A history of sports notational analysis: a journey into the nineteenth century

Abstract

This paper presents a history of sports notational analysis, which seeks to develop further our current understanding of the subject. The paper provides evidence that indicates sports notations developed in the mid-nineteenth century, contrary to the current view of it as a twentieth century invention. The paper further illustrates that statistics from these notations appeared regularly in newspapers, periodicals and specialist books of that period, and that the early development of notation, in many sports, was strongly associated with the work of the sports journalist. This paper reviews the work presented in earlier publications, and provides further insight into the history of sport notation in introducing many previously unknown notation systems. This work includes Hugh Fullerton’s earliest known baseball notation; several analytical systems for lawn tennis; examples of nineteenth century boxing notations, and association football notations, which pre-date Charles Reep’s work, hitherto consider the first soccer analysis, by half a century.

• History
• Notational Analysis
• Sports Reporter
• Shorthand