Category: Sport

Christopher Brasher, CBE (1928-2003) and John Disley, CBE (1928-2016) took part in the New York City marathon in 1979 and were so enthused by the joy of that experience that they decided to start the London Marathon in 1981. It has taken place every April since, breaking records each year.

Their six stated aims reflected what they had seen in NYC ~ people of all backgrounds coming together to have fun, achieve a goal and cheer each other on while raising money for charity. It was also to show the UK’s know-how in staging major events, to provide an opportunity for international athletes to compete and to encourage everyone to participate in sport. Over a million people have now taken part in the London Marathon.

It holds the record for the greatest amount raised in a single day, namely £63,700,000. Individual records are held for the ‘fastest in a full-bodied animal costume’, and ‘fastest dressed in a tent’, etc., but the actual track record is 2:02:37 (2019) for its 26.219 mile length. Most runners take much longer than this, but there is a time limit of 24 hours. In 2005 a cobbled street section was bypassed in a re-routing of the track, which starts at Blackheath and finishes on The Mall.

(Image: Stephen Craven at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The most ardent football fans travel long distances to shout and cheer from the stands, but if the distance is very short, many more fans will be willing and able to attend. Passions run high at these footballing derbies and the atmosphere in a packed stadium will be noisy and competitive. Rivalry between fans of different clubs in the same town or district has a special intensity, so if the teams are in the same league or are drawn together in a cup match, there is added excitement.

Sometimes there is a particular historical background, such as in the derbies between West Ham and Millwall, where one side did not apparently support the other in a workers’ strike. The ‘Old Firm’ derby between Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow has a religious basis and the South Wales derby between Swansea and Cardiff was typified in 1988 by fifty Swansea fans chasing thirty Cardiff fans into the sea before police intervened.

Other notable derbies include:-

• Arsenal vs. Tottenham
• Manchester City vs. Manchester United
• Aston Villa vs. Birmingham
• Newcastle vs. Sunderland
• Bristol City vs. Bristol Rovers
• Sheffield Wednesday vs. Sheffield United
• Liverpool vs. Everton
• Ipswich vs. Norwich
• Portsmouth vs. Southampton
• Derby vs. Nottingham Forest

(Image: Simon Cooper at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0)

‘Hockey on horseback’ originated in Persia, China and Asia and the British first caught onto it in India in the 1850s. They set up polo clubs, the first being in Manipur in 1859, then the Calcutta Polo Club in 1861. Major General Joseph Ford Sherer (1829-?) is credited as ‘The Father of Polo’, meaning the form of the sport which he introduced to Britain.

The name ‘polo’ derives either from the Indian word ‘pulu’ or the Tibetan word ‘pholo’, both of which mean ‘ball’. The sport is fast-moving, with the ball travelling at up to 100mph. The match is split into four to eight ‘chukkas’, meaning rounds, of 7-7½ minutes. After the third and sixth chukka, spectators come onto the field to stamp down any divots.

In the UK there are over a hundred clubs today, most of them outdoor but some with indoor arenas, which are slightly smaller. The horses are called ‘polo ponies’ no matter how big they are, and they certainly have a good run-around during a match. They must be strong and agile to withstand the riders, four on each team (three indoors), wielding their mallets to whack the ball, according to rules formulated by the Hurlingham Club in London in 1875.

(Top image of polo at Hurlingham 1890 by Henry Jamyn Brooks: Wikimedia Commons / Public domain)

Hand-to-hand fighting to settle disputes has developed into several types of sport, one of which is boxing. Bare-knuckle boxing for prize money and gambling began in London in the 1700s and the first champion was Oxfordshire-born James Figg in 1719. In 1743, the first set of rules was drawn up by Figg’s protégé, John ‘Jack’ Broughton after his grief and guilt at punching an opponent to death.

The Broughton Rules banned the gripping of hair and hitting a man when he was down and introduced gloves for practice. The London Prize Ring Rules followed in 1838 and in 1867 the Queensberry Rules were published and became the basis for all boxing matches round the world. Of course, today’s rules are far more extensive and detailed, but the original twelve rules set the expectations of fair play. The expression “by Queensberry Rules” entered the language to mean that gentlemanly conduct was about to be observed.

The UK has had its fair share of boxing champions: Sir Henry Cooper, Ken Buchanan, Frank Bruno, Barry McGuigan, Chris Eubank, Joe Calzaghe, Lennox Lewis, Carl Froch and Anthony Joshua to name a few. The modern trend is for big matches to be hosted in stadiums, such is their popularity.

(Top image: WorldSeriesBoxing at Flickr.com / CC BY-ND 2.0)

Prisoners taking exercise in a London jail’s walled courtyard are credited with devising the first form of the sport of squash in the early 1700s. Known as ‘racquets’ then, its popularity grew because it could be played in any backyard or alley. Today, there are thousands of squash courts at leisure centres all over the UK, as well as portable all-glass courts for tournaments and exhibitions.

The first purpose-built courts appeared in London in the early 1800s, but the real development came at Harrow, the public school for boys, where they loved playing ‘racquets’. With the advent of vulcanisation, hollow rubber balls could be used, which did not do so much damage, resulting in the re-naming of their game to ‘baby racquets’, then ‘squash’. In 1865 Harrow School added four courts to their facilities and Old Harrovians went on to build courts elsewhere. The first standard set of rules was established in 1909 as the sport started to spread internationally.

Spectators are enthralled by the sounds, energy and tactics employed by two (or four) players running around in the same space, rather than on opposite sides of a net. Players regard it as the best way to keep fit and mentally alert.

(Image: Jensbn-commonswiki at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)

At the 1948 Summer Olympics, the British equestrian team picked up just one bronze medal. This so dismayed the 10th Duke of Beaufort (1900-84) that he decided to found an annual event on his Badminton estate in Gloucestershire to help British riders better prepare for international competition. Since its inception in 1949 Britain has won thirty-eight medals up to and including the 2020 Olympics.

The Badminton Horse Trials consists of three events: two days of dressage, one of cross-country over four miles and one of show-jumping. It takes place in April or May each year and has been televised since 1956. A points system determines the overall winner but there are several other shields and trophies awarded, along with a prize fund of, currently, £360,750 (2019).

Bad weather resulted in the Trials being called off completely in 1966, 1975, 1987 and 2012, and there was a precautionary cancellation in 2001 due to foot-and-mouth disease. As well as benefitting British riders and horses, up to twenty-five foreign equestrian federations can be invited to participate and it is regarded as the top competition of its kind on the equestrian calendar. The five hundred acres made available on Badminton Park are professionally managed by world-class course designers and the main arena holds sixteen thousand spectators.

(Image: Ray Bird at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The annual ‘Six Nations‘ rugby union championship began in 1883 as the Home Nations Championship contested by England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. It was a turbulent beginning with abandoned competitions in 1885, 1887 and 1889 amidst administrative disputes and occasional crowd pitch invasions.

In 1910, France gained entry and it became the ‘Five Nations’ (except for 1932-39, during which time France was expelled). In 1972 the championship was abandoned again, as two teams refused to play in Dublin. In 1973, there was a unique tie result, when all five teams won two games and lost two games. In 2000, Italy was admitted, making it the ‘Six Nations’.

There are several single-match cups under the umbrella of the Six Nations ~ the ‘Triple Crown’, the ‘Auld Alliance Trophy’ and the ‘Calcutta Cup’, for example. Until 2017 the points system was simply: two for a win, one for a draw. Now, it is:-

• four for a win
• two for a draw
• one bonus point for scoring four or more tries
• one bonus point for losing by seven or fewer match points
• three bonus points for winning all your matches, called the ‘Grand Slam’, in order to avoid a team topping the table through maximum bonus points but losing one match, thereby earning twenty-two points.

(Image: Dan Dyer at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Ronnie O’Sullivan, nicknamed ‘The Rocket’, was born in the West Midlands in 1975 and grew up in Essex, where he was soon making his name in the snooker halls. This video of his first televised match, with praise by the great Steve Davis, shows his extraordinary talent at just 14 years of age:-

He became a professional two years later and in 1993 won the UK Championship a few days before his 18th birthday, the youngest player ever to do so. He has gone on to win more than 70 titles to date, including 7 World Championships, and an unequalled 8 Masters and 8 UK Championships, also becoming the oldest player to win those competitions! He is widely regarded as the best snooker player in the history of the game and has been officially ranked no.1 six times.

His playing style is flowing, fast, beautifully precise and attacking and he holds the record for the fastest 147, at 5 minutes 20 seconds. In March 2019 he became the first player to reach one thousand centuries, playing the 100th point with his left hand (he is right-handed!). Ronnie Antonio O’Sullivan is quite a character and attracts many appreciative fans. He has written three crime novels and co-written a cookbook, all popularly received.

(Top image: DerHexer at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Speedway is the sport of racing motorbikes with a specification that would be very dangerous on the public highway ~ that is to say, no brakes and one gear! The 500cc engines are fuelled by methanol and must weigh at least 77kg. A crucial element of speedway equipment is the rider’s boots, which are specially manufactured with extra padding and reinforcement. The left has a flat sole on which a steel shoe is strapped for the purpose of making the cornering manoeuvre demonstrated here:-

The technique of allowing the back wheel to swing out is called ‘broadsiding’ and it can bring up a lot of dust since the tracks are of loose material such as scalpings.

The popularity of speedway in the UK grew quickly from the first races in 1927 to its height in 1949. New Zealand-born emigré Johnnie Hoskins, MBE (1892-1987) played an important part in its promotion as a thrill-a-minute spectacle in which there are usually fifteen heats contested by two teams of seven. Each heat has two riders from each team. They make four anti-clockwise laps of the track, which takes about a minute. The last heat is for the top riders on the night, to determine the overall winner.

(Top image: Ian Kirk at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0)

Jayne Torvill, OBE (1957-) and Christopher Dean, OBE (1958-), from Nottingham, are the most successful couple in ice dancing history. They were brought together in 1975 by their first coach and through hard work and dedication they were soon competing at the highest levels. In 1976 ice dancing was included in the winter Olympics for the first time, setting the scene for Torvill and Dean‘s most famous achievement just eight years later.

They became British champions in 1978, but Jayne continued working in an office and Christopher training to be a policeman right up until 1980. The following year they became European and World champions. Their professionalism and desire to push the boundaries of their sport meant they remained at the top, year after year. Seeking new ideas, they visited the ballet, theatre and circus. Their ‘Mack and Mabel’ and ‘Barnum’ routines were thus inspired.

Going into the 1984 Olympics, they were clear favourites and did not disappoint. They scored the highest mark ever with their 4 minutes 28 seconds long ‘Boléro’ performance, skating only from 18 seconds into the music to meet the time regulations. In 1996, Yo Yo Ma said that “they did for ice skating what Bach did for the cello”.

(Top image: vagueonthehow at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

The sport of bowls is centuries old, as evidenced by the well-known story of Sir Francis Drake insisting on finishing his game of bowls before attending to the arrival of the Spanish Armada in 1588. In fact, the oldest surviving bowls club actually dates from 1299 and is in Southampton. Bowls is seen as a gentle sport especially suitable for older people.

A ‘jack’ (small white or yellow ball) is rolled to the end of the lawn, which is either flat for ‘lawn bowls’ or uneven for ‘crown green bowls’. The player rolls a ‘wood’ (a large bun-shaped ball) towards the jack. Each player has two woods for crown green bowls or four for lawn bowls. Whichever wood finishes closest to the jack takes the point.

It is said that the woods acquired the weight bias that makes them curl round as they stop, when in 1522 the Duke of Suffolk split his wood and used the finial from a staircase post instead. Everyone was so enchanted with the curling action that it caught on. The sport was very popular but William Wallace Mitchell (1803-84) from Glasgow drew up the current rules in 1848 to eliminate the undesirable practices of kicking and tripping up!

(Image: Adam Gerard at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)