‘I really have a secret satisfaction in being considered rather mad.’

The name of William Heath Robinson has entered the national vocabulary as a by-word for eccentric inventions and makeshift solutions – and with good reason. His world of cogs, bits of string, magnets and precarious tipping points holds a universal appeal.

Here, the quintessential illustrator of British quirks casts his gaze on the nation’s sporting efforts, from our trials on the golf course to our triumphs on the ski slopes, plus a number of completely impossible sports from Heath Robinson’s unique imagination. Everyone who has ever hit a golf ball, swum the length of a swimming pool or braved a football pitch will find something of themselves in this hilarious tribute to the world of sport.