Popular English Sports and Games

England is a sports-loving nation and when they are neither playing nor watching ¹games they like to talk about them and to discuss the major sporting competitions as the greatest events of the day.

If you ask the British to name their most favourite sports they may name football, cricket and tennis, though many of them go in for golf and hockey, athletics and climbing, rugby and rowing. Horse-racing, dog-racing and motor racing are also among the most popular sports in Great Britain.

Britain invented and developed many of the sports and games which are now played all over the world. Association football, or “soccer’, is one of them. As an organized game it appeared in the middle of the 19 th century, but in fact the game is much older. Probably Roman soldiers brought it to England 2000 years ago. Most British cities and towns have a football team. Every year each team plays in the Football Association Сompetitions ². The two best teams play in the Cup Final ³ at the Wembley Stadium near London which holds 100.000 spectators. Some fans pay up to 250 for a ticket for the Cup Final. It is one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

Another popular game appeared in 1859, when a teacher at Rugby school, while playing football, decided that it would be better to pick up the ball ⁴ and run with it. That is why the game took the name of rugby or “rugger”. The rules of the game are different from football. There are 15 or 13 players instead of 11 in a team. The ball is oval, not round and a player is allowed to take the ball in his hands and run with it. He may also attack his opponent; hold him by the shoulders or by the legs. Rugby is a violent game and it is highly popular in many regions of the country especially in Wales.

Cricket is England’s national summer game. It appeared in the 18 th century. There are two teams of eleven players: one man (the “bowler” ⁵) throws the ball and the “batsman” ⁶hits it with his bat. Cricket is a very long game. The most important matches can last from one to five days..

Golf is another kind of sports that is truly British. The game is played by striking a ball with a special golf club round a golf course with 18 holes. The golf player should push the ball into a hole in the ground with as few strokes as possible ^7. You need a special field for this game, so golf is rather expensive. Now it is played mostly in private clubs and is the sport of the rich.

Lawn tennis was also born in England at the end of the 19th century. The game soon spread all over the world. Every summer, in June, the biggest international tennis tournament takes place at Wimbledon near London.

Some people say that horse-racing is the king of sports in Great Britain and others call it the sport of the kings. Only rich people can afford to ⁸go in for this kind of sport and only the rich can afford to buy tickets for the most famous races.

Swimming is also very popular. The British think that swimming is one of the most beneficial sports. Millions of people enjoy swimming both as a recreational activity and as a competitive sport.

Rowing is the most popular of all kinds of sports at the oldest English Universities. The University Boat Race ⁹is a traditional sporting competition between Oxford and Cambridge which is held on the Thames every spring.

The British are very sporting people. About 50 per cent of the populations of the United Kingdom (some 29 mln adults and 7 mln children) participate in some sports or recreational activity. Among the most popular sporting activities also are: walking, hiking, snooker and billiards, darts, athletics, squash and cycling.

Mr.Brown: Well, that was certainly a good game. The best we’ve seen this winter.

David: Yes, better than last week. Easthampton have a good team, but the Bishopton players won because they are faster. Who are Bishopton playing next week?

B: Cardiff City, I think.

D: Do you think, they’ll win?

B: Most likely they will. In Wales rugger is more important than soccer, but Cardiff have a good team this year.

D: Which team will win the Cup?

B: Blackpool have a good chance, but I’m sure Manchester have a better.

D: What about Bolton?

B: It goes without saying they have the best chance of all.

D: Why do you think so?

B: Because they have a very fast team and some of their players are very clever with the ball.

They can think as well as run and that’s the most important thing in football.

D: Can you get tickets for the Cup this year?

B: I can’t say for sure but I know the secretary of the Bishopton Football Club.