1. Sports in Britain Евдокимова Ирина Васильевна ГБОУ СПО Российский колледж традиционной культуры Санкт- Петербурга, 2012

2. Cricket The game particularly associated with England is cricket. Cricket has been seriously and extensively adopted only in the former British empire, in Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and South Africa. Organized amateur cricket is played between club teams, usually on Saturday afternoons. Nearly every town, except in the far north, has its cricket club.

3. Football For the great mass of the British public the eight months of the football season are more important than the four months of cricket. There are plenty of amateur association football (or soccer) clubs, and professional football is a big business.

4. Rugby football Rugby football /or `rugger'/ is played with an oval ball, which may be carried and thrown /but not forward/. If a player is carrying the ball he may be `tackled' and made to fall down. Each team has fifteen players. They spend a lot of time skidding in the mud or falling on a top of each other and become very dirty. But they do not need to wear such heavily protective(11) clothing as players of American football.

5. School sports Most secondary schools have playing fields. Boys normally play rugger or soccer in winter and cricket in summer. Girls play tennis and rounders /similar to baseball/ in summer and netball in winter

6. Hockey Hockey is also becoming more popular at boy's schools. There are many men's amateur hockey clubs.

7. Basketball Men's basketball is played by a tiny(13) minority.

8. Golf Golf courses are popular meeting places of the businessmen. It is, for example, very desirable for bank managers to play golf.

9. Cycling Cycling is a popular pastime, but few people take it as a serious sport, and it is not a very popular spectator sport.

10. Sailing and Horse Racing Sailing and horse riding are popular among those who can afford them, and some yacht races attract wider interest. Horse racing is a big business, with the betting which sustain it.

11. Fishing The most popular of all outdoors sports is fishing, from the banks of lakes or rivers or in the sea, from jetties, rocks or beaches. Some British lakes and rivers are famous for their trout or salmon, and attract enthusiasts from all over the world.

12. References http://p.imgci.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/142100/142127.jpg http://sportalex.okis.ru/ http://greatbritainhockey.co.uk/page.asp?secti on=000100010015&sectionTitle=Athlete+Care er+Partner+Scheme http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/art icle-1047953/Britain-rue-missed-chances-lose- Australia.html http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united- kingdom/basketball-in-britain-5456.html http://www.espnstar.com/rss- feed/detail/item657359/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- south-scotland-11233493 http://www.london2012.com/making-it- happen/planning-consultations/weymouth- and-portland.php http://www.thefirstpint.co.uk/2010/03/15/a- first-pint-glance-at-horseracing/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/galleries/consu merwaste/