about a potential merger. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to football scholar Spencer Kassimir about the history of the XFL and the CFL, the background to the talks, and what lessons can be learned by other football codes. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Manchester City and United are currently dominating the English Premier League - but until the 20th century Manchester was seen as a hotbed of rugby, not soccer. So how did the city lose its status as one of rugby's most important centres? The new 'Rugby Reloaded' explores the rise and decline of Manchester as a rugby city, and examines how a series of decisions dealt a body blow to rugby from which it never really recovered. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

To mark International Women's Day 2021, this episode talks to Julia Lee, one of the true pioneers of British rugby league. Julia was the first women ever to referee a men's professional rugby match of any code anywhere in the world. She's also been a trailblazer in the administration of the sport, has had a play written about her career, and is now collecting the memories of women who have been involved in the game since the 1970s. She reflects on the obstacles she faced in the game and the challenges that women still face in the quest for equality not just in rugby league but also in sport and society in general. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The birth of rugby league coincided with a wave of Jewish immigration to Britain in the 1890s, and Jews in the big cities of northern England quickly took the game to their hearts. The same was true in Sydney, where a Jewish rugby league competition was played in the 1920s. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' takes a look at the history of Jewish involvement in the sport, from pioneers like Eli Jacobson to superstars like Albert Rosenfeld, and modern-day administrators like Todd Greenberg and Simon Johnson.

As the new NRL season is about to raise the value of the drop-goal for the first time in 130 years, the new ‘Rugby Reloaded’ investigates the history of the drop-kick and the drop-goal. How did the drop-kick become so important that for over fifty years it was the most valuable way of scoring points in rugby union? And will the NRL's new rule lead league back down a road it travelled in the late 1960s? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Humans have thrown and kicked a ball towards some form of goal fo as long as people have lived in communities. In any historical period, in part of the globe, football-type games have been played by men and women. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' takes the long view of 'folk football' in Britain before the emergence of the modern rugby and soccer football codes, and asks why it lagged behind sports like cricket and boxing, and did not develop into a modern game until the last third of the 1800s.

Although rugby's great split of 1895 is often portrayed as a professional breakaway, it also led to the vast majority of amateur rugby clubs in the north of England leaving the RFU and joining the Northern Union. This week's episode takes a look at the early history of rugby league below the professional level, examining its rise, fall, and rise again as it battled with the effects of war and the impact of the Great Depression of the 1930s. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Romanian rugby boomed in the 1950s, threatening the Five Nations dominance of European rugby union, as its club sides proved to be more than a match for the top English and Welsh teams. Then the British Foreign Office stepped in... The new ‘Rugby Reloaded’ uncovers the secret history of Anglo-Romanian ‘rugger diplomacy’ and discovers an unknown league link. If you think that politics in rugby is a recent thing, think again. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Tuesday 26 January is the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Rugby Football Union at the Pall Mall Restaurant in the centre of London. In this week's 150th episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' we explore why and how the RFU was formed, and discover the contemporary parallels which forced rugby clubs to form their first governing body. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Facts speak for themselves, don't they? Not always, as we discover in this week's interview with Neil Ormston from the Rugby League Record Keepers' Club. As well as looking at the history of league stats, we discuss what constitutes an international match, what makes a club a club, and why league sides don't include their pre-1895 stats in their records. This is the episode where history, statistics and the philosophy of knowledge come together with the force of an Adrian Morley tackle. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This week’s 'Rugby Reloaded' explores the book that did more to shape the modern sporting world than any other: Tom Brown’s School Days. When it was published in 1857, it was the Harry Potter of its day, but it went on to influence not just rugby football, but all football codes and all modern sports, not least the Olympic movement. But what exactly was its message and what lessons did it expect its readers to learn? Underneath the surface, its coming of age story reflects all the prejudices and narrow-mindedness of Victorian Britain - and would their stamp on sport even in the 21st Century. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, together with show notes and links for this episode, visit www.rugbyreloaded.com

It's widely believed that William Wollen's famous rugby painting of 'The Roses Match' accidentally reveals 'ghost players', men who joined the Northern Union and were later painted out of the picture. This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the history of rugby's most memorable masterpiece and explores the truth behind the 'painted out players' story. As one myth is debunked, the painting reveals yet more mysteries and the latest research uncovers new facts about the painting. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony