Culture of The United Kingdom - Sport

Sport

Most of the major sports have separate administrative structures and national teams for each of the countries of the United Kingdom. Though each country is also represented individually at the Commonwealth Games, there is a single 'Team GB' (for Great Britain) that represents the UK at the Olympic Games.

The most popular sport in the UK is association football. The rules were first codified in England in 1863, and the UK has the oldest football clubs in the world. The home nations all have separate national teams and domestic competitions, most notably England's Barclays Premier League and FA Cup, and the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup. The first ever international football match was between Scotland and England in 1872. The English Premier League (formed in 1992 by member clubs of the old Football League First Division) is the most-watched football league in the world, and its biggest clubs include Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and current champions Manchester City.

Scotland's Celtic and Rangers also have a global fanbase. The best-placed teams in the domestic leagues of England and Scotland qualify for Europe's premier competition, the UEFA Champions League, where the competition's anthem, written by English composer Tony Britten, is played before each game. Football in Britain is renowned for the intense rivalries between clubs and the passion of the supporters.

The modern game of golf originated in Scotland, with the Fife town of St Andrews known internationally as the "Home of golf". and to many golfers the Old Course, an ancient links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage. Golf is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links, East Lothian, Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which is certified as the oldest golf course in the world by Guinness World Records. The oldest known rules of golf were compiled in March 1744 in Leith. The oldest golf tournament in the world, and the first major championship in golf, The Open Championship, first took place in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1860, and today it is played on the weekend of the third Friday in July. Golf's first superstar Harry Vardon, a member of the fabled Great Triumvirate who were pioneers of the modern game, won the Open a record six times. The 'Queensberry rules', the code of general rules in boxing, was named after John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry in 1867, that formed the basis of modern boxing. Britain's first heavyweight world champion Bob Fitzsimmons made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion. The modern game of cricket was created in England in the 1830s when round arm bowling was legalised, followed by the historical legalisation of overarm bowling in 1864. In 1876–77, an England team took part in the first-ever Test match against Australia. Hugely influential in terms of his importance to the development of the sport, W. G. Grace is regarded as one of the greatest cricket players of all time, and devised most of the techniques of modern batting. The rivalry between England and Australia gave birth to The Ashes in 1882 that has remained Test cricket's most famous contest, and takes place every two years. The County Championship is the domestic competition in England and Wales.

In 1845, rugby union was created when the first rules were written by pupils at Rugby School, Warwickshire. A former pupil of the school William Webb Ellis, is often fabled with the invention of running with the ball in hand in 1823. The first rugby international took place on 27 March 1871, played between England and Scotland. By 1881 both Ireland and Wales had teams, and in 1883 the first international competition the annual Home Nations Championship took place. In 1888, the Home Nations combined to form what is today called the British and Irish Lions, who now tour every four years to face a Southern Hemisphere team. The major domestic club competitions are the Premiership in England and the Celtic League in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and (since 2010) Italy. In 1895, rugby League was created in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, as the result of a split with the other Rugby code. The Super League is the sports top-level club competition in Britain. Since the 1920s, Henry Lyte's Christian hymn "Abide With Me" is sung prior to kick-off at every rugby league Challenge Cup final, and football's FA Cup Final.

The modern game of tennis originated in the UK in the 1870s, and after its creation, tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population, before spreading around the world. Major Walter Clopton Wingfield is credited as being a pioneer of the game. The oldest tennis tournament in the world the Wimbledon championships, first occurred in 1877, and today the event takes place over two weeks in late June and early July. The eight-time Slam winner and Britain's most successful player Fred Perry, is one of only seven men in history to have won all four Grand Slam events. Originating in 17th and 18th-century England, the Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Horse racing was popular with the aristocrats and royalty of British society, earning it the title "Sport of Kings." The National Hunt horse race the Grand National, is held annually at Aintree Racecourse in early April, and three-time winner Red Rum is the most successful racehorse in the events history. Other famous sporting events in the UK include the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the London Marathon, and The Boat Race on the River Thames. In 2002 Channel 4 broadcast the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments, as voted for by the UK public. A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including association football, golf, tennis, boxing, rugby league, rugby union, cricket, field hockey, snooker, billiards, squash, curling and badminton, all of which are popular in Britain. Another sport invented in the UK was baseball, and its early form rounders is popular among children in Britain.