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00:08we're a nation obsessed with sport every year we spend nine billion hours either playing it
00:15or just watching it and Britain has been the birthplace of so many sports which are now
00:22played the world over in this special program we'll be celebrating four of our most popular
00:27games football rugby cricket tennis and the Olympics something for everybody at our road
00:37shows across the UK we asked you to share your cherished sporting mementos what he achieved
00:43was groundbreaking he actually changed racing we'll be visiting some of our hallowed sports
00:50grounds and delving into the archives from ancient manuscripts at Lord's Cricket Ground
00:54these are the oldest written rules of cricket still in existence to a coin used to start the
01:01most important match in English football history oh my goodness me there cannot be many people stupid
01:09enough to pay thousands of pounds for a penny but it's what the penny represents our experts
01:15get a glimpse of the extraordinary archives at the home of tennis down here we've got Tim
01:20Henman's racket from 2002 oh it's very tempting to we'll be speaking with legendary British Olympians
01:27and Paralympians it was the greatest sporting moment of my life it makes me emotional just just talking
01:39about it and we'll hear the remarkable story of the lost lionesses footballers who fought for the right
01:45to play on the world's greatest sporting stage after playing in front of a few people at home on
01:50park pitches we played in front of 95,000 we were felt like celebrities welcome to a special sporting edition
01:59of the antics roadshow
02:08we begin with the country's favorite sport football every year over 2 million people play and stadiums see 50 million
02:18people come through the gates
02:21and today we're at Craven Cottage home to Fulham FC London's oldest professional club dating back to 1879
02:34various games called football date back centuries but the sport we know today comes from the Victorian era
02:40in 1863 the Football Association came together to lay down the rules including no picking up the ball and
02:48no player shall wear projecting nails or iron plates on his boots at our show at Shuttleworth house in
02:55Bedfordshire Mark Allen saw a group of items from when these rules had only just been agreed
03:02this is a story about early football isn't it it's about a very very personal story for you too and
03:09I'm
03:10captivated by this wonderful Victorian photograph here in the centre so the gentleman at the front with the
03:16medals that's my great-grandfather he was born in 1867 right he founded that club the Norfolkians
03:22football club in about 1882 of course we're talking amateur football here yes yeah the name Norfolkians
03:30is a bit weird because it was based in Maidenhead but I think it comes from the fact it was
03:34close to
03:35Norfolk Park or Norfolk Road or something like that which is where the name come from right and they
03:40obviously did quite well it was an amateur team won a lot of cups and everything else yeah and that's
03:45the the photograph of the team after they won the Wickham Cup in 1892 right well I can see they
03:50did
03:50rather well because we've got rather a lot kind of going on in this case particularly haven't we and we
03:55can see him actually wearing these on his jacket his blazer now what I love about that is this absolutely
04:02tangible connection between these objects and him and you in essence I mean this has obviously been
04:08in the family for a hundred and you know 30 140 years yeah so it's nice to be able to
04:13go back and
04:14there's a bit of background in fact because the Norfolkians they ended up merging with the Maidenhead
04:19football club right but they hated each other right okay and there were numerous press stories and
04:25papers and things like that from the period where there were fights people got sent off because they
04:30attacked spectators oh my gosh well I can see uh from the third case as well that this story evolved
04:36didn't it because over there we've got lots of FA stewards badges and they're all variously dated from
04:41the 1920s and 30s so what happened I presume he moved on from his playing days did he indeed he
04:48um the club
04:49itself he left in about 1913 at which time he was the general secretary but even from then onwards he
04:56actually became part of the FA he was one of the junior people was heavily involved in being stewards
05:01at the equivalent of the FA cups and things like that which in those days was held in Crystal Palace
05:06because Wembley of course wasn't built until 1923 but but some of these are after 1923 so they would have
05:13been presumably at Wembley I'm quite enamored of the idea of of this as a complete sort of story and
05:20timeline
05:21and I think this is quite a valuable little collection in terms of early football memorabilia I
05:27know you're not going to sell this but I think contextually with the photographers and particularly
05:31some of those good FA stewards badges I think you know putting a value on this for auction in a
05:37good
05:37sporting sale I can easily see this being worth around about two to three thousand pounds I think
05:42he'd be shocked thank you a really really good little collection to see thank you from these
05:53amateur beginnings in Victorian Britain the high point of British football history remains the men's
05:58World Cup win in 1966 the home tournament saw England face off against West Germany in the final at
06:06Wembley over 96,000 people crowded into the stadium to see England's 4-2 victory with a further 32 million
06:16people watching at home making it still the most watched event in British television history and back at
06:24Craven Cottage I've arranged to meet Nigel Ray one of the world's foremost collectors of sports memorabilia and the proud
06:30owner of two objects from this iconic match Nigel tell me about this shirt and who it belonged to
06:37Nobby Siles the famous image of him running around Wembley in 66 no teeth memorably this is his shirt he
06:46actually wore in 66 finals I mean what an iconic bit of kit my goodness from that game I mean
06:53how important
06:53was he to England's success that day I think it was huge actually there's some great stories about what
06:59Alfred Ramsey asked him to do which was basically hunt the good players down and take him down yes he
07:07wasn't a brilliant footballer but he stopped people he's a man stopper yeah literally yes and what was
07:14he like off the pitch you couldn't get anybody more modest Manchester United through and through lived and
07:19died for it a great guy great guy well listen we're not only looking at Nobby Siles' shirt from the
07:241966 game you've also got the coin from the coin toss I will even give it to you provide you
07:29provide not to drop
07:30it down the drain oh my goodness me look at that and there cannot be many people stupid enough to
07:39pay
07:40thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds for a penny but it's what the penny represents I mean to all
07:45the
07:46footy fans out there there's something magnificent about 1966 of course also something slightly tragic
07:51and then that is the last time we won yeah and we still live off it because I live off
07:56it younger
07:57people watching today will not recognize this I do and you do as an old English penny of course I
08:01mean
08:02this is what we grew up with I can't even remember what a penny worth 2.4 pence I don't
08:08know I would
08:09take it down to the corner shop to get sweets I don't know about you but what a fantastic thing
08:13to hold in
08:13my hand my goodness I mean all my family are crazy football fans but to have this next to Nobby
08:19Siles' shirt and do you think the way this coin landed on that day do you think that made any
08:24difference to us winning or losing no well said what a thrill to see it thank you so much thank
08:31you very
08:32much we'll have more stories from the beautiful game later in the program
08:43but now we travel across London to another legendary sporting ground
08:49this is the long room at Lord's Cricket Ground the home of the Marylebone Cricket Club and to
08:56many the home of cricket itself
09:03cricket doesn't have rules it has laws and since 1788 the MCC here at Lord's has been responsible for
09:11them as with all sports these were the results of years of tinkering and changing and our sports
09:18memorabilia expert David Convery is with cricket archivist Richard Geffen who brought some even
09:23older laws which show how different the game once was Richard we find ourselves at Lord's Cricket
09:30Ground here started buying some wonderful memorabilia but my focus and attention is on this document and
09:36in front of us now I've known about this I've read about it but to get to see it as
09:41a real treat for me tell us what it is go on
09:43these are the oldest written rules of cricket still in existence and they were written for a match in 1727
09:52between the Duke of Richmond and Mr Broderick now the Duke of Richmond is based at Goodwood in Goodwood House
09:58in Chichester and Mr Broderick is grounded at Pepper Harrow which is between Milford and Godalming in Surrey
10:05now at this time rules were just local competitions there was no sort of unified rules of any part of
10:12the country so each set of
10:13rules was unique to that individual or in this case to the Duke and of course Mr Broderick and I
10:19notice there's 16 written rules here a few have caught my eye of course 12 men
10:23yes number three the ball being clothed or unclothed now various interpretations of that rule
10:29for me obviously catching the ball on the jumper or in the caps ungentlemanly yes if you caught it obviously
10:37that was fine but in those days obviously it wasn't allowed and I think I'm right in saying it must
10:42have been quite difficult to be caught because I think the ball was rolled along the ground in those early
10:46days rather than bounced and here the rule states that if somebody's
10:51taken injured you can replace them within Pepper Harrow within the parish and the Duke had to be a player
10:57from
10:57the last three games but interestingly if they couldn't find somebody then the other side dropped
11:02one down and the one that got me prize money number 10 on the list here 12 shillings wasn't a
11:07bad purse for
11:08those days no and modern money is about two two and a half thousand pounds so not too bad and
11:14very much in
11:15over the batsman you know with only two stumps yeah absolutely I have to say thank you for bringing
11:20it along it's a real bucket list moment for me I'm taking into account what the rules of football made
11:262011
11:27they were sold they made just shy of a million pounds I reckon if it came to auction I've no
11:33hesitation
11:33of value in between 300 and 500 thousand pounds it is a true piece of sporting history it's unique isn't
11:39it
11:42the first international cricket match wasn't played here but in New York between the USA and Canada
11:48which Canada won by 23 runs the first international game in England wasn't until 1880 against Australia
11:56and then the game spread through the British Empire and in 1932 the Indian test cricket team came to these
12:03shores and played their first game at Lord's they'd have walked out of the long room down these steps
12:08onto the ground and I expect they thought as I am Wow
12:17and joining us at Lord's are a father and daughter with items from that match
12:24we've brought a cricket bat with us today and this has been in the possession of my father for over
12:2920
12:29years and I grew up in Hong Kong and my dad had a best friend when we were there called
12:34Solly and I
12:35actually gifted my dad this cricket bat and the book that you see in front of us
12:41the bad dates from 1932 it was his grandfather's Surabhaja Kola who was actually one of the players who toured
12:49in the 1932 test tour of England which I believe because India had just been awarded ICC official status was
12:58the first test and the first tour India had officially done so historically it's got an awful lot of relevance
13:05to it he seems to have got pretty much all of the signatures from the county team and the first
13:11tour India had officially done so historically it's got an awful lot of relevance to it
13:11the first two teams and the first two teams and the first two teams and the first two teams and
13:13the international teams and it really is full you know front back and even down the sides as well it's
13:18just a fascinating piece of history
13:20there's a scorebook that goes with it which records all of the games across the tour and the pages are
13:26absolutely full so it was clearly a very grueling tour
13:29quite excitingly this page has documented one of the matches that they played here at Lourdes within it there's a
13:38fuller on this page called Nissan he has five wickets so he's on the honour boards here at Lourdes
13:45I've always felt like an imposter with the bat I'd really always wanted to reconnect with Solly and I'd love
13:51to give it back to him if he's if he's still around
13:54so Solly if you're out there we have a bat and book for you
14:07the first mention of men's cricket dates all the way back to the 1550s but the earliest known women's game
14:14wasn't played until 1744 and it took until 1934 for the first international women's game between England and Australia in
14:23Brisbane
14:25At our show at Shuttleworth house Siobhan Tyrrell saw some items from one of the earliest pioneers of women's cricket
14:33We've got a lovely blazer here and photographs I mean the blazer looks like it would possibly fit you
14:38I think it might fit me at the University of Bedfordshire we house a tremendous archive of women's sporting history
14:47and this particular blazer is from the 1920s and it was worn we believe by very
14:53a very famous England cricketer Betty Snowball who was also a student at Bedford between 1927 and 1930
15:02So is this Betty here with her team?
15:05Yes it's the Bedford cricket team and there's Betty sitting at the front there with the cricket bat just in
15:11front of her
15:11A great shot isn't it?
15:13She would have been about 20, 21 years old then
15:16Right, start of her career
15:18Yes
15:18She played for England at cricket from 1934 to 1949
15:23She went in the first test match and she went over to Australia and to New Zealand
15:28So she was an early trailblazer of cricket, women's cricket
15:32She was indeed
15:34And on the way back the fourth test was in New Zealand and Betty was only five feet and she
15:42scored 189 runs against New Zealand at Christchurch and her record held for 88 years and 128 days
15:50Amazing
15:50And it was only recently beaten by an England cricketer Tammy Beaumont in 2023
15:58But she wasn't just a cricketer she was a sports person really wasn't she?
16:03Absolutely though she played cricket for England she played lacrosse and squash for Scotland
16:08Amazing, these women were at the cutting edge
16:12Pioneers
16:13Before the female cricketers now that we see on television at last
16:16So difficult to value
16:18You've bowled me a tricky one here haven't you?
16:22Sorry I have
16:22I think it needs to go into the right auction so it really needs to go into a sporting memorabilia
16:28auction
16:29And this area of collecting women's sporting memorabilia has really grown
16:34And you've got an amazing archive here and it's lovely to have the photograph
16:37That's got to be worth between £3,000 to £5,000
16:42Such a growing market
16:44Wow
16:47Gosh
16:48Quick question
16:50Did we beat the Aussies?
16:51Of course
16:52Yay!
17:00And women's cricket is increasingly getting the recognition it deserves
17:04In 2022 the East Gate at Lourdes was renamed in honour of Rachel Hayhoe Flint
17:10Ex-England captain and the first female cricketer to hit a six in a test match
17:19Walking around Lourdes is like walking through the history of cricket
17:23Walking around Lourdes is like walking through the history of cricket
17:23And one of the sport's most prized trophies is here in the club's museum
17:28The Ashes Urn
17:32The story of the Urn dates back to 1882 when Australia beat England in a match played in London's other
17:39famous cricket ground, the Oval
17:43It was the first time that England had been defeated on home soil and the next day this mock obituary
17:49appeared in the Sporting Times and it said
17:52In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at the Oval, RIP
17:57The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia
18:02Ouch
18:05There was already a plan for the English team to head over to Australia
18:08So when they set out three weeks later the English captain Ivo Bly promised to recover the ashes of English
18:15cricket
18:17England won the series 2-1 and after the final match Ivo was presented with this small urn thought to
18:25be a perfume bottle with ashes inside
18:29What the ashes actually are is a bit of a mystery
18:33One story says they're the ashes of a veil used in the final match
18:36Another claims they're the remains of a wedding veil
18:40Either way the ashes have been fought over by countless players ever since and while this replica urn is given
18:47to the winning captain
18:49The genuine article remains here
19:01Though international sporting competitions began with cricket other sports soon followed
19:06In rugby the longest rivalry is between Scotland and England starting in the 1870s
19:13And our next sporting location is the Stonek Stadium home of the Saracens rugby club
19:20Here our expert Adam Schoon is with rugby collector Jeff Nagel
19:23When a player suits up for England for the first time they're given a cap
19:28And Jeff's collection shows how a sport which began on British school fields spread across the globe
19:34Geoff we're looking at three rugby caps from your collection which bridge the dates from 1872 right through to 1909
19:45Tell us a little bit about the first cap
19:49This relates to the very beginning of 20-a-side rugby
19:53The first international in England played at the Oval cricket ground on a very wet day
19:58We then progress through to first fixture against the French in 1906
20:03A very cold trip to Paris
20:05And we end up with an unusual one with AWF
20:09Which relates to the first game against Australia
20:11The Touring Wallabies
20:12And then we play Wales and France
20:14So you have an introduction to the game as it spreads globally
20:19Yeah, so 20 men, then it went to 15
20:22When did it change?
20:24Within a number of years
20:25I mean, 20-a-side on a wet pitch
20:28A lot of...
20:29A lot of muscle pushing against each other
20:31And probably not a lot of finesse
20:34So, looking at the cap, it's made of this absolutely beautiful velvet in panels
20:39And, of course, they're quite sort of tinsel-y looking
20:42You've got this absolutely gorgeous tassel
20:45The origin is public school
20:46The origin comes from rugby school
20:48The different house caps
20:49Hence the name
20:50You can imagine lots of proud Victorian gentlemen
20:53With their handlebars and stoshies
20:55Sitting with their arms folded
20:57Incredibly proud of their individual caps
21:00We once had an empire
21:02And during that time, the military would go around the world
21:06You think of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa
21:10And they took the game with them
21:12And now it is absolutely global, isn't it?
21:15What makes these quite unusual is that they're dated
21:18Normally, an England player will be given a claim cap, silver rose
21:22Most people keep them blank, which makes it hard to identify
21:26But these have all been embroidered
21:28And you can relate them to certain players' careers
21:30So, Thomas Batson from the Blackheath Club
21:33And he played in the first three games at the Oval
21:36And what about the man who earned this cap?
21:39Thomas Hogarth, interesting character
21:41A shipyard worker from Hartlepool
21:43He was invited to play for England
21:45They were a player short on their first ever trip to Paris
21:48In that first international against the French
21:50Now, that's interesting because
21:53Somebody from Hartlepool
21:54Working in the ship industry
21:57Mixing probably with ex-public school boys
22:00But you've got that first social mix
22:03Which is what rugby's all about today, isn't it?
22:05That's the way the game has spread
22:07And then, finally, we move on to Frank Tarr
22:10Frank Tarr was a solicitor who played for Leicester
22:14Frank Tarr sadly passed during the war
22:17He was the first international to sign up on the first day of the war
22:20Sadly, like so many of that generation
22:24He didn't come back
22:25Does make this cap particularly poignant
22:27Well, they're all in incredibly fine condition
22:31Value-wise, I mean
22:33This one, obviously, is incredibly rare
22:37Incredibly early
22:39What a survivor!
22:41Five to eight thousand pounds for that one at auction
22:43Very nice
22:44And these two, I think, probably two to three thousand pounds a piece
22:47Maybe a little more because you know who owned them
22:52The fact we can relate them to individual characters
22:54Yes
22:54And tell their story as well
22:56They give a lot of pleasure
23:01The competition between England and Scotland became known as the Calcutta Cup
23:05Named for its links to early British rugby clubs in India
23:11And one viewer contacted us about a memento of that famous grudge match
23:18This here in front of me is a corner flag from the Calcutta Cup 1928, which took place in Twickenham
23:26So this is my great-great-grandfather, Admiral Sir Percy Royds
23:33He was the president of the Rugby Football Union from 1927 to 1928
23:38He was a rugby player, he played three times for England
23:42He also played for teams like Kent and the Barbarians and in the Royal Navy as well
23:47It was given to him after the match took place
23:50The flag is made of silk
23:52It's got very intricate stitching, England v Scotland
23:56And on the other side of this flag is this really pretty blue silk embroidery
24:01We've got the England rose there and the Scotland thistle there
24:04It is coming apart a little bit, but it's mostly in quite good condition
24:09It is very interesting how they have these really pretty delicate silk flags
24:13Just flying on the poles on the corner while the match was taking place
24:17And of course there are four corners of the pitch
24:19So there would be four corner flags in total
24:21We only have this one
24:23So there might be three still out there somewhere
24:25So maybe if anyone watching does have another one from this match
24:301928, you might have the other flags that go with this one
24:35And it wasn't just England and Scotland who fell in love with the sport
24:39In Wales rugby came close to a religion
24:43At our roadshow in the Swansea
24:45Ben Rogers Jones saw one of its greatest players
24:48Immortalised in pottery
24:50It's a great privilege and an honour to introduce
24:54Two Knights of the Realm to the Antiques Roadshow
24:57Sir Gareth Owen Edwards
24:59And Sir Gerald Reams Davis
25:02Both huge heroes of mine from the golden years of Welsh rugby
25:08In the 1970s
25:10Knighted for their sporting prowess
25:12And of course their proud owner
25:14How long have you had them?
25:16I've had them since 1977
25:18These are my heroes
25:19These are Gerald Davis and Gareth Edwards
25:22Fantastic players
25:23Absolutely, yeah
25:24They were top of the game
25:25Top of the world game in the 1970s
25:28So these are grogs of course
25:30Yeah, grogs
25:31Made in Pontypris
25:32That's right
25:33By a sculptor called John Hughes
25:35That's right
25:36And I've got great admiration for John Hughes
25:38Because he was not just a great sculptor
25:41But he was a brilliant entrepreneur
25:44So he started potting in his shed
25:46In the back garden
25:48And realised he was pretty good
25:50He bought an old pub
25:51Converted it into this shop
25:53And started tapping into the rugby market
25:56In the best time to do it
25:57Oh yeah
25:57In the 1970s
25:58When Welsh rugby was on a high
26:00So where do these sit at home?
26:02Oh, I go on a little bureau
26:05They encapsulate the moment
26:07You've got Gareth's sideburns
26:09And his flowing hair
26:10And that pose
26:11He was so cheeky
26:12He was so determined
26:14And Gerald, the flying winger
26:16Yeah
26:16With his beautiful moustache
26:18Beautiful hair
26:19Scoring a try
26:20Absolutely fantastic
26:22And he's so evocative
26:23Of a brilliant time for Welsh rugby
26:26It would be really good to know
26:28What the players thought of these pieces
26:30Because I'm not sure how I'd feel
26:32If I was a grog
26:33In all honesty
26:34It would be good to know
26:36Should we ask somebody?
26:38Well
26:39Yeah
26:40Sir Gareth Edwards, how are you?
26:42Oh
26:44Oh, hello
26:45How are you?
26:49Come off it
26:50Looks like you
26:51Spitting image, isn't it?
26:56So, do you remember your first grog?
26:59Yes, didn't look anything like that
27:01In actual fact, he was very good looking
27:05What he was good at, he captured the moment
27:07Yeah
27:07And that's what artists do, isn't it really?
27:10Yes
27:10You know, when I was looking there
27:12I could see Gerald just putting that ball down
27:16I would say, and forgive me, Sir Gareth
27:20I think on this occasion, Sir Gerald
27:22Will make a little bit more than you
27:24And I hope you don't mind
27:25Oh
27:27He can try
27:29He can try
27:31It's not quite as refined as Sir Gerald in this pose
27:36And I think that's a really, really nice tri-scoring pose
27:39So, they're both brilliant
27:41So, they're both brilliant
27:41But I am going to give you estimates here
27:45Gareth is getting demoted
27:46Ooh
27:47At three to four hundred pounds
27:50Sir Gerald, I think, would do rather well
27:54At six to eight hundred pounds on this occasion
27:57But there will be occasions when you do better, Sir Gareth
28:00I can assure you
28:02That'll do me
28:10While football, rugby and cricket spread across the world
28:13Some Victorian sports did not take off
28:16Walking competitions lasting days at a time
28:20We've sadly left behind
28:21And croquet was once a social phenomenon
28:24One of the few games men and women could play together
28:28In 1868, the All England Croquet Club was founded in Wimbledon
28:32To capitalise on the new craze
28:36But it didn't take long for the hoops and mallets to make way
28:39For a brand new sport sweeping the nation
28:41Lawn tennis
28:46Hilary Kay went to see the archives of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
28:50To find out more
28:52Today, Wimbledon is the most watched tennis event in the world
28:56With over 500,000 people pouring through the gates each year
29:00And millions more watching from home
29:02But how did this corner of West London come to be home to one of the world's favourite sports?
29:08Emma Traherne is the senior curator of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
29:12And has dug out some of the club's earliest treasures to share with Hilary
29:17We're surrounded by amazing things in the museum here at Wimbledon
29:21Can you walk me through what we're looking at here on the table?
29:24Yes, we've got some very lovely items here
29:27We've got 40,000 objects in the collection
29:29So just a few of them here for you
29:30There was a chap called Walter Wingfield
29:33Who sort of launched Lawn Tennis or Sporistice
29:37Was another word that he used to describe his new game in 1874
29:42And this is one of his rule books here
29:45And you would buy your rule book
29:47But you could also buy everything you needed to play lawn tennis
29:50Including the rackets, which he referred to as bats
29:54Your net
29:55And it all came in a nice little box
29:56A bit like a croquet set would come in
29:58There were two different sizes
30:00But most people bought the five guinea one
30:02Which was the smaller one
30:03Which was quite a lot of money in those days
30:05I mean, it's interesting, isn't it?
30:06First of all, the title is in Ancient Greek
30:09And then to sell it for five guineas
30:10Which is about £750 today
30:13It wasn't for everybody, this game
30:15No, he was aiming at people who had time to play
30:18And also croquet was a sport that was falling out of favour
30:22And so he'd noticed all these big houses had their croquet lawns
30:26Were sort of lying idle
30:28So that was his idea
30:30Was to design a game that men and women could play together
30:32That was very important for him
30:34On these less used croquet pitches
30:36So, what kind of man was Major Winfield?
30:40We do think that he was a bit of an inventor generally
30:43He invented a type of bicycle called the butterfly bicycle
30:47And then after launching lawn tennis quite a few years later
30:51He launched something which he described as bicycle gymkhana as well
30:55Which was cycling in sort of unison to music
30:58Mainly military marches
31:00And he published a book on this
31:01And was hoping it was going to be the next lawn tennis
31:04But obviously we're not all doing bicycle gymkhana now
31:06I want to see that as an Olympic sport
31:09That would be wonderful, wouldn't it?
31:10So it became a craze
31:12And then between 1874 when it was launched
31:15Then in 1877, bang, you had the first Wimbledon Championship
31:21I mean, it's extraordinary progress, isn't it?
31:23Yes, so 200 people turned up
31:26Paid their shilling to get in
31:27And 22 men, it was just men then playing the singles
31:31Spencer Gore beat William Marshall in the final
31:34And he actually did say that he didn't think that tennis was going to catch on
31:38He found it quite a monotonous sport
31:40But luckily he was wrong
31:49Tennis equipment has changed a lot since Spencer Gore won the first tournament with a wooden racket
31:55And in the basement stores at Wimbledon is a treasure trove of rackets used at the championships
32:03My goodness, Emma, look at this! And this is extraordinary! What a collection!
32:08This is our main racket store
32:09We have over a thousand in the collection
32:11We've actually got an example here of the earliest metal rackets that the public could buy
32:17This racket was made in Aberdeen around the 1890s
32:21It's quite heavy, it's strung with natural gut
32:24But some of the other early metal rackets from the sort of 1920s
32:29They tried stringing them with metal, the vibrations were very horrible on people's hands
32:34I would never have believed that there'd be one from the 1890s made of metal
32:38The metal racket that I'm more familiar with was the racket that Billie Jean King used
32:44Yes, the Wilson T2000, we've got an example here and we've got many others in the collection
32:50So this was basically the first successful metal racket
32:53It was around the 1970s that the synthetic fibres of stringing did come in
32:58Before that point, it was natural gut
33:02It was often colloquially called cat gut
33:04But it wasn't cat, it was intended to be sheep or cattle
33:07I heard that Djokovic and Roger Federer still use basically gut strings for their matches
33:14Yes, some of the top players do choose to have either a mixture or natural gut stringing, yes, to their
33:20rackets
33:21They haven't done too badly with it
33:25And one level deeper in the stores are hundreds of clothes worn by famous players
33:30From the miniskirts of the 1960s to the earlier outfits which were a bit more, well, full coverage
33:38This looks very early, what sort of date do you put on that?
33:41So around 1890, this is very much at that period what you might step out onto a lawn tennis court
33:48wearing if you were a lady
33:49There weren't any rules about what you could wear on the tennis court for a very, very long time
33:54Actually, that really early period, a lady would have just worn her normal dress on the court
33:58So it would have been very, very colourful, whatever day dress she was wearing
34:01But fairly quickly, after a couple of years, ladies decided that white might be a good idea
34:07Basically, white doesn't show sweat
34:09Exactly, so something like this would have been perfect
34:12Yes, 1890s, it's that kind of lighter fabric as well
34:15You can see it's sort of like a linen blend
34:17So very good for like a summer garden party
34:21Was there a point when this sort of unofficial rule of wearing white became official at Wimbledon?
34:28Yes, actually, it was in 1962 that Moia Bueno wore an outfit with a shocking pink lining
34:33And it was at that point we decided we would bring in a rule
34:36So in 1963 it was predominantly white, is what everyone had to wear
34:40In 1995 we tightened it up a bit further and it's almost entirely white
34:46So now there is no question that if you see somebody playing in white on a green surface
34:50It is 99.9% certain to be at Wimbledon
34:54Yes, that's right
35:03There was only one tournament when players didn't have to wear white at Wimbledon
35:08The Olympics in 2012
35:10The culmination of which saw Andy Murray win gold against Roger Federer in the men's singles final
35:16The 2012 London Games were the third time Britain had hosted the Olympics
35:21And though Greece was home to the ancient games
35:24The seed of the modern Olympics was planted here in Britain
35:27In much Wenlock, a small Shropshire market town
35:31In 1850 local surgeon William Penny Brooks wanted to promote the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the town
35:39By hosting the Wenlock Olympian Games
35:42These would go on to inspire the first modern Olympics in 1896
35:48Twelve years later, in 1908, the Olympic Games were held in London for the first time
35:55And at our show at Shuttleworth House, John Foster saw a gold medal from those games
35:59Won by Lieutenant Wyndham Halswell
36:02Under unique circumstances
36:06My great uncle joined the army
36:08He ended up to be a very good runner in the army
36:12And got to the point of being the best
36:16Did the interim Olympics in Greece
36:18Ran in London
36:19I think it was his last race probably
36:21So you're kind of downplaying it a bit
36:24Because Wyndham Halswell really is a game changer in the world of Olympics
36:30Do you know that story?
36:31Vaguely
36:32What he achieved was groundbreaking because races weren't run in lanes at this point
36:37It was just a free-for-all
36:38And in other countries like America, nudging was permitted
36:44But in England, it wasn't
36:46So as the race was going on, he was nudged by one or two Americans
36:52They were then disqualified
36:53And the race had to be rerun the next day
36:56But the two Americans refused
36:59So he actually had to run the race on his own the next day
37:03It's quite...
37:04It's an unbelievable way to win a gold medal
37:07So it must have been actually a real disappointment
37:09When you win an Olympic gold medal
37:12But you win it because two people were disqualified
37:15And then you end up running the race on your own
37:17And I think that's actually what caused him to retire soon afterwards
37:21Yeah
37:22But the amazing thing is, and why I say he was a game changer
37:25Because he actually changed racing
37:28Because after that and the controversy that happened
37:30That's why today races of this distance are run in lanes
37:34Ah, that's the reason
37:36So what did he do once he'd retired from running?
37:39Went back to being a soldier
37:40And then came this First World War
37:43Out he went
37:44And sadly got killed in 1915
37:47Wow
37:47Going to the front
37:49Going back to the medal
37:50What's lovely
37:51One is the condition
37:52This is all original finish on here
37:54And then you turn it over
37:57And you can just see the detail in it
37:59Yeah
38:00But then around the collar
38:03You've got the name there
38:05Lieutenant Wyndham Haswell
38:08Winner 400 metres
38:10And so with something like this
38:12You've got a value of three to three and a half thousand pounds
38:17Something in that region
38:18Yeah
38:18For the gold value
38:19When you add in the story
38:22I would say an auction estimate
38:24You're going to be at twenty to thirty thousand
38:29Ooh
38:30That does surprise me
38:32Yeah
38:32To have that in your family
38:35Yeah
38:35It's just truly remarkable
38:37Thank you
38:38It's a pleasure
38:43As well as the Olympics
38:44The precursor of the Paralympics
38:46Began in Britain
38:47In 1948
38:48At the Stoke Mandeville Hospital
38:50This trailblazing event
38:53Would go on to inspire
38:54The first global Paralympic Games
38:56In 1960
38:57Held in Rome
39:00Back at the Stonex Stadium
39:02There's an incredible collection
39:04Of Olympic and Paralympic memorabilia
39:06Including a section of the track
39:08From London 2012
39:10Here our expert Siobhan Tyrrell
39:12Is with athlete Kaz Walton
39:14Who attended some of the earliest Paralympian Games
39:17With items from an incredible career
39:22Kaz Walton OBE
39:24I cannot get my head around
39:27How many sports you're involved in
39:31It's almost too many to count really
39:33But swimming, table tennis, fencing, basketball
39:38But the reasoning was because in the early days
39:42There just wasn't enough money to fund teams
39:47Where you had athletes doing individual events
39:52So you either did two, three or even four events at a Games
39:57Or you weren't selected
39:58And it was as simple as that
40:00I eat and breathe Paralympics really
40:02And we can see that with the medals that we've got here
40:06Of all the gold medals that I won at Paralympic Games
40:10They were all important
40:11But I guess the first and the last one that I won
40:16Just stand out a little bit for me
40:18So of the first two from Tokyo in 1964
40:23And the last one from Seoul in 1988
40:27And you've got a Japanese doll here
40:29What's that all about?
40:31The first Paralympic Games is recognised as Rome in 1960
40:35And they were still exploring what they thought we could take part in
40:40How much our bodies would be able to endure, sadly
40:45So the first ever track events were actually held in 1964
40:51And they were only 60 metres
40:54I won the first ever women's track event
40:59And got presented with the doll who's absolutely beautiful
41:03That was a privilege
41:04And I remember watching the 2012 London Paralympics
41:09It was when really Paralympics sort of burst onto the scene
41:13And it looked as plush and as well presented as the Olympics
41:18It was an absolutely huge step change for Paralympic sport
41:23We've never had those sort of crowds
41:24Phenomenal, isn't it?
41:26Absolutely
41:26It makes me emotional just talking about it
41:30And the coverage that we got too, that was a first
41:34And the criticism that we got when we didn't do well in the sport
41:38Which annoyed me to start with
41:41And then I thought, actually, that's equality
41:45Absolutely
41:52Competing at the highest level can be a solitary business
41:55With years spent training, often alone
41:59So to share that journey with someone can make all the difference
42:04We were contacted by an Olympian couple
42:07Swimmer Anita Porter, then Lonsborough
42:10And cyclist Hugh Porter
42:11In 1964 they both travelled to the Tokyo Games to compete
42:16On the plane over they met and fell for each other
42:19At this stage Anita was already an Olympic champion
42:23Having won gold in the 200 metre breaststroke in 1960
42:27While Hugh was more of an up-and-comer
42:30We caught up with them at Wolverhampton Mayor's Parlour
42:33Which now stores all of Hugh's medals
42:35To hear the story of that journey that changed their lives
42:40Most of the people were sleeping on a plane or trying to sleep
42:43We were all sitting in your different sports
42:46And the swimmers were at the back
42:47And I was the only one on the team that couldn't sleep
42:50I saw on the right were the modern pentathlon boys
42:54Who I'd met four years earlier
42:55So I stayed talking to them
42:58And then the cyclists started introducing themselves
43:02And joining the conversation
43:04And that's how I met Hugh
43:05And I was about to go back to my seat
43:09And they invited me to join him for breakfast
43:12I played an ace there, didn't I?
43:14He's me sitting there with this aquatic megastar
43:17That has just about won everything
43:19And got more gold than Fort Knox
43:20And I'm sort of pouring out the disappointment of the year
43:24After the previous year
43:25And she, lovely Yorkshire lass
43:27He's finding all the right words to encourage me
43:30And say, you know, getting it right and all that
43:32And we just sort of got on well, didn't we?
43:37Sadly for both of them, 1964 would not be their year
43:40Hugh caught a cold, which cost him a podium place
43:44And Anita struggled in what would be her last Olympic Games
43:48I'd lost my fighting spirit
43:50And unfortunately I just faded down and finished seventh
43:55But I'd still broke my British record, so...
43:58Were you seventh? I thought you were fifth
43:59Seventh
44:00Seventh?
44:01An unusual position for you, darling
44:03Yes, yes
44:07Hugh would then go on to win four world championships
44:10In the 5,000 metre individual pursuit
44:12Their impressive medal hall, finally crowned with matching MBEs
44:17I suppose I was playing a bit of catch-up really
44:19Because when I met this superstar
44:21She had all these trophies and everything
44:24Yes, I got mine ten years before Hughie
44:27Thank you for that
44:28But I'm still younger than him
44:32It's very, very important
44:34When you're competing at the ultimate level in sport
44:37Your partner has got to understand the demands and what's required
44:40I remember one Christmas
44:44No, don't tell him that
44:47Hughie obviously wanted to train
44:49And was it snow or rain?
44:51It was Christmas day, I think
44:52And he kept pouring with rain, didn't he?
44:53Yes, yes
44:54And so I got the turkey in the oven
44:56And then it stopped raining
44:57So he said, I must go out
44:59So out came the turkey
45:00Then it stopped again
45:02So the poor turkey
45:03He mentioned he'd get cooked
45:07It's been fabulous
45:08You've had some super times, haven't we?
45:09We have
45:10Had a lot of laughs
45:10Yes, we have
45:19Every Olympic Games leaves behind a legacy
45:23Stadiums, velodromes
45:25And hopefully a generation of new athletes
45:33And in 1984, one athlete's dedication would go on to inspire thousands
45:42When Tessa Sanderson broke the Olympic record for the javelin in Los Angeles
45:46She became the first black woman from Britain to win gold in a track and field event
45:53Back at Craven Cottage, I was able to sit down with her to go through some of her cherished items
45:58And she came dressed for the occasion
46:02Tessa, take us back to that moment in 1984 when you walked up onto that podium to get your gold
46:08medal
46:09What was it like?
46:10Oh, yeah, it was the greatest sporting moment of my life
46:14The feeling was like having a house lifted off your head
46:18I was not the person that was featured to win in the Games
46:22Because, of course, there was this big rivalry between, you know, my British colleague and myself
46:26You and Fatima Whitbread
46:28Going out to the game
46:28Yeah, Fatima Whitbread
46:31The moment that javelin left my hand in the first round, first throw, I knew it felt good
46:37And I just thought, when it landed, I thought, get that you lot now
46:42It was a great feeling
46:43When you came back after standing on that podium, what was that like?
46:49You know, my heart was racing because, you know, you finally felt, I've done it
46:53I've actually won the biggest crown in sporting history
46:56And then from that, I went back to Wentzfield in Wolverhampton
47:00Where I'd lived for a little while and my family was there
47:02And they had a bus that took me up to the castle pub where my dad used to sort of
47:06drink
47:06My dad was one of my biggest fans
47:08And the feeling was just so euphoric, you just never forget
47:12Look, you brought along some items
47:14You're wearing your 1984 tracksuit
47:16Hey!
47:17Looking great in it
47:19A bit short in the legs
47:20Now, come on
47:21But still fit
47:21You are rocking it, Tessa
47:23We've got your medal
47:24When I came back, all the kids out there who wanted to see it and things like that
47:29And the schools that were writing in and saying, can we see your medal?
47:31I thought, let me do that
47:33Because when I was young, I'd love an iconic person to have come in and seen me at the school
47:38So, I remember once I went to Leeds to do a PA and I brought it up there
47:43And the kids came rushing at me like this
47:46And I stood there and I was going, oh yeah, hello kids
47:49But they grabbed the medal, I was just there, nothing to them
47:52Dropped the medal and dented it
47:54And I think it's the only medal that I thought, it's got a little dent, look there
47:58Oh no
47:59On the side
48:00But, and their faces like, no, it doesn't matter
48:03Here's the gold medal, you can touch my medal, absolutely fine
48:07I get more fun seeing it being worn, being looked at and touched
48:12And then, what about these spoons? What's the story with these?
48:15I love this
48:16This was the first Eight Nations games
48:18They're so special because it's got all them flags, I've never seen that
48:23And when I have my kids, my adopted twins now, I thought I'd give them a little feed
48:26Out of it, out of it, and then polish it and put it back
48:30But, it's pretty special because I think there's only been two Eight Nations games
48:36Nine in 78 and then there was one in 82
48:38And I love it, I love it
48:40You mentioned Fatima Whitbread, I remember watching both of you
48:43You know, on television, your sporting prowess, what was that rivalry like?
48:49The rivalry was one of the best things, I think, that happened for me in track and field
48:54Because it kept me on my toes, and hopefully kept her on her toes
48:58And I think it was really good to have that, all the time
49:01I kept on thinking, well, I want to beat you, whenever I do
49:06And as the first black woman to win a gold medal in track and field
49:10Yay!
49:11I mean, did you feel the weight of that at the time? Was that significant for you?
49:15I didn't feel that until afterwards
49:17It's been 41 years this year since I've won
49:20And so nobody, male or female, has ever won an Olympics thrown gold medal for Great Britain
49:26But as a black woman, going out there and coming back with this
49:32Later on, I did feel, I'm carrying a lot of this on my shoulder, yes
49:37Because I want to inspire a lot more black girls to come forward
49:40It's not about, you know, the little racism or racism that we're having
49:44It's about creating this pathway
49:47If I can do it, you can have a go too
49:50You know, let's not doubt ourselves
49:52Here's confidence, here's a little way forward
49:54Take it, grab it, use it
49:56Even if it's not sport, use it in the way that I've done
50:06We remain at Craven Cottage for our final story
50:09Another of pioneering sportswomen
50:13At the turn of the 20th century, women's football was enormously popular
50:18With tens of thousands of people attending matches
50:20But in 1921, the Football Association declared that
50:24Football is quite unsuitable for females
50:27And banned women from playing
50:32The one drawback to this otherwise idyllic picture of young maidens at play
50:37Is that strictly speaking, they're outlawed by the parent body, the Football Association
50:42The ban remained in place for decades
50:45And even when it was lifted, generations of women were shut out
50:48The men who coach these girls risk suspension from their own clubs
50:52If the FA hears about them dallying with ladies' football teams
50:57In 1971, against the wishes of the FA, a group of players travelled to Mexico
51:02To take part in an unsanctioned Women's World Cup
51:08Our expert Siobhan Tyrrell met with three women to hear the story of this tournament
51:13Which showed how popular the sport could be again
51:15You ladies have brought some football memorabilia in today
51:19Can you explain who you are and then what this event was?
51:24I'm Leah Caleb and I was a player fortunate to go to Mexico in 1971
51:28To play in the Women's World Cup
51:31Hi, I'm Gillian Sale and I also played in that World Cup at the age of 14
51:37My name is Jean Williams and I'm a historian of sport
51:40And I've written a lot about this particular event
51:43There was a ban on women's football in England from 1921 until 1970
51:49And very shortly after that ban is overturned
51:54We have players going out to a Women's World Cup in Mexico
51:57And this event was actually not accepted by the Football Association, was it?
52:05No, so the FA overturned the ban in 1970
52:09But they didn't want to take control of women's football
52:12So it was an amateur organisation called the Women's Football Association
52:16That ran women's football at the time
52:18So you're there in Mexico, you're young teenagers
52:22What did it feel like? What reception did you get when you turned up at Mexico City?
52:27It was out of this world really
52:30After playing in front of a few people at home on park pitches
52:32And to fly into Mexico City
52:35And we didn't realise exactly what the enormity of it would be
52:40We played in front of 90,000, 95,000
52:43And it was photographers, TV
52:46And the crowds were just amazing
52:50We felt like celebrities
52:52It must have been mind-blowing
52:53You brought some items here, Leah, tell us what the bag is
52:57So we have the bag, this was given to all the players
53:00And here we have the programme of the actual tournament
53:04The mascot on the front is Sochityl
53:07And I was 13 and I had dark hair like Sochityl
53:11And they used to call me Sochityl
53:13Which was rather sweet
53:15And this is actually Jill's
53:17Yeah, that photograph was taken at the training ground in Mexico
53:20So yeah, obviously I was 14 then
53:23And the medal is what we were presented with
53:26Who were you playing against? What were your matches?
53:29Argentina and Mexico
53:30And we played against France as well
53:33And Leah, what's this?
53:35So that is a shirt that I wore in the Aztec Stadium
53:38It was very basic
53:40It was going to be hot over in Mexico
53:42Our other shirts we wore in England would have been far too heavy
53:45They were bought, hand-stitched numbers on
53:48So you finished playing football, you got on the plane
53:52You flew into...
53:54Heathrow, virtually
53:56And I'm guessing there were a whole load of celebratory journalists there
54:01No
54:03There was absolutely no interest in us coming back
54:07The conversation just wasn't there
54:10And we actually received bands
54:12The players, three months for us that were 16 and under
54:17And six months for those over
54:18Did your football career carry on after the ban, either of you?
54:23Both of us, I carried on playing until I was 32
54:26Some of the players didn't
54:28We fortunately played together
54:31But we didn't speak of the World Cup
54:33Even our team mates didn't even know we'd been to Mexico
54:36I think we felt we'd done something wrong
54:38Because when we came back we were banned
54:41And Jean, I know that you have been instrumental in highlighting these generations of female players, you know
54:50You took these ladies here to see the Lionesses to explain the history
54:57What did you tell them?
54:58We met with the Lionesses at Rockcliffe Hall in the February before the Women's Euros in 2022
55:06And I basically said to the current Lionesses, don't wait 50 years to tell your story
55:12Because we know that these players have been shamed into being quiet
55:15It was really great the way that the players embraced it, I have to say
55:20It's nice that the players don't think that there's any demarcation between official and unofficial
55:27It's a complete nonsense
55:28The current crop of players are standing on the shoulders of giants
55:31And they absolutely recognise that
55:34And I think it's a really exciting time for women's sport
55:38Really, there's an absolute desire for collecting this area
55:42It's only going to go up and up in value
55:44So it's a really difficult thing for me to value
55:47So I always revert to what would I pay for it?
55:51So collectively, you're probably looking at about £10,000, £15,000
55:56I'd say plus, plus, plus
55:58It's just going to keep going up and up and up
56:00Yeah
56:01But it's been an absolute pleasure to meet you ladies
56:05Keep telling your stories
56:07We want to hear it
56:08Thank you
56:09Thank you
56:27Recently, interest in women's sport has ballooned
56:30In the year after the Lionesses' Euros win in 2022
56:33Almost one and a half thousand new women's football teams were founded
56:38And over 80,000 packed into Wembley Stadium to see the Red Roses lift the Rugby World Cup in 2025
56:47The history of sports in Britain is one of small beginnings leading to global gains
56:54From ancient pastimes slowly morphing into the sports we know today
56:59The invention of one Victorian eccentric spreading across the world
57:06It feels like we're living through a new sporting boom here in Britain
57:09This time particularly in women's sports
57:12And who knows, maybe decades from now we'll be back here in this very spot celebrating this very moment
57:19For now, from the Antiques Roadshow in this special sporting programme, bye-bye
57:24Thank you
57:54You