Sport is an increasingly important part of global culture. Museums are an increasingly significant way in which culture, through displays of material culture, is reflected and interpreted worldwide. How, then, is sport reflected in museums? This chapter will consider the development of sport in museums, and dedicated sports museums, but with a particular emphasis on these developments in the context of the UK.

There is growing academic interest in sport in museums and sports museums, but the literature is as yet relatively limited and many questions remain unexplored (see, for example: Adair 2004; Alegi 2006; Brabazon 2006a; Brabazon 2006b; Brabazon and Mallinder 2006; Danilov 2005; Forslund 2006; Frost 2005; Johnes and Mason 2003; Kellett and Hede 2008; Kohe 2010; Moore 2003a; Moore 2003b; Moore 2004; Moore 2008; Moore 2009; Moore 2012; Osmond and Phillips 2011; Phillips 2010; Phillips 2012b; Phillips and Tinning 2011; Ramshaw 2010; Redmond 1971; Smith 1999; Snyder 1991; Vamplew 1998; Vamplew 2004; Wood 2005). Fundamentally, we still have little understanding of how and why sport has been reflected in museums and how and why sport museums have developed. This chapter addresses these questions, but much further research and analysis is required. Much of the academic analysis of sport in museums to date has focused on the kind of histories portrayed, arguing that much on offer reflects a nostalgic and corporate view of sport.