WITH regard to your article on sexism in football, the former Head of Westminster School, Dr John Rae, in his book ‘Letters to Parents’, outlines how sports were first introduced in schools some centuries ago, “to tame the student mob”, coming to take on “all the aspects of a religion”, with the teachers becoming “even greater devotees than the pupils”.

As Dr Rae put it “sports were seen as important for the development of character, and character was seen as superior to intellect.

The consequences of this policy can be seen today, with so many people connected with sports displaying characters that are far more noticeable than their intellects.

As Rudyard Kipling famously said “The flannelled fools at the wicket, the muddied oafs at the goal”.

Had sports commentators been around in his day, he would probably have thought of a word or two to describe them as well.

PETER DAVEY, Barrie Road, Moordown