British Workers' Sports Federation
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The British Workers' Sports Federation (BWSF) was a sports organization in
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, active from 1923 to 1935. It was established by the National Clarion Cycling Club, Labour Party activists and trade unionists. The BWSF had branches across the country, but it was strongest in
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,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
,
South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
and the industrial areas of
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.Nauright, John & Parrish, Charles: ''Sports around the World: History, Culture, and Practice'', p. 216. ABC-CLIO, 2012
Google Books
In 1925 the BWSF participated in the first International Workers' Olympiads in
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, and in 1927 the London Group of the BWSF sent a British workers' football team to play a series of matches in the
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.The story of the 1927 British Workers tour of Russia
BBC News, 30 May 2018 From 1928 BWSF was essentially a wing of the Communist Party. As a result, moderate Labour Party members and unionists left the association. The BWSF soon joined the
Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...
-led Red Sport International and participated in the 1928 Moscow
Spartakiad The Spartakiad (or Spartakiade) was an international sports event that was sponsored by the Soviet Union. Five international Spartakiades were held from 1928 to 1937. Later Spartakiads were organized as national sport events of the Eastern Bloc ...
. In 1930, the Labour Party and the
Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...
founded the National Workers' Sports Association as a counterweight to the BWSF.


References

Sports organisations of the United Kingdom Communist Party of Great Britain {{UK-sport-org-stub