Reporting postal sport
"… I believe in the power of sport to weld a Service together…to penetrate professional reserve; to balance distinctions; and to create that particular sense of individual effort towards a common purpose which is so important a factor in our national character".
- Prince Albert, Duke of York (later to become King George VI),
first President of the Civil Service Sports Council, 24 February 1922
Sport in the Post Office first developed with bands of enthusiasts in the late nineteenth century. This was a time that saw the foundation of the Football Association in 1863, and the Rugby Union in 1871. The development of sectional, departmental and regional teams allowed postal workers to take part in a variety of different sports from football to rifle shooting.
The pages of Blackfriars Magazine, St Martin’s-le-Grand, The Post Office Magazine, The Courier (all POST 92) and The Post (POST 115) celebrate their achievements, reporting on cricket matches, Table Tennis events and athletics meetings. Sporting activities were not limited to men, and there are reports of women who swam and did gymnastics as early as 1894.
- Illustration
Post Office women gymnasts
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