Leaflet listing the fixtures in the South African Springbok cricket team’s 1960 tour of England. The leaflet asked people to protest to the South African Cricket Association at its selection of a whites-only team. There were protests at many of the games, including Sheffield, where activists planned to paint anti-apartheid slogans on the walls of the stadium.

The all-white South African Springbok cricket team that toured Britain in the summer of 1960 met with widespread protests. Andrew Burchardt remembers the dramatic events of the night when protesters in Sheffield took action against the Yorkshire v Springboks game scheduled for 6 August 1960.   

Letter and press statement from the Welsh Tourist Board stating that it would not entertain members of an all-white South African Bowling team on their visit to Wales in 1964. The decision was in response to a campaign organised by the South Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement.

AAM supporters protest at a match played by a white South African tennis player at Wimbledon. On the right is Dorothy Robinson, Anti-Apartheid Movement Secretary in the early 1960s. Also in the photograph is AAM founder member Rosalynde Ainslie.

An all-white South African rugby team toured Scotland and Ireland in 1965. This press statement, issued by the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, listed British MPs and others who supported an appeal by 50 prominent Irishmen and women for a boycott of the matches. They included composer Malcolm Arnold, philosopher Bertrand Russell and actor James Robertson Justice.

Press release announcing details of the AAM’s campaign for a boycott of the all-white South African cricket tour of England and Wales in 1965. 

Letter from Ebbw Vale MP Michael Foot expressing support for the campaign against the Springbok cricket tour of England and Wales in 1965. South Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement Chair David Shipper wrote to every MP in Wales asking them asking them not to attend the Springboks game against Glamorgan County Cricket Club at St Helen's Ground, Swansea, and to oppose the tour.

AAM supporters in London called for a boycott of the all-white Springbok cricket team’s tour of England and Wales in 1965.

Poster calling for a boycott of the 1965 South African Springbok cricket tour. Demonstrations were held at every game. The AAM sent a delegation led by Labour MP David Ennals to the MCC on the first day of the test match at Lords. The Queen and Prime Minister Harold Wilson broke with tradition and did not attend the game.

Letter from Rhondda East MP G Elfed Davies expressing support for the campaign against the Springbok cricket tour of England and Wales in 1965. South Wales Anti-Apartheid Movement Chair David Shipper wrote to every MP in Wales asking them not to attend the Springboks game against Glamorgan County Cricket Club at St Helen's Ground, Swansea, and to oppose the tour.

Leaflet calling for a boycott of the 1965 South African Springbok cricket tour. Demonstrations were held at every game. The AAM sent a delegation led by Labour MP David Ennals to the MCC on the first day of the test match at Lords. The Queen and Prime Minister Harold Wilson broke with tradition and did not attend the game.

AAM supporters asked spectators to boycott the Springboks v Glamorgan cricket match at St Helen’s ground, Swansea on 31 July 1965. They handed out leaflets outside the ground and balloons with anti-apartheid slogans. Inside the ground the all-white South African cricket team was playing Glamorgan. The AAM in South Wales protested against the attendance at the match of Swansea's Mayor, Alderman F C Jones.

This young anti-apartheid supporter was asking cricket fans to support an arms embargo against South Africa outside St Helen’s ground in Swansea on 31 July 1965. He was one of around 30 protesters who handed out leaflets to spectators and balloons with anti-apartheid slogans. Inside the ground, the all-white South African cricket team was playing Glamorgan County Cricket Club. South Wales AAM protested against the attendance at the match of Swansea's Mayor, Alderman F C Jones.

In 1967 the Secretary of the MCC, Billy Griffith, visited South Africa and called for the country to be readmitted to the International Cricket Conference. This letter from AAM Hon. Secretary Abdul Minty to MCC President Sir Alec Douglas-Home asked the MCC to cancel all future tours by all-white South African teams and to support South Africa’s exclusion from the ICC.

Protesters from the National League of Young Liberals and Young Communist League stopped play in the Britain v South Africa Davis Cup Inter-Zone semi-finals on 17 July 1969. The demonstrators ran onto the court with banners and leaflets and then sat down, delaying the game for several hours. Eventually they were carried off by police.

Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) was set up to campaign against the all-white South African tour scheduled for the summer of 1970. This press release announced the launch of the group at a press conference in Fleet Street on 10 September 1969. The cricket tour was preceded by an all-white South African rugby tour of Britain and Ireland in 1969–70. STST organised direct action against the tour.

Anti-apartheid supporters protested at all 24 games played by the South African Springbok rugby team in their 1969/70 tour of Britain and Ireland. The demonstrations combined direct action which disrupted some of the games, co-ordinated by Stop the Seventy Tour (STST), and mass marches organised by the AAM. 200,000 copies of this leaflet were distributed outside the grounds.  

Ernest Rodker was active in Stop the Seventy Tour and helped organise direct action against the Springbok rugby tour of Britain in 1969–70. He was arrested on several occasions and was part of a group that organised undercover action to disrupt the tour. He was very active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in its earliest years and in the anti-nuclear Committee of 100, as well as in the campaign against the Vietnam war.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the ‘Forward to Freedom’ AAM history project in 2013.

Ernest Rodker was active in Stop the Seventy Tour and helped organise direct action against the Springbok rugby tour of Britain in 1969–70. He was arrested on several occasions and was part of a group that organised undercover action to disrupt the tour. He was very active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in its earliest years and in the anti-nuclear Committee of 100, as well as in the campaign against the Vietnam war.

In this clip Ernest describes his involvement in a protest at Twickenham as part of the Stop the Seventy Tour campaign.

Alan Brooks was the Anti-Apartheid Movement’s Organising Secretary, 1967–70 and Deputy Executive Secretary, 1987–91. In 1988 he organised the Nelson Mandela Freedom March from Glasgow to London. He also worked as the head of the International Defence and Aid Fund’s research department and for the Mozambique Angola Information Centre (MAGIC). In the early 1960s he served two years as a political prisoner in South Africa.

In this clip Alan Brooks talks about the campaign against the all-white South African rugby and cricket tours in 1969–70.

John Sheldon was the General Secretary of the Public and Civil Service Union. As a student at Ruskin College, Oxford, he helped set up the Ruskin College Kitson Committee to campaign for the release of gaoled trade unionist David Kitson and took part in the demonstrations against the 1969–70 South African rugby tour.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out by Christabel Gurney in 2000.

John Sheldon was the General Secretary of the Public and Civil Service Union. As a student at Ruskin College, Oxford, he helped set up the Ruskin College Kitson Committee to campaign for the release of gaoled trade unionist David Kitson and took part in the demonstrations against the 1969–70 South African rugby tour.

In this clip John Sheldon describes his involvement in a plan to stop the first game of the South African rugby Springboks tour of Britain, against Oxford University on 5 November 1969.

Police removed demonstrators from the pitch at the Springbok v Oxford University game at Twickenham on 5 November. The game was moved from Oxford after the police found out about plans to disrupt the game. Throughout the match demonstrators taunted the players with Nazi salutes and chanted ‘Sieg Heil’. There were protest demonstrations at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Thousands joined a march to Welford Road rugby ground in Leicester on 8 November 1969, to protest against the Springboks game against Midland Counties East. They included students and a big contingent from Leicester’s Afro-Caribbean community. Later, demonstrators tried to stop the game by running onto the pitch and two people were wounded in clashes between the police and protestors. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Outside Welford Road rugby ground before the Springboks v Midland Counties East game at Leicester on 8 November. Thousands joined a march to the ground before the match. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Demonstrators tried to break through a police cordon around Welford Road rugby ground in Leicester before the game between the Springboks and Midland Counties East on 8 November 1969. Two people were wounded in clashes between the police and protestors. Thousands joined a march to the ground before the match. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Police drag a protester off the pitch at the Springboks v Midland Counties East game at Leicester on 8 November. Thousands joined a march to the ground before the match. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Peter Loewenstein was born in South Africa, grew up there and then in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where he became involved in liberation politics and later lived in Zambia in exile. From 1966 to 1969 he was a student at Nottingham University, and was the chairperson of the university’s student Anti-Apartheid Group and was active in the national Anti-Apartheid Movement. In November 1969 he helped organise the demonstration at the Springbok match against Midland Counties East in Leicester and was forcibly removed by police after protesting inside the ground. Two weeks later he took part in action to halt the Spingboks’ game against North West Counties in Manchester and lodged a formal complaint against police brutality against student activists.

This is the transcript of an interview conducted by Geoff Brown for ‘Apartheid is Not a Game: Remembering the Stop the Seventy Tour Campaign’ by Geoff Brown and Christian Høgsbjerg, a Redwords pamphlet published on the 50th anniversary of the Stop the Seventy Tour Campaign in 2019.   

Anti-apartheid members handed out leaflets outside Cardiff Arms Park on 11 November 1969 asking rugby supporters to boycott the Springboks rugby tour. The Springboks were scheduled to play Newport next day. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Stewards dragging a protester off the pitch at the Springboks v Swansea rugby match at St Helen’s ground on 15 November 1969. Police turned a blind eye while stewards assaulted demonstrators and many were badly injured. There were demonstrations at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

The Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) committee organised direct action at many of the games played by the all-white Springbok rugby team on their 1969–70 tour. This briefing was for demonstrators attending the Springboks game against London Counties at Twickenham on 22 November. Protesters ran onto the pitch and interrupted the game.

Police lined the pitch at Twickenham at the Springboks game against London Counties on 22 November.

More than 7,000 people took part in a march to protest against the South African rugby Springboks game against North West Counties on 26 November 1969. Many of the marchers were students from Manchester and Liverpool Universities. This poster was produced by Manchester students. Around 2,000 police were deployed to stop protesters running onto the pitch. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the Springboks 1969/70 tour of Britain and Ireland.

Members of the rugby club at UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) joined the 7,000-strong march at the North West Counties v Springboks game in Manchester on 26 November 1969. The march also included local priests and members of the university Conservative Association. It was led by students carrying a coffin painted with the words ‘Remember Sharpeville’.

The 1969 Springbok rugby tour of Britain and Ireland was met with demonstrations at every game. Nick Chudley, then a member of Manchester University Institute of Science and Technology rugby club, remembers how he joined the protests at the Springboks match against North West Counties in Manchester on 26 November 1969 and how an undercover police provocateur encouraged demonstrators to run onto the pitch. 

Police carry a demonstrator off the pitch at the Springboks v Scotland rugby match at Murrayfield on 6 December 1969. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Thousands of anti-apartheid supporters set out from Cardiff Civic Centre to march to Cardiff Arms Park in protest at the Springboks v Cardiff rugby match, 13 December 1969. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Anti-apartheid supporters marched from Cardiff’s docks area of Bute Town to protest at the Springboks v Cardiff rugby match, 13 December 1969. On the way to the ground they joined up with marchers from Cardiff City Centre. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Anti-apartheid supporters on the march to Cardiff Arms Park to protest at the Springboks v Cardiff rugby match, 13 December 1969. At the junction of Castle Street and Westgate Street they were barred by police to stop them reaching the rugby ground. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the 1969/70 Springbok tour of Britain and Ireland.

Leaflet advertising a meeting near the England rugby ground at Twickenham a few days before England’s game against South Africa on 20 December. The rugby Springboks played 24 games during their tour of Britain and Ireland in 1979/80. There were big demonstrations at every match. The protests combined direct action to disrupt the games, co-ordinated by Stop the Seventy Tour (STST), and mass marches organised by the AAM.

An anti-apartheid protestor chained himself to the steering wheel of the bus bringing the Springbok rugby team to Twickenham for their international against England on 20 December 1969. He was removed from the bus by the driver and a policeman, the chain still attached to his wrist.

Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) supporters blocked the coach taking the Springbok rugby team to Twickenham for their international against England on 20 December 1969. Earlier the team returned to their hotel after a protester chained himself to the steering wheel

This cartoon showing two members of the Springbok rugby team on their 1969/70 tour of Britain appeared in the December 1969/January 1970 issue of Anti-Apartheid News.

This cartoon showing the Springbok rugby team on their 1969/70 tour of Britain appeared in the February 1970 issue of Anti-Apartheid News. Thousands of police were drafted in to stop demonstrators disrupting the games and there were anti-apartheid protests at every game.

Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) organised direct action against the 1969–70 Springbok rugby tour of Britain. Protesters ran onto the pitch and held up play, and harassed the South African team on their arrival at Heathrow Airport and in their London hotel. Although the tour went ahead, the protests helped secure the cancellation of the Springbok cricket tour planned for 1970.

Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) planned direct action to stop the Springbok cricket tour scheduled for the summer of 1970. The threat of disruption, together with mass demonstrations planned by the AAM and opposition from churches, trade unions and race relations councils, forced the cancellation of the tour.

Masked anti-apartheid supporters protest before the Springboks v Wales game in Cardiff, 24 January 1970. There were anti-apartheid protests at all 24 games in the Springboks 1969/70 tour of Britain and Ireland.

Poster advertising a march at Twickenham before the final match of the1969–70 Springbok rugby tour. Together with Stop the Seventy Tour (STST), the AAM organised protests at all the 24 games in the tour. The protests included mass marches and direct action. They involved a wide range of participants – students, trade unionists, ethnic minority organisations and political parties. Although the tour was completed, the demonstrations paved the way for the cancellation of the Springbok cricket tour in 1970.

With Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) and the Fair Cricket Campaign, the AAM won a big victory in 1970 by forcing the Cricket Council to cancel a planned all-white South African cricket tour. This poster helped mobilise opposition to the tour.

David Steel was first elected to Parliament as the Liberal MP for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles in 1965 and was the Leader of the Liberal Party, 1976–88. He served as President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1966–1969 and as a Vice-President until its dissolution in 1994. He now sits in the House of Lords as Lord Steel of Aikwood.

In this clip Lord Steel talks about how he nearly lost his parliamentary seat in the 1970 general election because of his opposition to the 1969 Springbok rugby tour.

The planned tour of England by an all-white Springbok cricket team in 1970 sparked widespread protest. The photograph shows protesters outside Lord’s cricket ground. On the left is Chris de Broglio from the South African Non-Racial Olympic Commttee (SANROC) with AAM staff member Alan Brooks. After a campaign involving threats of direct action from Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) and mass protests co-ordinated by the AAM, the Cricket Council cancelled the tour in May 1970.

The planned tour of England by an all-white Springbok cricket team in 1970 sparked widespread protest. The photograph shows an AAM delegation at Lord’s cricket ground to present a petition to a meeting of the Test and County Cricket Board asking it to cancel the tour. Left to right: Chris de Broglio from the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC), Labour MP James Dickens, AAM staff member Alan Brooks and AAM EC member Vella Pillay. After a campaign involving threats of direct action from Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) and mass protests co-ordinated by the AAM, the tour was cancelled in May 1970.

Peter Hain at a press conference called by the Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) campaign on 7 March 1970. The planned tour of England by an all-white Springbok cricket team in 1970 sparked widespread protests. After a campaign involving threats of direct action from STST and mass protests co-ordinated by the AAM, the tour was cancelled in May 1970. Left to right: Jeff Crawford, Secretary of the West Indian Standing Conference, England cricketer Mike Brearley, STST member Mike Craft and STST Chair Peter Hain.

In 1970 Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) threatened to disrupt the South African cricket Springbok tour of England and Wales. This leaflet made the case for boycotting the all-white South African team. As a result of the STST campaign, and the opposition mobilised by the AAM and the Fair Cricket Campaign, the tour was called off on 22 May.

In 1970, together with Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) and the Fair Cricket Campaign, the AAM won a big victory by forcing the Cricket Council to cancel the South African cricket tour of England and Wales. This leaflet lists the tour fixtures and reproduces a poster that played a big part in mobilising opposition to the tour.

Letter of invitation to an all-Wales conference in the Patti Pavilion, Swansea to mobilise opposition to the Glamorgan v Springboks cricket match scheduled to take place in Swansea on 25 July 1970. The letter was sent to a wide range of organisations, including trade union branches and miners’ lodges, religious, social and political groups, students, co-operatives and sporting associations. The conference was organised by the ‘Wales Rejects Apartheid Committee’. The Springbok cricket tour was cancelled in May 1970.

This leaflet advertised a march to Lords cricket ground to protest at the first game of the Springbok cricket tour planned for the summer of 1970. It was expected to be the biggest demonstration ever organised by the AAM. The demonstration did not take place because the tour was called off on 22 May.

In the early 1970s the Ruskin College Kitson Committee organised an annual march from Oxford to London over the Whitsun holiday. The group campaigned for the release of political prisoner David Kitson, a member of the trade union DATA, who was serving a 20-year sentence in South Africa. This leaflet publicising the march was printed just before the cancellation of the 1970 Springbok cricket tour.

Anti-apartheid protesters at the Surrey Grass Court Tennis Championships in Surbiton, Surrey on 11 June 1970. They were protesting against the participation of a South African player in the tournament.

The Springbok rugby tour of Australia, June–August 1971, met with huge protests all over the country. The first two games, played in Adelaide and Perth, were disrupted by students. In Sydney, members of the building workers trade union tried to saw down the goalposts. Queensland’s provincial government declared a month-long State of Emergency in response to the protests. Because of the scale of the demonstrations, the Springbok cricket tour, scheduled for September 1971, was called off. This badge was produced by the British AAM to show its support for the protests.

A protester being carried away by police after trying to block a coach carrying the England rugby team to the airport en route to South Africa on 12 May 1972. Demonstrators formed a human barrier in front of the coach. Others disrupted a training session. The England team played seven matches in South Africa against segregated teams, including an international against the all-white Springboks in Johannesburg on 3 June 1972.

The umbrella group Stop All Racist Tours (SART) was launched at a press conference on 31 July 1973. It was set up to campaign against the British Lions rugby tour of South Africa planned for 1974. Its sponsors included the AAM, ANC, SANROC, National Union of Students (NUS) and the Catholic Institute of International Relations (CIIR). In the photograph are Ron Taylor, Dennis Brutus and Wilfred Brutus.

The British Lions 1974 rugby tour of South Africa went ahead despite widespread protests. This leaflet exposed South Africa’s new ‘multi-racial’ sports policy as window-dressing for apartheid. It was produced by Stop All Racist Tours (SART), an umbrella group set up to oppose the tour. The leaflet was distributed outside the England v Wales match at Twickenham on 16 March. 

Anti-apartheid demonstrators asked rugby players not to take part in the British Lions tour of South Africa in 1974. The photograph shows a protest at the England v Wales match at Twickenham on 16 March. Other protesters displayed banners on the roof of the RFU’s headquarters. Welsh international John Taylor refused to take part in the tour.

Counter-demonstration by members of the far-right National Front at Twickenham, 16 March 1974. Anti-apartheid supporters were protesting against the British Lions tour of South Africa.

In 1977 Commonwealth Heads of Government made the Gleneagles Agreement on sporting contacts with South Africa. They agreed that Commonwealth governments should do all they could to discourage competition with sporting organisations, teams and individuals from South Africa. This leaflet reproduces the text of the agreement. In the 1980s the Conservative government did nothing to implement the Agreement.

The South African Barbarians rugby team’s tour of Britain in 1979 was part of an attempt by South Africa to get back into world rugby. This leaflet explained that although the team included African and Coloured players, rugby within South Africa was still racially segregated. The team played eight games against minor British sides. The Sports Council, TUC, British Council of Churches, and Labour and Liberal Parties all called for the cancellation of the tour.

The South African Barbarians rugby team’s tour of Britain in 1979 was part of an attempt by South Africa to get back into world rugby. This leaflet was distributed to Welsh rugby supporters outside the Barbarians games against Cardiff and Llanelli. Like all the material produced by Wales AAM, it was written in both Welsh and English.

Anti-apartheid demonstrators marched through Exeter to protest at a visit by the South African ‘Barbarians’ rugby team in the autumn of 1979. The team’s game against Devon was part of an eight-match tour of Britain. There were protests at every match. The Sports Council, TUC, British Council of Churches, and Labour and Liberal Parties all called for the cancellation of the tour.

The South African Barbarians rugby team’s tour of Britain in 1979 was part of South Africa’s attempt to get back into world rugby. This leaflet publicised a protest at the team’s fixture against Coventry organised by the local anti-apartheid group. It appealed to British trade unionists to support their fellow workers in South Africa.

Demonstrators protested in Coventry on 17 October 1979 against a visit by the South African ‘Barbarians’ rugby team. The eight-match tour of Britain was part of South Africa’s attempt to get back into world rugby. There were protests at every match. The Sports Council, TUC, British Council of Churches, and Labour and Liberal Parties all called for the cancellation of the tour.

‘Racism in Sport’ tells the story of the campaign to exclude apartheid sports teams from international sport from 1946, when black weightlifters protested to the British Empire Games Weightlifting Federation, to the eve of the cancellation of the 1970 Springbok cricket tour. Its author, Chris de Broglio, was the co-founder of the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC). It was one of many pamphlets published by the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF) and distributed by the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

In 1981 disabled sportspeople called for the exclusion of South Africa from the Stoke Mandeville International Games, forerunner of the Paralympics. This leaflet publicised a demonstration outside the stadium. After a four-year campaign South Africa was finally expelled from the Games in 1985.

Disabled AAM supporters picketed the opening day of the International Stoke Mandeville Games, forerunner of the Paralympics, in July 1981. They were calling for South Africa to be barred from the Games. The following year a new group, Disabled People Against Apartheid was formed with support from all the main organisations representing disabled people in Britain. South Africa was expelled from the Games in 1985.

In 1981 the South African Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand provoked mass opposition and the biggest demonstrations in New Zealand’s history. New Zealanders in London picketed the New Zealand High Commission to show their support for the protests back home. 

Memorandum asking the British government to enforce the Gleneagles Agreement on sporting links with South Africa.

Disabled People Against Apartheid was formed in 1981 after the Paraplegic Sports Society banned sportswoman Maggie Jones for distributing anti-apartheid leaflets at the European Paraplegic Table Tennis Championships. This poster advertised a demonstration in July 1982 calling for South Africa to be excluded from the Stoke Mandeville International Paraplegic Games, forerunner of the Paralympics. South Africa was expelled from the Games in 1985.

In the mid-1970s the apartheid government announced a new sports policy that allowed ‘multi-racial’ teams to pay in international competitions. This pamphlet showed how sport was still segregated within South Africa. It argued that the new policy was a ‘veneer’ and called for the continuation of the sports boycott.

In 1983–84, South Africa made a determined effort to get back into world rugby, starting with a Welsh Rugby Union sponsored youth tour of Wales. The South African team was invited by the Welsh rugby union to tour South Wales in December 1983–January 1984. Several Welsh local authorities refused to allow them to play on their grounds. Wales AAM supporters occupied the pitch during the game against Gwent in Monmouth.

In 1983–84, South Africa made a determined effort to get back into world rugby, starting with a Welsh Rugby Union sponsored youth tour of Wales.  There were widespread protests and several local authorities refused to allow the games to take place on their grounds. At the final game in Llanelli on 7 January, over 300 people marched through the town to the ground.

The Welsh Rugby Union had close ties with the all-white South African Rugby Board. In April 1984 it invited South African rugby boss Danie Craven as its guest of honour at a game between Wales and the President’s XI. Three Springboks played in the President’s team. The invitation provoked huge opposition, with a ‘Charter Against Apartheid’ in the Western Mail signed by former prime minister and local MP James Callaghan, most Welsh MPs, church leaders, writers and trade unionists. The Welsh Rugby Union finally severed its ties with the South African Rugby Board in 1989.

Black British sportspeople were especially active in sports boycott campaigns. The main speaker at this conference was Paul Stephenson, the only black member of the British Sports Council. The conference was organised by the Communist Party’s Afro-Caribbean Organisation.

Letter from AAM President Bishop Trevor Huddleston to Prime Minister Thatcher asking her to stop the English rugby tour of South Africa in 1984. The government refused to intervene and the tour went ahead in spite of widespread protests.

Over 1,000 protesters marched through Cardiff to Cardiff Arms Park on 7 April 1984 to protest against the Welsh Rugby Union’s invitation to South African rugby boss Danie Craven to be guest of honour at a game between Wales and the President’s XI. Three Springboks played in the President’s team. The invitation provoked huge opposition. A ‘Charter Against Apartheid’ was signed by former prime minister and local MP James Callaghan, most Welsh MPs, church leaders, writers and trade unionists.

Poster advertising a demonstration outside the John Player rugby cup final at Twickenham in protest against the Rugby Football Union’s tour of South Africa in May–June 1984. Student activists demonstrated at Heathrow on the day of the team’s departure. The tour went ahead in spite of a long-running campaign against it. The Conservative government expressed its opposition to the tour but took no action to stop it.

Demonstration outside the John Player rugby cup final at Twickenham on 28 April in protest against the Rugby Football Union’s tour of South Africa in May–June 1984. Student activists demonstrated at Heathrow on the day of the team’s departure. The tour went ahead in spite of a long-running campaign against it. The Conservative government expressed its opposition to the tour but took no action to stop it.

Wales AAM ran a long campaign to persuade the Welsh Rugby Union to break off its links with the South African Rugby Board. This pamphlet made the case for a complete break with apartheid sport. The Welsh Rugby Union finally severed its ties with South Africa in1989.

Disabled People Against Apartheid campaigned for South Africa’s exclusion from the Stoke Mandeville International Games, forerunner of the Paralympics. The group was formed in 1981 after sportswoman Maggie Jones was banned from the European Paraplegic Table Tennis Champonships for distributing anti-apartheid leaflets. This leaflet advertises a demonstration against the South African team at the 1985 Games. Later the same year South Africa was suspended from future Games.

Leaflet publicising a demonstration at a game between the British Lions and a ‘rest of the world’ squad in Cardiff on16 April 1986. The world squad included six Springboks sponsored by the whites-only South African Rugby Board. The Welsh Rugby Union had close ties with South Africa. After a long campaign by Wales AAM, it finally severed its ties with the South African Rugby Board in 1989.

Demonstrators at Twickenham protested against the inclusion of Springbok rugby players in one of the teams in the International Rugby Board centenary match on 19 April 1986. Springbok supporters came from South Africa to Twickenham and Cardiff Arms Park for the centenary. In Cardiff, Wales AAM organised a big protest at the centenary game held on 16 April.

A South African Springbok rugby supporter taunts anti-apartheid demonstrators at Twickenham. The demonstrators were protesting against the inclusion of Springboks in a team taking part in the International Rugby Board centenary match on 19 April 1986. The Springboks were sponsored by the all-white South African Rugby Board. Springbok supporters came from South Africa to Twickenham and Cardiff Arms Park for the centenary.

Leaflet publicising a demonstration at the International Rugby Union’s centenary celebrations at Twickenham on 19 April 1986. The ‘rest of the world’ squad included several Springboks sponsored by the whites-only South African Rugby Board. The demonstration was organised by the AAM, SANROC and the British Black Conference against Apartheid Sport. There was also a demonstration in Cardiff, where the British Lions played a world squad on 16 April.

Anti-apartheid supporters protested outside the Wembley Arena in 1986 when British boxer Frank Bruno fought South African Gerry Coetzee. Britain’s welterweight champion Lloyd Honeyghan later gave up his world title rather than break the sports boycott by fighting a South African. The protest was backed by the Black British Conference Against Apartheid Sport, chaired by former Sports Council member Paul Stephenson. World boxing champions John Conteh and Maurice Hope also wrote to Frank Bruno asking him to call off the fight.

Tyneside AA Group supporters told Zola Budd she should not run for England at Gateshead Stadium on 30 January 1988. The sprinter continued to live in South Africa but obtained a British passport to get round the sports boycott against apartheid.

An English cricket team, led by Mike Gatting, planned to tour South Africa in 1990. This letter from the AAM’s President Archbishop Trevor Huddleston expressed dismay at Prime Minister Thatcher’s failure to implement the Commonwealth Gleneagles Agreement, committing governments to do all in the power to end sporting relations with South Africa.

The AAM campaigned to stop the 1990 rebel cricket tour of South Africa, led by Mike Gatting, picketing over 40 county cricket matches involving members of the team. This poster advertises a demonstration at the NatWest Final held at Lords cricket ground on 2 September 1989.  The tour was cut short by protests inside South Africa and made a big financial loss.

The AAM campaigned to stop the 1990 rebel cricket tour of South Africa, led by Mike Gatting. It picketed 40 county cricket matches involving members of the team. These demonstrators are outside the Oval. The tour was cut short by protests inside South Africa and made a big financial loss.

In 1990 a rebel cricket tour of South Africa, led by Mike Gatting, broke the international boycott of South African cricket. This petition was presented to the Test and County Cricket Board and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. AAM supporters also picketed 40 county cricket matches involving members of the team. The tour was cut short by protests inside South Africa and made a big financial loss.

In 1990 a rebel cricket tour of South Africa, led by Mike Gatting, broke the international boycott of South African cricket. AAM staff members Paul Brannen (pictured here) and Karen Talbot protested at the photocall and press conference held on the day the team left for South Africa. AAM supporters also picketed 40 county cricket matches involving members of the team. The tour was cut short by protests inside South Africa and made a big financial loss. 

In the early 1990s there were moves to desegregate sport in South Africa and South Africa was readmitted to the International Olympic Committee. But the new non-racial National and Olympic Sports Congress withdrew its support from this all-white rugby tour of Britain. This leaflet advertised a demonstration in support of non-racial rugby outside the Twickenham rugby ground.

Leaflet publicising a demonstration at a rugby game between Dulwich College and an all-white South African team.