Sport

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.