Sports

Sports play an important part in the life in Britain and is a popular leisure activity.

Many of the world's famous sports began in Britain, including cricket, football, lawn tennis, golf and rugby.

England's national sport is cricket although to many people football (soccer) is seen as our national sport. Football is our most popular sport. Some of England's football teams are world famous, the most famous being Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Cricket

Cricket is played on village greens and in towns/cities on Sundays from April to August

The rules of cricket became the responsibility, in the 18th century, of the Marylebone Cricket Club(MCC), based at Lord’s cricket ground in north
London.

Football (Soccer)

Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in England, and has been played for hundreds of years.

In the English Football League there are 92 professional clubs. These are semi-professional, so most players have other full-time jobs. Hundreds of thousands of people also play football in parks and playgrounds just for fun.

Rugby

Rugby originated from Rugby school in Warwickshire. It is similar to football, but played with an oval ball. Players can carry the ball and tackle each other. The best rugby teams compete in the Super League final each September.

For many years Rugby was only played by the rich upper classes, but now it is popular all over the country. There are two different types of rugby - Rugby League, played mainly in the north of England, and Rugby Union, played in the rest of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, together with France and Italy, play in an annual tournament called the Six Nations.

Golf

Scotland is traditionally regarded as the home of golf. There are over 400 golf courses in Scotland alone. The most important golf club in Scotland is in the seaside town of St. Andrews, near Dundee.