General
History of Sports Science
The first degree in BSc. Sports Science was established in 1975. The department was then the Department of Sport and Recreation Studies which operated within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. For many years subsequently Liverpool Polytechnic led the way in the development of sports science nationally. Initially the strength of the programme was due to its foundation from the science and engineering departments and gradually the servicing of the teaching from other departments was reduced as specialist sports scientists were appointed.
The activities at Liverpool Polytechnic soon became known abroad as an international agenda was pursued. The First World Congress of Science and Football was hosted at the Albert Dock in April 1987, being the first occasion ever that representatives of all the football codes met formally. It was followed later that year by the convening of the first International Conference on Sport, Leisure and Ergonomics at Burton Manor, followed in 1990 by the VIth International Symposium on Science and Medicine in Swimming.
New programmes emerged once the Polytechnic gained independence from the local authorities. A Diploma in Science and Football was validated in 1991. It was later followed by a degree in Coaching Science as the Science and Football programme grew into a full-blown BSc Hons degree. The Masters programmes were designed in 1992 when sports science, applied psychology and health studies were amalgamated into one school.
The research programmes had been relatively dormant until major projects were funded by the Health and Safety Executive and the Health Promotion Trust in the mid-1980s. The new Universities were established in 1992 and ‘sports science’ entered the Research Assessment Exercise in the same year. The ranking of ‘3’ was third nationally, but significantly was the top rating in Liverpool John Moores University. This single event bestowed new respect on the sports sciences as an academic discipline. More importantly the income generated by the rating provided funds that supported an expansionist programme, reflected in the development of the subject nationally.
The escalation in activities and the investment in research bore fruit by the next Research Assessment Exercise when JMU achieved a rating of 5. This result motivated the University to set up its first research institute, the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences in 1997. At the same time its base moved to the Henry Cotton Campus, opened by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne. Laboratory facilities were enhanced by means of external grants, from Umbro and the Football Association, and by infrastructure funds from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The M Res programme started in 2000 and aspirations were realised when a rating of 5* was achieved in 2001. The award of top ratings for both teaching (score 24) and research meant that Liverpool John Moores University was nonpareil, the only institution nationally that had the highest achievable scores in both domains.
Since the turn of the century facilities have been developed to state of the art. The Research into Ageing unit led by Professor Dave Goldspink broke new ground in linking whole-body research and cell biology. The CAREN system opened in 2004 merged research programmes in biomechanics and motor behaviour, allowing new projects in neuroscience to be developed. The Faculty based structure, with Sport and Exercise Sciences within the Faculty of Science, allowed the School to play a role in the scientific developments within the institution.
The School maintains a leading role in developing the subject area nationally. Liverpool hosted the annual conference of the national (the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences) association in 1979, 2000 and 2004. Regularly it is the focal point of new initiatives, the First World Congress on Science and Racket Sports in the 1980s, the first Conference on Qualitative Methods in Sport and Exercise Science in 2004, symposia of the World Commission of Science and Sports in 2002 are examples.
Over the last two decades approximately 100 research degrees have been awarded in sport and exercise sciences. New undergraduate options exist in the Physical Activity and Health BSc programme. The designation of the subject area as a Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2005 allows scope for further expansion into new premises. The Times Good Guide to Universities places Liverpool John Moores University alone at the top of the current rankings nationally in the subject area.
