Sport plays a prominent role in English life. Cricket is the official national sport. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries The most popular team sports are association football (commonly known as football), cricket, rugby union and rugby league. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Football is the word given to a number of similar Team sports all of which involve (to varying degrees kicking a Ball with the foot in an attempt to score a Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Major individual sports include athletics, tennis, golf, motorsport, and horseracing. Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) This article is about the sport For other uses see Horserace (drinking game or Horse race (politics.
A number of modern sports were codified in England during the nineteenth century, among them cricket, rugby union, rugby league, association football, tennis and badminton. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles) Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles or two opposing pairs (doubles who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court
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England has its own national team in most team sports, but the United Kingdom sends a combined team to the Olympics, which is formally "Great Britain and Northern Ireland" but commonly referred to as "Great Britain". England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands Competition between the home nations was traditionally at the centre of British sporting life, but it has become less important in recent decades. In particular, football's British Home Championship no longer takes place. The British Home Championship (also known as the Home International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom
The club competitions in most team sports are also English affairs rather than British ones. There are various anomalies however, such as the participation of the three largest Welsh football clubs in the English league system; an English club in the Scottish Football League. Founding members The Scottish League's first season of competition was in 1890-91.
The relative prominence of national team and club competition varies from sport to sport. In football, club competition is at the centre of the agenda most of the time because clubs plays more matches each year, but the four national teams are also followed avidly. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered In cricket the national team is much more widely followed than the county competitions, which have a limited profile, whereas in rugby league club competition generally overshadows international fixtures. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries County cricket is the highest level of domestic Cricket in England and Wales Rugby union falls between these two with very high profile international competitions and a strengthening club game.
Sport England is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in England. Sport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a Non-departmental public body under the Department for There are five National Sports Centres: Bisham Abbey, Crystal Palace, Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre, Lilleshall and Plas Y Brenin National Mountain Centre. There are five National Sports Centres as part of Sport England 's strategy to create an elite of English grown world class sporting talent Bisham Bisham Abbey is a Grade I listed Manor house at Bisham in the English county of Berkshire. The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large Sports centre and athletics track The National Watersports Centre Holme Pierrepont is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent Lilleshall Hall is a large former Country house and estate located near Lilleshall in Shropshire, England. Plas y Brenin, is currently the The National Mountain Centre for Wales (UK
The English Institute of Sport is a nationwide network of support services, aimed at improving the standard of English athletes. English Institute of Sport ( EIS) is a Nationwide network of support services aimed at improving the standard of English athletes. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A sportsperson ( British and American English) or athlete (principally American English is any person who participates regularly in a Sport. Services include sports medicine, physiotherapy, sports massage, applied physiology, strength and conditioning, nutrition, psychology and Performance Lifestyle support. Sports medicine specializes in preventing diagnosing and treating injuries related to participating in sports and/or exercise specifically the rotation or deformation of joints or Nutrition (also called nourishment or aliment) is the provision to cells and Organisms of the materials necessary (in the form of food to support Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and It is based at 8 regional hubs and other satellite centres.
The Minister for Sport and Tourism and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have responsibility for sport in England. The Minister for Sport and Tourism was a Junior minister in the Department for Culture Media and Sport of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility The Department for Culture Media and Sport ( DCMS) is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport
The role of sport in the formation of an English identity
England, like the other nations of the United Kingdom, competes as a separate nation in some international sporting events. The English association football, cricket (the England Cricket team represents England and Wales)[1] and rugby union teams have contributed to an increasing sense of English identity. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short Supporters are more likely to carry the St George's Cross whereas twenty years ago the British Union Jack would have been the more prominent. The St George's Cross (or the Cross of St George is a centred red cross on a white background The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. [2]
Elite level team sports
There are four sports in England which operate high profile professional leagues. Association football is the most popular sport and is played from August to May. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Rugby union is also a winter sport. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short Cricket is played in the Summer, from April to September. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Rugby league is traditionally a winter sport, but since the late 1990s the elite competition has been played in the summer to appeal to the family market, and take advantage of the faster pitches. History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games There are also professional leagues in basketball and ice hockey, but while these have small but loyal fanbases, they struggle to attract attention from the general media. Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team Sport played on Ice. Many other sports have amateur leagues.
Association football
The modern global game of Association Football was first codified in 1863 in London. Football is the National sport of England and plays a significant role in English culture. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered The impetus for this was to unify English public school and university football games. There is evidence for refereed, team football games being played in English schools since at least 1581. An account of an exclusively kicking football game from Nottinghamshire in the fifteenth century bears striking similarity to football. Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire The playing of football in England is documented since at least 1314. England is home to the oldest football clubs in the world (dating from at least 1857), the world's oldest competition (the FA cup founded in 1871) and the first ever football league (1888). The modern passing game of football was developed in London in the early 1870s [3]For these reasons England is considered the cradle of the game of football.
Football is the highest profile sport in England by a very wide margin. This has been the case for generations, but the gap is widely perceived to have increased since the early 1990s and football's dominance is often seen as a threat to other sports.
The governing body for football in England is The Football Association which is the oldest football organisation in the world. The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey It is responsible for national teams, the recreational game and the main cup competitions. They have however lost a significant amount of power to the professional leagues in recent times.
English football has a league system which incorporates thousands of clubs, and is topped by four fully professional divisions. The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in England (although The elite FA Premier League has twenty teams and is the oldest and richest football league in the world. The Premier League, colloquially referred to as the Premiership, is an English professional league for football clubs The other three fully professional divisions are the run by The Football League and include another seventy two clubs. The Football League, also known as the Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons is a league competition featuring professional football clubs Annual promotion and relegation operates between these four divisions and also between the lowest of them and lower level or "non-League" football. Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. There are a small number of fully professional clubs outside the top four divisions, and many more semi-professional clubs. Thus England has over a hundred fully professional clubs in total, which is considerably more than any other country in Europe.
The two main cup competitions in England are the FA Cup which is the oldest football competition in the world. The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after It is open to every men's football team in England, though only professional clubs ever reach the last few rounds, and the League Cup (currently known as the Carling Cup), which is for the ninety-two professional clubs in the four main professional divisions only. The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup, is an English football competition
Each season the most successful clubs from each of the home nations qualify for the two Europe wide club competitions organised by UEFA, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The Union of European Football Associations (Union des associations européennes de football is the administrative and controlling body for European football. See also List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winners The UEFA Champions League, which evolved from the European Champion Clubs' Cup is a seasonal club The UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA. England has both produced winners of each of these competitions.
The England national football team are considered one of the game's superpowers, having won the World Cup in 1966 when it was hosted in England. The English national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football The FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international Association football The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup was held in England from 11 July to 30 July Since then, however, they have failed to reach a final of a major international tournament, though they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1990 and the quarter-finals in 2002 and 2006 and Euro 2004. The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA (the Union of European
The FA hopes that the completion of the National Football Centre will go some way to improving the national team's performance. The National Football Centre (NFC is a planned centre for Association football in England, to be run by the Football Association.
Cricket
Cricket was invented in England and is England's most popular summer game and it is the national sport. Cricket was originally invented in England in 18-19th century and is considered as England's national summer sport William Gilbert Grace ( 18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English Cricketer who by his extraordinary skills made Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries It is probably the second most widely covered sport, and the fortunes of the England team are closely followed by many people who never attend a live game.
There are thousands of teams but there eighteen professional county clubs, seventeen of them in England and one in Wales. County cricket is the highest level of domestic Cricket in England and Wales Each summer the county clubs compete in the first class County Championship, which consists of two leagues of nine teams and in which matches are played over four days. First-class cricket refers to the class of Cricket matches of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players and officially adjudged first-class by The County Championship is the domestic first class Cricket competition in England and Wales. The same teams also play the one day National League, a one day knock out competition called the Friends Provident Trophy, and the short-form Twenty20 Cup. NightMatchOldTraffordjpg|right|thumb|350px|A night match at Old Trafford. The NatWest Pro40 League, is the One-day cricket league for first class cricket counties in England and Wales. The Friends Provident Trophy is a one day Cricket competition in the United Kingdom. The Twenty20 Cup is a Cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs These clubs are heavily dependent on subsidies from the England and Wales Cricket Board, which makes its money from television and endorsement contracts and attendances at international matches. The England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB) ( Bwrdd Criced Cymru a Lloegr) is the governing body of Cricket in England and Wales.
England is one of the test-playing nations, whilst Scotland and Ireland are associate members of the ICC and compete at One Day International level. Test cricket is the longest form of the Sport of Cricket. It has long been considered the ultimate test of playing ability between cricketing nations Note Most of the information here pertains to men's cricket ODI matches are also played in Women's cricket. Each summer two foreign national teams visit England to play seven test matches and numerous one-day internationals. In the British winter the England team tours abroad. The highest profile rival of the England cricket team is the Australian team, with which it competes for The Ashes, one of the most famous trophies in British sport. The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia.
The cricket team won The Ashes in 2005, and are ranked the 4th best Test nation in the world. The 2005 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied Cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Test cricket is the longest form of the Sport of Cricket. It has long been considered the ultimate test of playing ability between cricketing nations
Rugby
Like football, rugby union and rugby league both developed from traditional British football games in the 19th century. The history of rugby union follows from various football games played long before the 19th century but it was not until the middle of that century that rules were formulated The history of rugby league began with a schism of 1895 in Rugby football. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Rugby union was codified in 1871. Rugby league was established in 1895 by a number of clubs which wished to be allowed to pay their players, and subsequently developed somewhat different rules. For much of the 20th century there was considerable antagonism between rugby league, which was a mainly working class game based in the industrial regions of northern England, and rugby union, which is a predominantly middle class game in England, and is also popular in the other home nations. This antagonism has abated since 1995 when the International Rugby Board opened rugby union to professional players. The International Rugby Board (IRB is the world governing and law-making body for the sport of Rugby union, and previously for Rugby football.
Rugby union
The four home nations compete separately at international level. Rugby union is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports in England. They take part in the main European international rugby union competition, the Six Nations Championship. The Six Nations Championship (referred to as RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons known before 2000 as the Five Nations Championship, is an annual international England won the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup, the first victory in the competition by a British team (or, for that matter, any Northern Hemisphere country). The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby union world cup and was won by England.
The main rugby union club competition in England is a 12-team league called the Guinness Premiership, and there is also a cup competition, the EDF Energy Cup, which since 2005 has included teams from Wales. The English Premiership (known as the Guinness Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Guinness) is a professional league competition for Rugby The EDF Energy Cup (also known as the Anglo-Welsh Cup) is an English and Welsh Rugby union knock-out cup competition featuring the Attendances at club rugby in England have risen strongly since the sport went professional. English club sides also take part in the two European wide club rugby competitions, the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. The European Rugby Cup (known as the Heineken Cup because of the tournament's sponsorship by Heineken) is an annual Rugby union competition involving leading The European Challenge Cup in Rugby union, known as the Parker Pen Shield from 2001 to 2003 and Parker Pen Challenge Cup from 2003 to 2005 is the junior competition to
Rugby union clubs such as Leicester Tigers,Bath Rugby, London Wasps and the Northampton Saints have had success in the Europe-wide Heineken Cup. Leicester Football Club (nicknamed Leicester Tigers) is an English Rugby union club that plays in the Guinness Premiership. Bath Rugby (also known as just Bath) is an English professional Rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. London Wasps is an English professional Rugby union team The men's first team which forms London Wasps was derived from Wasps Football Club who Northampton Saints are a professional English Rugby union club from Northampton, England. The European Rugby Cup (known as the Heineken Cup because of the tournament's sponsorship by Heineken) is an annual Rugby union competition involving leading
Rugby league
The governing body of rugby league in the United Kingdom is the Rugby Football League. Rugby league is a popular team sport played in England The sport receives funding from Sport England as an 'English priority' sport History See also History of rugby league On 27 August 1895 as a result of an emergency meeting in Manchester prominent Lancashire clubs Broughton Rangers Overall rugby league is about as popular as rugby union in England, but draws most of this support from its heartlands in Yorkshire, North West England, Cumbria and Humberside, and is very popular with armchair sports fans nationwide (as can be seen by the fact that Super League viewing figures dwarf the rugby union equivalent on Sky Sports). Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. North West England is one of the nine official Regions of England.
The top level league is the twelve team Super League. Ten of the teams are based in the heartlands, one team is in London and one team in France. See Harlequin FC for the sister rugby union club Harlequins Rugby League is a Rugby league club representing the greater London London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The Catalans Dragons (sometimes referred to as Les Catalans or the Dragons) are a professional Rugby league Club based in Perpignan Below this level are the National Leagues, consisting of two divisions, with ten and twelve teams respectively. Media Some games are shown on Sky Sports, games involving Celtic Crusaders are shown on Welsh-language channel S4C. There is promotion and relegation between the National Leagues, but from the 2009 season the Super League will consist of 14 franchises, based on renewable three year licenses. The main knock-out competition is the Challenge Cup, which also includes clubs from France and Russia. The Challenge Cup (as of 2008 known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons is a knockout cup competition for Rugby league clubs across Europe This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending
Rugby league is also played as an amateur sport, especially in the heartland areas, where the game is administered by BARLA. The British Amateur Rugby League Association ( BARLA) is the governing body for social and recreational Rugby league in the United Kingdom. Since the rugby union authorities ended the discrimination against playing rugby league amateur numbers in the sport have increased, particularly outside the heartland areas. Amateurism (from Fr amateur "lover of" from OFr from L Through competitions such as the Rugby League Conference, consisting of one nationwide league of ten teams and twelve other regional leagues, including one Welsh and one Scottish league, the sport now has a national spread, at amateur level at least [1]. The Rugby League Conference (RLC (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from the Co-operative Group, is a series of regionally
Internationally, England fields a competitive team in international rugby league. The England national rugby league team represent England in international Rugby league football tournaments For many tournaments the home nations are combined to compete as Great Britain. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The Great Britain team won the Rugby League World Cup in 1954, 1960 and 1972, but England and Wales now compete separately in this tournament and Australia has held the title since 1975. Great Britain was traditionally one of the major national teams playing Rugby league. The Rugby League World Cup is an international competition contested by the men's national rugby league teams of the member nations of the Rugby League International The first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954. The prime motivators behind the idea of holding rugby league world cup were the The third Rugby League World Cup was held in Great Britain in 1960. The sixth Rugby League World Cup was held in France in October and November of 1972. The seventh Rugby League World Cup (also known as the Rugby League World Championship) was held in 1975.
The Great Britain team competes with Australia and New Zealand in the more recently founded Tri-Nations competition. The New Zealand national rugby league side represents New Zealand in the sport of Rugby league. The Rugby League Tri-Nations (also known as the Gillette Tri-Nations for sponsorship reasons is a Rugby league tournament involving the top three nations in the sport Great Britain also competes as a single team in test series such as the Ashes (against Australia) and the Baskerville Shield (against New Zealand). The Ashes is the name given to the trophy awarded to the winner of Rugby league test series between Great Britain and Australia. The Baskerville Shield is a trophy awarded to the winner of Rugby league test series between Great Britain and New Zealand.
The England national rugby league team will compete more regularly as a full test nation, in lieu of the Great Britain national rugby league team, which, following the 2007 Centenary Test Series against New Zealand will only reform as an occassional southern hemisphere touring side. The England national rugby league team represent England in international Rugby league football tournaments Great Britain was traditionally one of the major national teams playing Rugby league.
Other team sports
Basketball is a minor sport in England. Australian (rules football, or simply known as football, footy or Aussie rules, is a Team sport played between two teams of 18 players Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m As of the 2006-07 season the top level league is the ten team British Basketball League and second league is the twelve team English Basketball League. The teams are professional or semi-professional but have modest resources. British international basketball teams have not achieved any major successes. The Great Britain national basketball team, or Team GB for short is the representative team for the United Kingdom at international Basketball.
Ice hockey is a minor sport in England. Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team Sport played on Ice. Six teams out of the ten-team professional Elite League which features many former NHL players. The Elite Ice Hockey League (also known for sponsorship reasons as the Bmibaby Elite League) is a Professional Ice hockey league in the United The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America
Hockey is a moderately popular recreational sport in England. Field hockey is a Team sport in which players attempt to score goals by hitting the Ball across the pitch with a stick The Great Britain men's team won the hockey tournament at the 1988 Olympics. The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event staged in 1988 in However British hockey has gone backwards since then, partly because of conflicts between the need to foster a combined team to compete in the Olympics, and the commitment of the hockey associations of each of the home nations to the retention of separate national teams to compete in other international competitions.
Australian rules football is a team and spectator sport with a long but obscure history in England and has grown since 1989 to several amateur leagues. Australian (rules football, or simply known as football, footy or Aussie rules, is a Team sport played between two teams of 18 players Team sport refers to Sports that are practiced between opposing teams where the players interact directly and simultaneously between them to achieve an objective A spectator sport is a Sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators or watchers at its matches England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Australian Football League exhibition matches have been held in London every few years since 1972. The Australian Football League (AFL is both the professional Australian national competition in the Sport of Australian Rules Football and its highest Australian rules football has been introduced to a wide range of places around Australia and the world since the code originated in Victoria in 1858 London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. (see Australian rules football in England). Australian rules football in England is a team and Spectator sport with a long but obscure history and has grown since 1989 to several amateur
The Irish sports of Gaelic Football and Hurling are also organised on a similar basis. Gaelic football ( Irish: Peil, Peil Ghaelach, or Caid) commonly referred to as " football " is a form of Football Hurling (in Irish, iománaíocht or iomáint) is an outdoor team Sport of ancient Gaelic origin administered by the Gaelic Dating back to the 1880s London GAA teams compete in top level competitions in Ireland. For more details see the London Senior Hurling Championship and the London Senior Football Championship The London County Board of the During the 1970s and 80s there were as many as 85 GAA clubs in the London area and hundreds around Britain, but due to the fall off in Irish immigration in the 1990s the number has fallen considerably. The Gaelic Athletic Association ( GAA) ( Irish: Cumann Lúthchleas Gael /'kʊmˠən̪ˠ 'l̪ˠuh
Elite level individual sports
Tennis
Tennis is also one of Englands major sports, this can be seen through one of the most prestigious tournaments in tennis, Wimbledon, one of the four Grand Slams, being held in England. The Championships Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest Tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered as the most prestigious The four Grand Slam tournaments are the most important Tennis events of the year
Motorsport
The majority of the Formula One teams are based in England. The British Grand Prix takes place at Silverstone each July. The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship Silverstone Circuit is a Motor racing circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, named after the village in the former England
Major motor racing series based in the UK include the British Formula Three Championship and the British Touring Car Championship. The British Formula Three Championship is a national motor racing championship that takes place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland The British Touring Car Championship is a Touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom.
English drivers have achieved success in the World Rally Championship. History Early The World Rally Championship was formed from well-known international rallies nine of which were previously part of the International Championship
Since 2000 the British Superbike Championship has become increasingly popular, surpassing its four-wheeled rivals in terms of spectator receipts and television coverage. The British Superbike Championship ( BSB) is the leading Road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom. Britain hosts one round of the MotoGP championship at Donington Park, and usually two rounds of the Superbike World Championship, at Silverstone and Brands Hatch. Overview A Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix was first organized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM in 1949 Donington Park is a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, England, owned by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd History The Superbike World Championship began in, being open to modified versions of road bike models available to the public This article refers to the village For the motor racing circuit see Silverstone Circuit. Brands Hatch is a Motor racing circuit in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland it hosted 12 runnings of the In 2007 a third Superbike World Championship round was added at Donington Park, in 2008 Silverstone was dropped, Brands Hatch and Donington Park continue to be part of the championship. The 2007 World Superbike racing season is the 20th FIM Superbike World Championship season History The Superbike World Championship began in, being open to modified versions of road bike models available to the public Donington Park is a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, England, owned by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd The 2008 World Superbike racing season is the 21st season of the Superbike World Championship. This article refers to the village For the motor racing circuit see Silverstone Circuit. Brands Hatch is a Motor racing circuit in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland it hosted 12 runnings of the Donington Park is a site near Castle Donington in North West Leicestershire, England, owned by Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd
Britain are commonly seen as the widely dominant country for building racing cars as historic names such as Lola, March, Reynard and Chevron has supplied numerous teams. Lola Racing Cars (also Lola Cars International) is a Racing car Engineering company founded in 1961 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from Britain. Reynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer This article is about the manufacturer of racing cars for the Chevron promotional cartoon see Chevron Cars. Universities offering motorsport courses always back up this claim. Between the mid 1980's to the 1990's cars built in Britain has been widely dominant in CART racing and the Indianapolis 500 in the United States. Champ Car, was the name for a class and specification of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades primarily for use in the Indianapolis The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500, and historically known simply as "The 500" is an American
Boxing
England played a key role in the evolution of modern boxing, with the codification of the rules of the sport known as the Queensberry Rules in the 19th century. Boxing (sometimes also known as English boxing or pugilism) is a Combat sport in which two participants generally of similar weight, The Marquess of Queensberry rules are a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of Boxing.
British professional boxing offers some of the largest purses outside the United States to a few elite professional boxers who become nationally known. British heavyweight contenders are especially popular, but most British world champions have fought in the middling weight brackets. The governing body of professional boxing is the British Boxing Board of Control. The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC is the governing body of professional Boxing in the United Kingdom. It is generally felt that British professional boxing is in decline in the early years of the 21st century. The reasons for this include: the fact that football now offers a relatively large number of sportsmen the chance to make the sort of income traditionally only available to world boxing champions, reducing the incentive for athletic youngsters to accept the greater risks of a boxing career; the acquisition of the rights to most major fights by Sky Sports, which means that fewer boxers become national figures than in the past; and the knock the sport's credibility has taken from the multiplicity of title sanctioning bodies.
Amateur boxing is governed by the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABA) and the equivalent bodies in the other home nations. The Amateur Boxing Association of England is the governing body of amateur Boxing in England. British amateurs have only enjoyed a very modest amount of success in international competition in recent decades, partly due to the tendency for them to turn professional at an early stage. The amateur sport is in a very poor state, with dramatic declines in boxer numbers. National amateur boxing championships and international team matches, which were once highlights of the British sporting calendar, receive only limited national recognition.
Olympic Games
England does not compete at the Olympic Games, English athletes compete as part of the Great Britain team instead. The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was held in London However London hosted the Summer Olympics in 1908 and 1948. The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an International Multi-sport event, usually quadrennial organised by the International The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was held in London In July 2005 London was chosen to host the Games in 2012, making it the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times. The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an International Multi-sport event, usually quadrennial organised by the International
Other individual sports
Other sports with loyal followings include snooker, which is popular with television companies as it fills swathes of their schedules at a very low cost, and also attracts good audiences. Snooker is a Cue sport that is played on a large Baize -covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long However, its popularity has waned somewhat since 1985, when nearly a third of the British population watched the conclusion of the celebrated Dennis Taylor versus Steve Davis World Championship final even though it ended after midnight. Dennis Taylor (born Denis Taylor, January 19 1949 in Coalisland, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) is a retired Snooker Steve Davis, OBE, (born Steven Davis August 22, 1957, Plumstead, London) is an English professional Snooker The World Snooker Championship, currently held at the Crucible Theatre in the English city of Sheffield, is the climax of Snooker 's annual calendar and The 1985 World Snooker Championship final was played on the weekend of 27-28 April 1985 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Darts is another British centred sport with an assured place in the attention of the English sporting public. Darts refers to a variety of related games in which darts are thrown at a circular target (dartboard hung on a wall
Major sports facilities
In the early 20th century England had some of the largest sports facilities in the world, but the level of comfort and amenities they offered would be considered totally unacceptable by modern standards. After a long period of decline relative to other developed countries English facilities have made a relative improvement since the 1980s, and this is ongoing.
National stadium
- Wembley Stadium (England football team) The newley reconstructed Wembley has also been used by the Great Britain rugby league team, and for major club matches in that sport. Wembley Stadium is a Stadium in Wembley, located in the London Borough of Brent in London, England. Great Britain was traditionally one of the major national teams playing Rugby league. History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games It can seat 90,000 people, second largest capacity in Europe. Wembley is also the most expensive stadium in the world, costing nearly £780 million.
- Lord's Cricket Ground (England and Wales Cricket Team). Lord's Cricket Ground (generally known as Lord's) is a cricket Lord's is considered to be the spiritual 'home of Test Cricket' and is the home of the MCC. It has a seating capacity of 30,000. Although Lord's doesn't have a large seating capacity it is due to the fact that cricket is a very elitist sport in England.
- Twickenham (England rugby union team) 82,000. Twickenham Stadium (usually known as just Twickenham or Twickers) is a Stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond
Club Association football grounds
English football grounds are almost always football-only facilities in which the spectators are close to the action. Since the late 1980s there has been a dramatic spurt of reconstruction and replacement of league grounds, which is ongoing, and the Premiership's facilities are among the best of any sports league. The Premier League, colloquially referred to as the Premiership, is an English professional league for football clubs As of early 2005 there are approximately 30 all-seater club grounds in England with a capacity of 25,000 or more, and three in Scotland. The largest is Manchester United's Old Trafford, which has a capacity of 76,000.
Cricket grounds
English cricket grounds are smaller than the largest in some other countries, especially India and Australia, but the best of them have been modernised to a high standard, and two new international grounds have been built in recent years. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The largest English cricket ground, Lord's in London, is internationally regarded as the "home of cricket". Lord's Cricket Ground (generally known as Lord's) is a cricket
Club rugby grounds
Rugby union and rugby league clubs are generally poorer than their cricket and football counterparts. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Some clubs have good all seater grounds in the 10,000-25,000 capacity range; some have older grounds which are still partly terraced, and others play in council-owned joint-use stadia (eg. Local government in the United Kingdom is arranged into four different systems with one each for England Northern Ireland Scotland and Wales the KC Stadium). The Kingston Communications Stadium, often shortened to KC Stadium or just the KC, is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull (Hull Some clubs (mostly rugby union ones) rent stadia from football clubs.
Golf courses
The Belfry in the English Midlands has hosted the Ryder Cup more times than any other site. The Belfry is a prestigious golf resort in Wishaw, Warwickshire, near Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. This article is mainly about the English Midlands For other uses see Midlands (disambiguation. Wentworth Club near London is the only venue which hosts two European Tour events each season. Wentworth Club is a privately owned golf club and health resort in Virginia Water, Surrey on the south western fringes of London, not far from The PGA European Tour is an organisation which operates the three leading men's professional Golf tours in Europe the elite European Tour, the European
Athletics stadiums
The provision of athletics stadiums in England is very poor compared to most other developed countries. The main reason for this is that it is not considered acceptable to ask football or rugby fans to sit behind an athletics track. This means that athletics stadiums have to be separately financed and this can only be done with public funds, which have not been forthcoming on a large scale. The largest athletics stadium built in the UK since the Second World War, the 38,000-capacity City of Manchester Stadium built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, was reconfigured for football-only use after that event. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The City of Manchester Stadium, which is also known as COMS or Eastlands, is a sports venue in Manchester, England. The Commonwealth Games is a multinational Multi-sport event. Held every four years it involves the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. The largest existing stadium is the 25,000 seat Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. The Don Valley Stadium is an athletics Stadium in Sheffield, England. Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England London's largest athletics venue is Crystal Palace, which has just 15,500 permanent seats. The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large Sports centre and athletics track It will be superseded by the Olympic Stadium, which will be built as an 80,000 seater for the 2012 Summer Olympics, but will be reduced to 25,000 seats after the Games. The London Olympic Stadium will be the centrepiece of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Indoor arenas
In England there is no indoor sport capable of attracting five-figure attendances on a regular basis, and this restricts the development of large indoor arenas. Nonetheless a number of 10,000+ seater arenas have been built in recent years and more are planned. These facilities make most of their income from pop concerts, but they occasionally stage boxing matches and other sporting events. The largest is the Manchester Evening News Arena in its eponymous city, with a capacity of over 20,000 for court events. The Manchester Evening News Arena or MEN Arena (commonly referred to as just The M The O2 in London (the former Millennium Dome), reopened in 2007, contains an arena that seats 17,500, but can be reconfigured to seat more than the MEN Arena. The O2 is a large entertainment district including an indoor arena a music club a cinema an exhibition space piazzas and bars and restaurants built within a large dome-shaped The Millennium Dome, often referred to simply as The Dome, is the original name of a large Dome -shaped building originally used to house There are some specialist ice hockey and basketball arenas, but they only seat a few thousand spectators. Several of the 2012 Olympic arenas will be relocated outside London after the Games.
External links
Student sport
Apart from a couple of Oxbridge events, student sport has a very low profile in England. The Boat Race, also known as the University Boat Race and The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Oxbridge was originally a fictional composite of the University of '''Ox'''ford and the University of Cam'''bridge''' in England, and the term is now While universities have significant sports facilities, there is no system of sports scholarships. However students who are elite standard competitors are eligible for funding from bodies such as UK Sport on the same basis as anyone else. UK Sport is the United Kingdom 's organisation for directing the development of Sport within the home countries. The university most focused on sports provision is probably Loughborough University. Loughborough University is a Campus university located in the Market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands Budding professionals in the traditionally working class team sports of football and rugby league rarely go to university. Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Talented youngsters in the more middle class sports of cricket and rugby union are far more likely to attend university, but their sports clubs usually play a greater role in developing their talent than their university coaches. The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short Some sports are attempting to adapt to new conditions in which a far higher proportion of English teenagers attend university than in the past, notably cricket, which has established several university centres of excellence.
School sport
Sport is compulsory for all students up to the age of sixteen, but the amount of time devoted to it is often small.
The leading body for physical education in the United Kingdom is the Association for Physical Education. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Association for Physical Education (afPE is committed to being the UK representative organisation of choice for people and agencies delivering or supporting the delivery of physical Sportsmark is Sport England's accreditation scheme for secondary schools. Sportsmark is Sport England's accreditation scheme for secondary schools Sport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a Non-departmental public body under the Department for The scheme recognises a school's out of hours sports provision. [
There are frequent complaints that state sector schools do too little to encourage sport and a healthy lifestyle. Since the 1980s it has become a cliché to complain about sales of school playing fields for development.
Sports culture is strong in independent schools in the United Kingdom, and these schools contribute disproportionate numbers of competitors in those that are traditionally considered 'elitist' sports such as cricket and rugby union hence cricketers and rugby union players are more likely to come from private schools while state schooling is generally responsible for the bulk of participants of other sports, notably association football, rugby league, boxing and athletics and occasionally cricket and rugby union. An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school relying upon private sources for all of its funding predominantly in the form of school fees
In addition to the many of the sports already mentioned, popular sports at junior level include netball and rounders, both of which are played almost entirely by girls. Netball is a non-contact team Sport similar to and derived from Basketball. Rounders ( Irish: cluiche corr) is a Sport played between two teams each alternating between batting and fielding However, in recent times schoolgirls have increasingly played sports which are traditionally male, especially football and cricket, but also others such as rugby.
References
- ^ England Cricket Team Profile ICC World Cup 2007 website. The International Cricket Council (ICC is the international governing body of Cricket. The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was a Men 's Cricket Tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007 using the sport's Retrieved 13 September 2006. Events 509 BC - The Temple of Jupiter on Rome 's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ Daily Mirror newspaper (UK), article by Billy Bragg, 17 September, 2005 - Accessed November 2006. "Watching the crowd in Trafalgar Square celebrating the Ashes win, I couldn't help but be amazed at how quickly the flag of St George has replaced the Union Jack in the affections of England fans. A generation ago, England games looked a lot like Last Night of the Proms, with the red, white and blue firmly to the fore. The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily Orchestral Now, it seems, the English have begun to remember who they are. "
- ^ Wall, Sir Frederick (2005). 50 Years of Football, 1884-1934. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN 1-8622-3116-8.
See also
- Sport in the United Kingdom
- Sport in Leeds
- Sport in London
- Sport in Manchester
- Sport in Sheffield
- Association for Physical Education afPE
External links
- The Tug of War Association
- 2007 European Outdoor Tug of War Championships - 20-23 September 2007 - Minehead - Somerset
- Association for Physical Education Association for Physical Education afPE Official website
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