Sports play an important part of English life, particularly football and cricket. Some of the world's most famous sports began here including cricket and football.

Although cricket is officially recognized as England's national sport, for many people football (soccer) is the most important sport. Football is incredibly popular in the UK. England is home to some world class football teams, the most famous being Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Cricket The first recorded cricket match took place at Coxheath, Kent in the year 1646. The first match between counties Surrey and Kent, took place on 29th June in 1709.

Before the cricket ball was invented, players would hurl stones and other lethal objects at each other. Thankfully, that's all stopped. Nowadays the modern cricket ball is much friendlier. It?s made of cork and covered with hand-stitched leather.

A formal game of cricket can last anything from an afternoon to several days. The basic concept of cricket is very similar to that of baseball; teams bat in successive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposite team fields and attempts to bring an end to the batting team's innings.

Football Football dates back hundreds of years. Nowadays it is England?s premier sport. There are a total of 92 professional clubs in the English Football League. Most players are semi-professional, and have full time jobs as well. The highlight of the English football year is the FA Cup Final, held each year in May.

The English love football so much that they have turned most of their main players into elebrities; who are always at the centre of the media's attention. The likes of David Beckham, Bobby Charlton and George Best have become heroes for the hundreds of thousands of kids who are out having fun, playing football in parks, playgrounds and on the streets.

Everyone knows the rules. Just get the ball into the other teams net!