Probably the most popular sport in the UK is football (also called soccer), although rugby dominates in Wales and Northern Ireland. The football team, Manchester United, is known all over the world as are many UK footballers, including Ian Wright, Andy Cole, David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Alan Shearer. The climax of the football season is the English FA Cup, which is played at Wembley in London, and the Scottish FA Cup, held at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Rugby is said to have been invented in the 19th Century when a pupil at Rugby public school picked up the football and ran with it instead of kicking it. Rugby Union is played in Scotland, Wales and the south of England, and Rugby League is played in northern England.

One of the most famous sporting events is the Wimbledon Tennis Championship. Spectators eat strawberries and cream while watching singles and doubles matches at the All England Club in south-west London.

Scotland is the home of golf and some of the world’s most celebrated golf courses, such as Muirfield, Troon, and the ‘Royal and Ancient Golf Club’ at St Andrews. Famous fairways in Northern Ireland include the Royal Portrush and Royal County Down.

Other popular sports include cricket, fishing, horse-racing, athletics and golf. Darts is played in pubs (public houses or inns), which are the focus of social life in villages and towns. Darts is played by both men and women. The game is played by throwing short metal arrows (or darts) at a circular board divided into different sections, each of which scores varying amounts of points.

cricket

Cricket is often thought of as typically British, and it is played in villages and towns all over the country in the summer. It is played by two teams of eleven. A formal game can last anything from an afternoon to five days. Traditionally players wear long white trousers and a white shirt and jumper.

The order in which the teams bat is determined by the toss of a coin. The captain of the side which wins the toss may elect to bat or field first. The main purpose of the game is for a bowler to throw a hard leather-covered ball at three wooden stumps in an effort to dislodge two pieces of wood (bails) balanced on top. The batsman stands in front of the stumps and tries to hit the ball as far as possible with a paddle-shaped willow bat. If the ball knocks the bails off the stumps, the batsman is ‘out’ and cannot play for the rest of the game. Teams bat in successive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposing team fields and attempts to bring an end to the batting team's innings.

Top hoto for Oxfam GB by Geoff Sayer; bottom photo for Oxfam GB by Crispin Zeeman

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