SPORTING INVENTION
The British are famous for inventions that have changed the world. The steam engine, the telephone, the television, the pneumatic tyre, and the Internet can all be stamped ‘Made in Britain’. Yet how many sports can we claim to have invented? Well, in addition to inventing the modern Olympic Games, Britain also gave the world its most popular sports.
Football
So, let’s start with the big one. Despite the fact that it was China, and not Britain, who first devised a game where a ball was kicked into a net to score points, the game of football, as we know it today, is a very British phenomenon.
In 1863 the Football Association was established in England, and the rules of the game have remained essentially the same ever since. Their relative simplicity, and need for little equipment ensured that it became very popular. The power of the British Empire meant that it became played in every corner of the world, as sailors and soldiers would teach and then play local teams in every port they visited.
Rugby
The establishment of the FA led to directly to the birth of another great British sport. Some of the players were dismayed by the new rules, which stated that the ball could no longer be carried, and that kicking and grabbing your opponent was not allowed.
These had been part of the game since 1823, when a schoolboy at Rugby School decided that his dribbling skills were not up to much, and picked the ball up and started running towards the opponent’s goal. After the FA changed the rules some of the teams thought that football was simply too girly, and in 1871 Rugby Football Union was established, and the sport of rugby was born.
Tennis
Summer is not summer in Britain without the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. The most prestigious of the Grand Slam events owes its reputation to the fact the game was invented in Britain in 1859. The traditions of the game of have changed little, still being played on manicured lawns and the players obliged to wear all white, although it has been a depressingly long time since Britain has produced a champion…
Golf
One of the oldest, and let’s face it, most bizarre sports from Britain is golf. Originating from Scotland in the 15th century, the game involves whacking a small white ball around a large field and trying to make it land in a series of eighteen tiny holes in the ground. A game only fully understood by middle-aged men, who spend considerable time at the nineteenth hole – the clubhouse bar.
Cricket
Another quintessentially British summer phenomenon is the sound of the crack of leather against willow. Invented in England in the 16th century, this game may be perplexing to foreigners, particularly as a single game can last three days, and offer the spectator little more than the sight of a group of men standing around in the field, and the opportunity of getting steadily drunker in the summer sunshine. It is all very gentlemanly, and at least a sport the British are actually quite good at.
…and the rest
Snooker, boxing, darts, table tennis and even skiing can call Britain home. In fact, without a certain Dr William Penny Brookes, the world would not even have the modern Olympics. Determined to improve the physical and mental condition of the average 19th century Briton, the good doctor proposed a games tournament that would blend together the ancient Greek athletic disciplines, with modern sports like football. And so the Olympics as we know it were born, and in 2012 they are coming home.
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