Overview of sports traditions and activities in London
In London, a diverse array of athletics stretching from football to tennis have further granted its city the spotlight throughout the world. London has hosted the Olympic Games in 1908, 1948, and most recently in 2012, making it the most frequently chosen city in modern Olympic history. Other popular sports in London include cricket, rowing, rugby, basketball, and most recently American Football.
London has a special place in the history of football. The playing of football in London has been well documented since it was first outlawed in 1314. In the sixteenth century the headmaster of St Paul's School, Richard Mulcaster, is credited with taking mob football and transforming it into organised and refereed team football. The modern game of football was first codified in 1863 in London and subsequently spread worldwide. Key to the establishment of the modern game was Londoner Ebenezer Cobb Morley who was a founding member of The Football Association, the oldest football organisation in the world. Morley wrote to Bell's Life newspaper proposing a governing body for football which led directly to the first meeting at the Freemasons' Tavern in central London of the FA. He wrote the first set of rules of true modern Association football at his house in Barnes. The modern passing game was invented in London in the early 1870s by the Royal Engineers A.F.C.[1][2]
Football is now the most popular spectator sport in London, and the city has several of England's leading clubs. Most London clubs are named after the district in which they play (or used to play). Historically the London clubs have not accumulated as many trophies as those from the north-west of England, such as Liverpool and Manchester United, but at present Arsenal (founded at Woolwich Arsenal but playing in Holloway), and Chelsea (who actually play in Fulham) are regarded as two of the Premier League's "big four" alongside Manchester United and Liverpool. In 2003–04 they became the first pair of London clubs to finish first and second in the top flight, with Arsenal winning. In 2004–05 they did so again, this time with Chelsea winning. In 2009–10, three of the top four places were occupied by London sides—Chelsea (champions), Arsenal (3rd) and Tottenham Hotspur (4th). This meant that the 2010–11 season would see three London clubs in the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever.
London clubs are able to charge higher ticket prices than clubs in other parts of the country (particularly for corporate facilities), and this has swung English football's balance of power towards London. Before Chelsea's recent rise in fortunes the two highest profile London clubs were Arsenal and their long-standing North London rivals Tottenham, both of whom were considered to be members of English football's "big five" for most of the post-war period. The 2020–21 Premier League features six London clubs: Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham and West Ham United.
Wembley Stadium, in north-west London, is the national football stadium (and also hosted Tottenham Hotspur's home games from 2017 to 2019), and is traditionally the home of the FA Cup Semi-finals and Final, League CupFinal and England's home internationals. The old stadium was closed in 2000 to be demolished and completely rebuilt, and the new stadium opened in 2007. Cardiff's Millennium Stadium was the venue for FA Cup finals during the reconstruction, while England played at various venues around the country. Wembley was one of the venues for the 1966 FIFA World Cup and the 1996 European Football Championship, and hosted the final of both tournaments. It also was the venue for the European Cup final in 1968, 1978, 1992, 2011 and 2013. Wembley will host the semi-finals and finals of the Euro 2020 after winning the right to host the semi-finals and finals when Germany withdrew their bid. As well as football matches, Wembley has hosted many other sporting events, including the rugby leagueChallenge Cup final.
The Oval in Kennington, home of Surrey CCC, became the first ground in England to host international Test cricket in September 1880. The Oval was also an important location for football: England's first international match (against Scotland) was held there in 1870,[4] and it was the location of the first FA Cup final (in 1872), and later finals between 1874 and 1892.
Rugby union is also well established in London, especially in the middle-class suburbs to the north and west of the city. Four of the twelve clubs in the Aviva Premiership have London origins, although only two of them now play in London.
The two clubs that play in London are Harlequins, which play at The Stoop, and Saracens, which play at Allianz Park in Hendon. London Irish shares Madejski Stadium, a football ground outside the boundaries of Greater London in Reading (though still in the metropolitan area). Wasps left the London commuter belt entirely in December 2014, moving to Coventry and purchasing Ricoh Arena, a major football ground. In more recent years, a modern tradition has seen these four clubs play out of Twickenham during the first round of the Premiership, in a double-header.
Apart from the traditional elite clubs, London Welsh, currently in the RFU Championship, have bounced between the Premiership and Championship in recent years, having either been promoted to or relegated from the Premiership in each season since 2011–12. From their first Premiership season in 2012–13 to their most recent in 2014–15, they shared a football ground outside the commuter belt, Kassam Stadium in Oxford, but they have now returned to Greater London at Old Deer Park in Richmond. Two London-based clubs compete in the Championship—Ealing Trailfinders, from the North London borough of Ealing, and London Scottish, also based in Richmond. Another club from the immediate London area has recently played in the Championship before being relegated to National League 1—Esher, located just outside Greater London in Hersham, last played in the Championship in 2011–12. In addition to the professional clubs, many amateur sides exist and include teams such as London Nigerian who draw their players from the supporters of fallen corrupt Nigerian regimes as well as numerous accountants, doctors and lawyers from Nigeria's Igbo and Yoruba communities.
London Broncos play at Trailfinders Sports Ground. Before a 2015 reorganisation of the professional leagues, they were the only member of the elite Super League in London, and indeed, all of southern England. They now play in the second-level Championship.
Another London club in the professional ranks of the game is London Skolars (based in Haringey) who play in the third-level League 1.
For years London Towers have been the flagship of London basketball, dominating the domestic British Basketball League (BBL), challenging in the Euroleague and fighting out a cross-town rivalry with Greater London Leopards. However, early into the new millennium both teams encountered several financial obstacles and soon folded.
After Towers withdrew from the BBL in 2006, lower-league team London United were elected to the top-tier to ensure the capital continued its presence in Britain's only professional league. Yet after just a year they too found themselves falling at financial hurdles and were replaced by another lower-league outfit, London Capital, who eventually folded in 2013.
In similar fashion, following the demise of the Leopards in 2003, fans set up a new club to replace and carry on the Leopards name. The reincarnated London Leopards today compete in the second-tier English Basketball League.
The current only London professional basketball team is the London Lions. The London Lions originated from Milton Keynes but moved to London in 2013. Playing out of Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in year one, the team qualified for the end of season Playoffs with an all English squad. The following year the club moved into the Copper Box Olympic facility and duly sold out 7,000 seats for their first ever game against US College side, Iowa University. In the spirit of legacy, the club has forged partnerships whilst building a truly community club in London, in association with GLL (the largest leisure provider in the city), and now the Youngblood Lions, Hackney Community College, Epping Forest College, Raines School, Right Development Foundation and many more. This season (2017–18), the Club finished second in the premiership league and won the British Basketball All-Stars Championship.
Every April since 1981, London has hosted one of the world's largest mass-participation marathons, the London Marathon.[6] Indeed, the now standard length for a modern marathon was set in the 1908 London Olympics. The London Triathlon, the largest triathlon event in the world, also takes place annually.
The 2016 season will be the first in which International Series games will be played at two London venues. One 2016 game is set for Twickenham, which will host at least three and as many as five games from 2016 to 2018. From 2019 to 2028, and possibly longer, at least two International Series games will also be held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Other sports
Recent years have seen cycling in London become increasingly popular. Transport for London have taken measures to improve cycling safety, and launched new initiatives including the Barclays Cycle Hire, Cycle Superhighways, and free cycle training. The Lee Valley VeloPark was constructed for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and re-opened to the public in March 2014.[8] London was a part of the 2007 and 2014 Tour de France.[9]
London also hosts three women's roller derby leagues: the London Rockin' Rollers, London Roller Derby, and Croydon Roller Derby. All are widely regarded as top teams in Europe, with the London Rollergirls' A and B teams (London Brawling and Brawl Saints) both unbeaten in Europe.
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