Seeing red

Would modernising our attire help buttress fieldsports – or does it simply risk losing an important tradition for no real gain?

- NETIA WALKER

What do footballers, rugby players, cyclists and many country-sports enthusiasts have in common? They are all members of legal sporting associations and wear ‘club colours’ to distinguish themselves, whether in a tie, cap, collar, buttons or coat. Not all the colours are particularly tasteful – and let’s not go near cyclists’ Lycra. Yet none of them seems to get any gip about their attire – except the country-sports fraternity.

One camp, with an increasingly popular view, maintains that the country-sports dress code needs to be shaken up to stop the rest of the community from feeling that there’s a divide between them and us. Traditionally, those taking part in country sports would take time to dress well as a sign of respect to the invitation, or to the landowner and farmers whose land you were crossing that day. Is a group of wellpresented people, either on the shooting or hunting field, really offensive, or do people object to what we stand for, in which case we would ruffle feathers in whatever we are clad?

During the pandemic, The Hunting Office advised packs of hounds to refrain from wearing red coats. It was deemed too antagonistic. Instead, they felt we needed to blend into the countryside and not draw too much attention to ourselves at a time when all of us had to cope with restrictions. It caused a mixed reaction, with some willing to do anything to save their beloved sport any unnecessary repercussions and some furious that, even though they were partaking in a legal activity allowed under Covid guidelines, they were made to feel that they should go ‘underground’.