How the Olympic Movement Started in Liverpool
The Olympic Games will always and forever be thought of as having its basis in Ancient Greece. The world’s leading international sporting events were inspired by the Olympic Games held in Olimpia in the eighth century BC until the fourth century AD.
They were created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1894, with the first Modern Olympics being hosted in Athens in two years later. At least, that is the commonly accepted story.
The reality might be slightly different, with Liverpool actually playing host to what could be considered the first Olympic Games.
‘Olympics’ as a Byword
The term ‘Olympics’ has been used as a description for athletic events since the 17th century, with the likes of the Cotswold ‘Olimpick‘ Games hosted near to Chipping Campden in the 17th century. When the British Olympic Association was bidding to host the Summer Games in 2012, they pointed to those as the ‘first stirrings of Britain’s Olympic beginnings’.
In other words, just having the world ‘Olympics’ in the title of a sporting event isn’t necessary a sign that it has any real or tangible links to the Olympics as we understand them today.
There is, however, something that sets apart the Grand Annual Olympic Festival that began life in Liverpool in 1862. The games were wholly amateur in their nature, whilst also being international in their outlook.
They were open to ‘gentlemen amateurs’ and when the first one was held it boasted a programme that was almost identical to that that the first Modern Olympiad used when it was hosted by Athens in 1896. The links between the two meetings are far too close to simply be dismissed as being little more than coincidence.
Pioneered by John Hulley
John Hulley was something of a pioneer of gymnasia, giving talking about the importance of physical education in Liverpool for years. He founded the Olympic Festival in the city as a way of showcasing his philosophy around mass participation in sport, continuing them for many years alongside his work as a director of gyms located on both Myrtle Street and Bold Street.
At the same time, a similar festival of sporting endeavour was being hosted by William Penny Brookes in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, with the two men eventually coming together to form the National Olympian Association.
The 1st Grand Olympic Festival in #Liverpool was held on 14th June 1862 at the Mount Vernon Parade Ground with 10,000 spectators pic.twitter.com/zGgRXcETsO
— Liverpool1207 (@Liverpool1207) June 14, 2021
The Olympic Festival in Liverpool proved to be so successful that a National Games was hosted in London in 1866, with Hulley at the heart of the matter. That came after more than 10,000 people watched the first Festival, which was encouragement enough for the city to play host to five more.
The first one had been hosted at Mount Vernon Parade Ground, with others taking place at the Zoological Gardens, about which you can read more elsewhere on this site, whilst the fourth was hosted away from Liverpool in Llandudno in North Wales.
