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Reproduced by kind permission of the Henry Martyn Trust

Cup-winning football team, Nigeria

Photograph

The Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide

Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha, Nigeria

Christianity

1930

Photograph of cup-winning football team at Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha, Nigeria.

What does it look like?

This is a monochrome bromide photograph printed from a negative, which shows the winning team of the Inter-College Football Cup, the First Eleven from Dennis Memorial Grammar School, with two of their schoolmasters, the Revd. Okechukwu and the Revd. Charles Foster, in front of the school. It is stamped on the back with the photographer’s name: F.J. Allison, Nigeria, B[ritish] W[est] Africa.

Many missionaries had connections with British public and grammar schools, in which sport was an important part of school life. They therefore saw it as important to develop this to promote discipline, team-building and leadership.

It has been argued that sport replaced indigenous physical activities like spear-throwing and dancing, which missionaries viewd as pagan.

The value of this photograph is not the object itself, but what it shows. It captures an aspect of the cultural influence which missionaries were responsible for introducing to Africa at the time of British Colonisation.

Who, what and where?

It was produced for the school as a record of the team’s success, sometime in the early 1930s, by a local photographer, F.J. Allison, to congratulate the team and inspire other students at the school.

It is stamped on the back: F.J. Allison, Nigeria, B[ritish] W[est] Africa.

Are there links to current religious practices or a modern equivalent?

It is still common for schools to take photographs to commemorate school sporting victories.

Why is it significant to the study of religion?

The value of this photograph is that it captures an aspect of the cultural influence which missionaries were responsible for introducing to Africa at the time of British Colonisation. Many missionaries had connections with British public and grammar schools in which sport was an important part of school life and they saw it as important to develop this to promote discipline, team-building and leadership.

It has been argued that it replaced indigenous physical activities, like spear-throwing and dancing, which missionaries viewed as pagan. Grammar Schools were established following the British model with classical architecture and even school uniforms. The school here was named after the British missionary and bible translator, Tom Dennis. The overriding message of this education was “We are the best. You need to be like us”.