Jasmine Directory

The UK is a winner at sports, as many important sports were heavily developed or originated in the UK. Also, each country has its separate sport team. Different teams represent England, Scotland and Wales, while for Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland tend to form a single team (an exception being the Commonwealth Games and soccer).

When talking about sports, UK's teams are most commonly referred to by a singular name, as the Home Nation. Also, there are a number of sport events in which a single team represents the UK, for instance, at the Olympics where the Great Britain team competes for the UK.

The most popular sports in the UK are association football, boxing, rowing, rugby, badminton, darts, tennis, cricket, snooker, golf and fox hunting.

Cricket is one of UK's most beloved sports and it was invented in England. Taking into consideration the number of participants, golf is the 6th most popular sport in the UK.

Tennis, as in the modern game of tennis, was created in the late 19th century in Birmingham. The Wimbledon Championships held annually in Wimbledon is the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

Rugby union originated in the yearly 19th century in England and in 1895, due to mainly financial differences, the rugby league football was created. Rugby league has evolved into a great show for spectators and is often referred to as the roughest, vigorously and physically demanding team sport.

Another highly appreciated sport especially in the UK, although achieving a worldwide success is snooker. One of snooker's most reputable professional players is the English snooker genius, Ronnie "The Rocket" O'Sullivan and the World Snooker Championship is held every year in Sheffield.

Without a doubt, UK's favorite sport is football. Again, the Home Nation is divided into 4 separate football teams, thus England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland compete in international soccer games as different countries, each having its own football association and league system.

London is the first city that hosts the Olympic Games for 3 times, in 1908, 1948 and 2012.