SPORTS IN BRITAIN

Most English people enjoy sports and outdoor activities, and they have many opportunities to participate in and watch various organized sports.

England's most popular organized sport is football, or soccer. Soccer as it is played today developed in England during the 1800's and quickly spread to many other countries. During the football season, which lasts from August to May, about 30 million spectators watch the games. Millions of English people bet on the results of each week's football games by filling out «pools coupons». The chances of winning are small, but winners have collected large amounts of money. At the end of the season, nearly 100,000 people jam Wembley Stadium in London to watch two teams battle for the Football Association Cup. International matches, featuring teams from other countries, are held in England throughout the season.

Cricket has been called England's national game. It is played by two 11-member teams using a bat and ball. The English probably began playing cricket as early as the 1300's. Today, almost all towns and villages have cricket teams. A highlight of the cricket season is one or more test matches between a team representing England and a team from Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or the West Indies. Since 1882, a series of test matches between England and Australia has been played for «the Ashes». This term was first used after Australia had beaten England in a match in London. After that defeat, an English newspaper printed a death notice of English cricket. The last words were: «The body will be cremated, and the ashes taken to Australia)). A year later, an English team went to Australia and won. Some Australian women burned part of a wicket, put the ashes in a small urn, and presented the urn to the English team captain. The urn was later sent to Lord's, a major cricket ground in London. It is always kept there, no matter which country wins the Ashes.

Rugby football, which resembles American football, is played throughout England from late summer to late spring. It is a fast, rough team sport. Each team tries to score by kicking, passing, or carrying the ball until they can kick it over the opponent's goal or touch it down behind the opponent's goal line Rugby originated out of an intramural soccer game played at Rugby School in Rugby, England, in 1823.

Next to football, the chief spectator sport in England is horse racing. It is a popular sport based on the speed of horses and the skill of jockeys. Horse races have been held since ancient times. The earliest records of horse races date back to about 1500 B.C., when chariot races were held in eastern Europe and northern Africa . The Olympic Games in ancient Greece first featured chariot races in 680 B.C. The Romans, who con trolled what is now Great Britain from the A.D. 40's to the early 400's, introduced horse racing there. Through the centuries, English monarchs and members of the nobility owned race horses. As a result, horse racing is sometimes called the sport of kings. King James I established a racing center at Newmarket, England, near Haverhill, and races began to be held there about 1619. Newmarket is still a center of horse racing today. Millions of people throughout Britain enjoy horse races now. Racing fans thrill to the sight of colorfully dressed jockeys on sleek horses galloping around a track toward the finish line.