England is considered the birthplace of many things. Most of which were invented during the time of the colonization companies. After all, the British were great conquerors of foreign kingdoms and states. This article will talk about which sports belong to the English nation, where they came from, and also what constitutes a specific type of sports activity.
Football
The most popular English sport. It is played regardless of gender, skin color or age. Ever since time immemorial, in the days of our distant ancestors, there were analogues of modern football. In Egypt, the Roman Empire, in Russia - in all these countries, according to ancient historians, there were many similarities with today's world famous game.
But it was in 1863, in England, that the world's first football association was formed. Accordingly, as with any game, the rules were immediately invented and teams created. Initially, the rules provided for a game of hands. But the football commandments more familiar to us all began to be written only in 1871.
Such concepts as: out - hands throwing the ball out from the sideline were gradually introduced; angular - the pitch of the ball from the corner of the playing court; penalty - an 11-meter kick awarded for gross violations within the goalkeeper's area; a free kick, which can be made absolutely from anywhere in the field, depending on the violation, is punished with warnings in the form of cards (yellow and red). There were judges who observed compliance with the rules of the game. Football is an English sport, the most popular in the world.
In 1872, the first official matches were played between the teams of the continents. And since 1884, the well-known tournament "Cup of Four Nations" began to run on the expanses of the British Isles.
In Russia, as in most cities of the world, they learned about football through port cities and diplomats, who often visited our homeland. The first football teams were formed in St. Petersburg, Riga, Odessa and Nikolaev.
Rugby
Another, second after football in popularity, sport is rugby. By themselves, English sports are famous for their rigidity, and this kind is no exception. Rugby takes its roots just after the application of the rules in football, where it was forbidden to touch the ball with the hands during a match. The founding date dates back to 1823, and Webb Elli became the creator of this game. The rules of this game are not very complicated.
- A rugby field must be between 100 meters long and about 70 meters wide.
- The main task of the player is to score the ball into the opponent’s high goal. You can also jog with the ball and complete the attack with the projectile.
- It is strictly forbidden to give the gear forward with your hands; you have to be content with the small and pass passes left and right.
- In order not to break the rules in passing the ball forward, you need to pass it with your foot.
- It is allowed to grab a player running with the ball.
- But pushing an opponent is prohibited.
- The game lasts two halves of 40 minutes. Victory is awarded to the team that collectively scored more points.
- Without special equipment the player will not enter the court. It includes: shorts, a T-shirt, cleats with metal spikes, protection in the form of pads, etc.
Polo
The history of the emergence of this English sport is known to modern society as a game invented at leisure by English troops in India.
To play polo you will need, first of all, a horse and a special club. A stick feature is that its end is a small hammer.
Teams are divided into 4 people and play on the field, the dimension of which is 274 meters in length and 140 meters in width. The size of a projectile is: 8.3 centimeters in diameter and 113 grams in weight.
The game is divided into 4 halves, called "chakka", each of which lasts 7 minutes.
Snooker
Snooker is one of the leading English sports in popularity in the world. It is believed that the game was created by Sir Neville Chamberlain during his military mission to India. He took the usual pool as the basis, where he added several colored balls and came up with new rules. The game quickly spread throughout the British Kingdom and no less quickly gained its supporters. Today is in great demand among many fans of this sport. World Championships, Europe and various international competitions are held. Snooker is also one of those English sports in Russia that is as popular as soccer in popularity.
The game involves 15 red balls (worth one point), yellow (2 points), green (3 points), brown (4 points), blue (5 points), pink (worth 6 points) and the most expensive of them is black ( 8 points). The white ball is a cue ball.
First, the player needs to score one of the red balls in the pocket, then he is given the right to hit one of the colored balls. If this ball turns out to be clogged, then the next one should be red and so on. The series is conducted until the first slip of one of the snooker players. After each clogged colored ball, the latter is returned to the starting position on the table. After all the red balls have been packed into pockets, players are given the right to play in color in ascending order of value. A continuous series of balls played is called a break. If a player fails to hit any of the balls and has to recoup blows from the sides or other balls, then this technique is consonant with the name of the game and will be called snooker.
Cricket
The history of this game does not make it clear its exact place of origin. But according to the latest data and sources, this game, like many other English sports, such as snooker, was invented in the Indian expanses by English colonialists.
Most often, cricket is played on the grass field. The platform can be either round or square, there are no special rules in this case. In the center is a feed line twenty meters long and three meters wide. At the ends are special gates that contain three pegs covered with a crossbar.
Teams are divided into 11 players. Who first serves and who accepts determines the lot. The main task of the serving player is to get into the gate. If the batter hits the ball, then teammates must return the ball to the place as soon as possible. While they are carrying out this procedure, the players of the batter team should take time to run to the opponent’s gate and return back. Each such run brings a point to the beating team.
The team with the most points wins - everything is simple!
Finally
English sports are popular in Russia no less than others. Football alone is worth it! More than half of our compatriots play it. So friends, play sports and learn new things for yourself.