Martin Polley, Sports Historian

Welcome to my website. It features, from September 2025, a monthly blog post, along with regularly-updated news about my work and activities. The Press and Podcasts section carries links to external media stories and features that I’ve been involved with, and my biography. You can also check out my publications, and buy my book The British Olympics direct. If you would like to get in touch, use the Contact page.

Latest News

September 2025. Book Launch, Richard Holt’s Sport and the British: a modern history

A line-up of seven white people standing against a beige wall. From the left, there are two men, then a woman, a man, a woman, and two men. The man in the centre is holding a book. They are all smiling.
From left to right: Max Portman, Dilwyn Porter, Amanda Callen-Spen, Richard Holt, Raf Nicholson, Tony Collins, and Robert Colls.

It was a pleasure to attend the book launch last night for Richard Holt’s Sport and the British, published by Oxford University Press. The original, published in 1989, is the key work of synthesis for a generation of sports historians – it really set the agenda for so much research that has come since in all fields of the social and cultural study of sport. Rather than simply update it for a second edition, Holt calls this version ‘a new book in the shell of an old one.’ The launch, a co-hosting by the British Society of Sports History and the Institute of Historical research and held in Senate House, involved a panel discussion of the book featuring Raf Nicholson, Dilwyn Porter, Robert Colls, Tony Collins, and Richard Holt. chaired by Amanda Callen-Spen and convened by Max Portman. It was great to see so many friends and former colleagues there, and to meet new people, all sharing in Richard’s contribution to the field.

September 2025. Book Launch, Histories of Women’s Football in Britain and Ireland

Three white people - one man and two women - are sitting on chairs on a small dais. The women in the middle is holding a copy of a book. Behind them is a vase of flowers on mantelpiece, and gilt decorations on an off-white wall.
Gary Shaw, Fiona Skillen, and Helena Byrne at the launch of the new book

It was a pleasure to attend a special event last night at the Embassy of Ireland in London – the launch of the latest book in the Peter Lang series Sport, History and Culture. The book is an edited collection, Histories of Women’s Football in Britain and Ireland, edited by the excellent team of Helena Byrne, Gary James, and Fiona Skillen. The evening started The evening started with a welcome and introduction from Orla McBreen, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy, followed by an in-conversation and Q&A with the editors. It was a packed house, with a great audience that included some of the authors of chapters in the book, and many former players and administrators who had given interviews and collaborated in other ways. It was great to see this important sports history book getting its launch in such prestigious surroundings.

September 2025. FIFA MA 25th Anniversary Celebrations in Zurich

Five people sitting on chairs at the front of an auditorium. From the left are two men, then a woman speaking into a microphone, then another woman and a third man. The screen behind them carries FIFA logos in white against a blue background, and the title Sport & Future Conference.
Left to right: Kevin Tallec Marston, Dan Whymark, Beatrice Calliani, Sarai Bareman, and Martin Polley

It was a pleasure to attend the 25th Anniversary celebrations for the FIFA MA at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich on 5-6 September. Having served as the Co-Scientific Director of the Sport Humanities module at De Montfort University (DMU) for eleven years before my retirement in 2025, it was great to see colleagues and catch up with alumni from this amazing programme. I was also honoured to chair the panel on the past, present, and future of women’s football with a fantastic panel: Dame Sarai Bareman, Chief Women’s Football Officer at FIFA; Beatrice Calliani, who worked in Team Services with UEFA at the Women’s EURO 2025; Dan Whymark, Founder of MIVA Sports; and Dr Kevin Tallec Marston of CIES. The conference and social events were a great celebration of the programme, the alumni, and this unique transnational educational partnership between DMU, SDA Bocconi, the University of Neuchatel, CIES, and FIFA.

July 2025. New Children’s Book: What Came First?

Kit Frost and Aaron Cushley’s new educational book for children, What Came First?, is now out with HarperCollins. The book is made up of themed sections of facts on the age of things in the firleds of science, technology, animals, geography, and lots more. I served as the consultant for the sections on sport and games. You can buy the book here.

June 2025. Blue Plaque Unveiling in Bradford: Theatre Educator Esme Church.

On 6 June 2025, Historic England unveiled its newest National Blue Plaque at 26 Chapel Street, Bradford, Yorkshire. This one honours actor, director, and theatre educated Esme Church (1893-1972). Church was born in London and settled in Bradford in 1944, where she founded and ran the Northern Theatre School. I’m on the National Blue Plaque Panel that commissioned the plaque, and I attended the unveiling to represent the Panel. Here are some links to the coverage of the unveiling: Museum and Heritage Advisor; BBC; Bradford Civic Society; Historic England.

June 2025. New Dictionary of National Biography entry: Ron Hill, athlete and entrepreneur

A monochrome photo of a white male athlete celebrating at the end of a race on a running track. He has his right arm raised as he crosses the line, and he has got a big smile. He is wearing a strong vest and white shorts, and the number 108 on his vest. Behind him is part of the stadium's grandstand, packed with spectators.
Ron Hill in action

My piece on athlete, designer, and entrepreneur Ron Hill (1938-2021) is now live in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

When I was a young distance runner in the 1980s, Hill was a big influence on me, through his clothing and his training and diet routines, so it was great to be invited to write his biography for this prestigious publication. Hill was a triple Olympian, a Commonwealth Marathon champion, and a holder of multiple honours in cross-country and distance running, and he used the skills gained from his PhD in textile design to create revolutionary vests, shorts, shoes, and tracksters for elite and grassroots runners. He also managed to run every day for 53 years!

Oxford DNB is a subscription service, so check with your local or university library for access.

May 2025. Blue Plaque Unveiling in Plymouth: Footballer Jack Leslie

Historic England’s newest Blue Plaque, for footballer Jack Leslie (1901-88), was unveiled at his former home in Glendower Road, Plymouth on 16 May 2025. I’m on the National Blue Plaque Panel that commissioned the plaque, and I spoke at the unveiling. Here are some links to the coverage of the unveiling: The Guardian; BBC; Plymouth Argyle FC; The Box; Historic England.

August 2024. National Rail Consultancy: Sporting Routes

In Summer 2024, I joined up with National Rail to serve as the historical consultant on their audio series Sporting Routes. We produced eight themed episodes, hosted by sports broadcaster Kirstie Gallagher, which explored the links between the railways and sport in the past and the present. I also appeared in one of the episodes, being interviewed by Kirstie on the place of railways in the history of horse racing.

April 2024. New article – Finding My Way: Walking as Research in Sports History

PARSE is an international artistic research journal based in the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Their special issue in Spring 2024, edited by Jessica Hemmings, was called Thinking in Motion. My contribution was an autobiographical account of the processes that I used in researching the route of the 1908 Olympic Marathon. The full text of my article is here, and you can then link to the rest of the special issue.