The transition from traditional forms of popular recreation to modern sports has often been explained as just one manifestation of the modernization of society. This explanation is not wrong in general terms but there are some things it fails to explain, most notably why some “recreations-turned-sports” became more popular than others as societies modernized. This article uses the case of the transition from traditional forms of “football” to modern soccer and rugby in the Victorian north-east of England to explore this issue of differential popularity.