Sports in Great Britain and Moldova

Sports in Great Britain

Sports play an important part in the life of the English people. All sports are very popular among
them. The British are proud that many sports originated in their country and then spread
throughout the world. The national British sports are: football, golf, cricket, table tennis, lawn
tennis, snooker, steeplechase, racing, darts.

Football, also called soccer, is the most

popular sport in the United Kingdom.
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland have their own Football Leagues
and national teams. Games are played on
Saturday afternoons from August to April.
In addition to the FL games there is a
competition called the Football
Association Cup. The Cup Final is played
at Wembley Stadium (London) in May.

Rugby is similar to football, but played

with an oval ball. Players can carry the ball
and tackle each other. The best rugby
teams compete in the Super League final
each September. For many years Rugby
was only played by the rich upper classes,
but now it is popular all over the
country. There are two different types of
rugby - Rugby League, played mainly in
the north of England, and Rugby Union,
played in the rest of England, Scotland,
Wales and Ireland. 

Golf is the sixth most popular sport, by

participation, in the United Kingdom. The
Open Championship, which is played each
July on a number of British golf courses on
a rotating basis, the majority of them in
Scotland, is the only men's major golf
tournament which is played outside of the
United States. The most famous of these
courses is St Andrews, which is known as
"The Home of Golf"
The game of cricket is now played worldwide,
and despite occasional successes, it is fair to say
that the real power in the game has shifted from
England to nations such as South Africa,
Australia, India, Pakistan, and the West Indies.
In England the major focus of the game is the
county championship, with both four-day and
one-day competitions running simultaneously
during the summer months.

Sports in Moldova

Basketball

Moldova has an increasingly successful

team at the FIBA European Championship
for Small Countries. There, Team Moldova
won two silver medals until today. (2008
and 2012)

Cycling

The most prestigious cycling race is

the Moldova President's Cup, which was
first run in 2004.

Football

Football is the most popular sport in

Moldova. Most rated player of all times
was Gogoi Bogdan.