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 are the only member of the Super League from London, and indeed, all of southern England. As of 2024, they have returned to the Super League after earning promotion from the RFL Championship in 2023, however are expected to be immediately relegated under the grading system introduced for 2024.[6]London Skolars last participated in the third-level League One in 2023, but withdrew from the professional system to play within the amateur leagues.[7]
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.[8] 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.
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.[11] London was a part of the 2007 and 2014 Tour de France.[12]
The former Wembley Stadium was a football stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its successor and by its predecessor, Watkin's Tower.
Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as "Highbury" from the name of the district in which it was located, and was given the affectionate nickname of "The Home of Football".
The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and outdoor athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building which had been destroyed by fire in 1936, and is on the same site as the former FA Cup Final venue which was used here between 1895 and 1914.
White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284. The stadium was fully demolished after the end of the 2016–17 season.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After Partition of Ireland in 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities. This is in contrast to the majority of other states that participate in international sports which field a single national team to represent the entire polity.
The 1974–75 season was the 95th season of competitive football in England.
Stadium MK is a football stadium in the Denbigh district of Bletchley in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed by Populous and opened in 2007, it is the home ground of EFL League Two side Milton Keynes Dons and FA Women's National League South side Milton Keynes Dons Women. In 2022, the stadium hosted several matches during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.
Wembley Stadium is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which had stood from 1923 until 2003. The stadium is England's national football stadium, and thus hosts the majority of the England national team home matches and the FA Cup Final – the final of England's primary domestic club football competition. It is widely regarded as one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world, and is considered a hub for the English game. Wembley Stadium is owned by the governing body of English football, the Football Association, whose headquarters are in the stadium, through its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). With 90,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in the UK and the second-largest stadium in Europe, behind Barcelona's Camp Nou.
The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world.
Association football is the most popular sport, both in terms of participants and spectators, in London. London has several of England's leading men's football clubs. The city is the home of seventeen men's professional clubs, several dozen men's semi-professional clubs and several hundred men's amateur clubs regulated by the London Football Association, Middlesex County Football Association, Surrey County Football Association and the Amateur Football Alliance. Most London clubs are named after the district in which they play, and share rivalries with each other.
Sport in England plays a prominent role in English society. Popular teams sports in England include association football, cricket, field hockey, rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Major individual sports include badminton, athletics, tennis, boxing, golf, cycling, motorsport, and horseracing. Cricket is regarded as the national summer sport. Football is generally considered to be the popular sport, followed by cricket, tennis and rugby. A number of modern sports were codified in England during the nineteenth century, among them cricket, rugby union, rugby league, football, field hockey, bandy, squash, tennis, and badminton. The game of baseball was first described in 18th century England.
The 1992–93 FA Cup was the 112th season of the FA Cup, also known as The Football Association Challenge Cup. It was won by Arsenal, who beat Sheffield Wednesday 2–1 in the replay after a 1–1 draw in the final at the old Wembley Stadium. The goals were scored by Ian Wright and Andy Linighan, who scored in the 119th minute. This was the last FA Cup final to be decided by a replay before final replays were abolished in 1999.
The 2009–10 FA Cup was the 129th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. As in the previous year, 762 clubs were accepted for the competition. One club, Newcastle Blue Star, folded before the fixtures were released. As they were scheduled to enter the competition in the first round qualifying, their opponents in this round received a walkover.
The 2017–18 EFL Cup was the 58th season of the EFL Cup. The competition was open to all 92 clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. It was known as the Carabao Cup due to the start of a sponsorship deal with Carabao Energy Drinks after the tournament was unsponsored the previous year. The final took place at Wembley Stadium in London.
The 2018–19 EFL Cup was the 59th season of the EFL Cup. Also known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, the competition was open to all 92 clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. The first round was played on 14 August 2018, ten days after the start of the Football League season. Manchester City successfully defended their title, their first step in becoming the first English team to complete a domestic treble for the football season, as they later won the 2018–19 Premier League and the 2018–19 FA Cup. The final was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 24 February 2019.
The 2018–19 season was Tottenham Hotspur's 27th season in the Premier League and 41st successive season in the top division of the English football league system. Along with the league, the club competed in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and UEFA Champions League.
The 1992–93 Women's National League Cup was a football competition in England organised by the Women's Football Association. It was the second edition of the competition, which was later run by the Football Association as the Women's Premier League Cup and is now known as the FA Women's National League Cup.
The 2021–22 EFL Cup was the 62nd season of the EFL Cup. The competition was open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League.
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