One Hundred Years of Australian Sport
Australian History Reference Sports History Cultural Studies Biography & Memoir Australiana Olympics Rugby
Collectors of Australiana and sporting history prize this scarce 1996 first-edition hardback, signed on the title page by the author, veteran Sydney sports administrator M. T. Daly. Published to mark the centenary of the New South Wales Sports Club, One Hundred Years of Australian Sport is a 230-page, photo-rich reference that charts the evolution of organised sport across the continent—from colonial rowing regattas and 19th-century rugby skirmishes to the rise of national leagues, women’s competition and Australia’s Olympic coming-of-age. Because the book was privately printed by the NSW Sports Club in a small run, almost every copy went straight to members’ shelves; signed copies rarely surface on the secondary market, making this an instant highlight for any Australiana, sporting or Olympic collection.
Inside, Daly blends first-hand anecdotes, newspaper clippings and rarely-seen archival images to show how sport mirrored—and shaped—Australian identity: the bush vs. city rivalry, the rise of multicultural clubs, the influence of gambling and politics, and the way weekend sport became the nation’s social glue. Chapters are arranged thematically rather than chronologically, so readers can dip into the birth of surf lifesaving, the 1908 Melbourne Cup, Bodyline cricket, or the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and still feel the broader narrative arc. The result is a book that works both as a scholarly source for cultural-studies essays and as a lively, browsable treasury of “I-didn’t-know-that” facts for trivia buffs.
Physical condition is remarkably fresh for a 27-year-old club publication: pages are pristine, unmarked and free of dog-ears, while the sewn binding remains tight and square. The laminated pictorial jacket shows only light shelf evidence—minor scuffs and small indents—while the only internal blemish is an unobtrusive hole in the blank rear endpaper. The author’s bold ink signature and a short gift inscription on the front free endpaper are 100% intact, adding personal provenance without detracting from readability. For collectors, this copy offers the holy-trinity of desirability: first edition, signed, and genuinely scarce.
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