Just spied this https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/hope-and-glory
Hope and Glory is the untold story of rugby league in Thatcher's Britain. Against the backdrop of economic and social upheaval, the sport of the working class transformed itself. Broxton's book recreates this era with the dramatic tension of a novel, revealing it as a critical moment where despite losing everything, anything still seemed possible.
Perhaps @Tides Of History could tell us more?