Sports in London

!±8± Sports in London

From the past, London has hosted a number of high-profile international tournaments and has its professional teams in numerous sports. Quite a few spectacular sport events take place in the capital all around the year. From nail-biting football matches to fiercely fought rugby games and prestigious cricket series, a few world-class sport venues in London bring the best of sports to the UK.

Football:
London's place in the history of football is quite special. Londoners are in love of football since the times of yore. Unquestionably, today's most popular game in London is football, in terms of both spectators and participants. London has many of the UK's top-notch football clubs and boasts 14 professional football teams, maximum in numbers than any other city in the globe. For the most part of the year, there's a plethora of phenomenal soccer events in the capital.

Cricket:
As the origin of cricket was in England and as London has remained the centre of world cricket for the longer period, there is a whole host of cricket fanatics in the capital. Cricket is a well-established and well-organised sport in London and is second most popular after football. The city has two notable Test cricket grounds, Lord's and The Oval. Out of which, Lord's is widely referred as the 'home of cricket'. The city hosts several cricket events throughout the year.

Rugby:
In other sports, rugby is quite influential in London. Both rugby codes (League and Union) are proficiently played in the capital. Most of the rugby action comes to pass in the south west of the metropolis. Rugby Union season starts in September and ends in May, whilst Rugby League takes place from February to October. Now, London has a rich array of rugby teams those are excelling in both domestic and European tournaments.

Rowing:
The River Thames is the focal point of all rowing events in London. Every year, an exciting Boat Race is held between Cambridge and Oxford universities, from Putney to Mortlake. To boot, there are several rowing clubs in the city based along the River Thames, particularly in the Putney region. State-of-the-art facilities are available for rowing throughout the city.

Other Sports:
London will host the Summer Olympics 2012, making it the world's only city to host the Summer Olympics thrice.
Tennis, basketball are some of the few other well-liked sports in London. Every year, plenty of high-ranking tennis events take place in the capital, featuring the world's top-notch tennis players.

Nowadays, cycling has reached the excessive level of popularity in the capital. Thanks to Transport for London's few innovative cycling initiatives like Barclays Cycle Hire, Cycle Superhighway and free cycle training. Transport for London has also taken some additional safety measures to make cycling in London alive and well.

Other popular sports are field hockey, baseball, snooker, bowls, motor-racing, swimming, golf, racquets, darts, croquet, horse-racing, squash, boxing, archery, wrestling and fox-hunting.