SPORTS IN GREAT BRITAIN
The British are known to be great sports-lovers, so when they are neither playing, nor watching games, they like to talk about them. Many of the games we play now have come from Britain.
One of the most British games is cricket. It is often played in schools, colleges, universities and by club teams all over the country. Summer isn’t summer without cricket. To many Englishmen cricket is both a game and a standard of behaviour. When they consider anything unfair, they sometimes say: „That isn’t cricket.“
But as almost everywhere else in the world, the game which attracts the greatest attention is Association football, or soccer. Every Saturday from late August till the beginning of May, large crowds of people support their favourite sides in football grounds. True fans will travel from one end of the country to the other to see their team play. There are plenty of professional and amateur soccer clubs all over Britain. International football matches and the Cup Finals take place at Wembley.
Rugby football is also very popular, but it is played mainly by amateurs.
Next to football, the chief spectator sport in British life is horse-racing. A lot of people are interested in the races and risk money on the horse which they think will win. The Derby is perhaps the most famous single sporting event in the whole world.