A North American’s guide to British sports
Sports that are popular in the United Kingdom and Europe are very different from those sports that are popular in North America. It can be a strange feeling being in London as the country goes crazy about winning or losing the “Ashes.” (Hint: it’s a cricket trophy)
I’d like to provide a translation guide between British and North American sports.
—————————–
Football (Premiership) = American Football (NFL)
Football in the UK (aka soccer) is similar in prominence to American Football. While different in rules, the culture of Football in the UK is very similar to the culture of American Football. Children grow up as fans of a team, and this is typically a choice for life.
Football hooligans in the UK can also be equated to drunken American Football fans in the States. Hooliganism has largely been conquered in London, but an incredibly large police presence is still required at virtually every game. Fans from away teams are in their own section of the stadium, and they are separated from home fans by rows of police.
That said, football matches are a lot of fun to watch. If you’re at all interested in football/soccer, I highly encourage you to see a game if you’re out here in season. While you may have difficultly getting tickets for the top-level teams (Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United), it’s not difficult to get tickets for many other teams in the Premiership.
———————
Cricket = Baseball
Cricket is similar to baseball, both in culture and length of the games. However, no matter how long you think a baseball game can get, nothing matches cricket. Top-level matches in cricket last for five days (!), and there are five of those matches to determine a winner! There are also variants that last a few hours, and more in-between.
One of the famous trophies in Cricket is “The Ashes.” It’s played every year between England and Australia, and is essentially a yearly grudge match. While Australia has been dominant lately, England did manage to win in the summer of 2005 here in London. And the trophy itself? Just three inches tall!
The rules of cricket can seem quite strange, and I won’t try and summarise them here. All I will say is that it’s not terribly different from baseball, except that each inning every batter has to be “out” to end the inning, and two innings take five days to play! Again, if you’re fascinated by the sport I recommend looking around for tickets to a match.
———————
Rugby = American Football (NFL)
The sport of rugby is more similar to American football than UK football (soccer), though the culture around it is a bit different. While there are various rugby leagues in the country, the games that everyone watches are where the national teams play each other. (National team here in the UK means England vs. Wales, Wales vs. Scotland, England vs. Ireland, etc.)
As you may have read in recent posts on this blog, the Rugby World Cup is a big event. (Even more so now that England is playing in the final to defend their 2003 championship.)
The game is really exciting to watch. It’s very rough and tumble, and players don’t even have the protection of pads like they do in American football! The main difference is that in rugby the ball cannot be passed forward, just sideways (laterally). It must be run forward. As usual, the rules are a bit more complex, but it’s yet another fun sport to watch.
———————
Formula 1 = NASCAR
I wasn’t much of a “car guy” growing up in the Midwest of the US; it just wasn’t our thing. But when I went to University outside Detroit (University of Michigan) that certainly started to change. When it comes to motorsport in London and the rest of the world, Formula 1 is at the top of the heap.
NASCAR and Formula 1 cars look very different from each other, but both types of vehicles are amazing feats of engineering. What truly separates them is the style of racing. NASCAR cars race around an oval loop, which makes for amazing speed and lots of passing. Formula 1 cars race around tracks with straightaways, tight corners, wide turns, and more. Each track is very unique, and many are not only beautiful but have celebrated histories. Because of this, there is less passing, and much more dynamic changes during the race. (Imagine going from 200 mph to 40 mph in a turn and back to 200 mph in the span of just a few seconds!)
There is only one Formula 1 race in the UK each year, so tickets will be both expensive and somewhat difficult to come by. However, if you’re a bit of a “gearhead,” it could be just the event for you.
———————
There are many other sports that are popular here in Britain, such as rowing, sailing, and athletics. (Britain excels at all of these on an international level.) There are also sports where there is no UK equivalent, such as basketball and ice hockey. But I hope this provides a quick introduction in the differences and similarities between the UK and North America.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Miscellaneous, Sound LIke a Local - Local "Speak", Sports & Recreation
5 opinions for A North American’s guide to British sports
Jon - The DC Traveler
Oct 16, 2007 at 10:37 pm
I did some research on cricket in Washington DC and here’s what I learned…
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out. When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have been given out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.
Needless to say,I’ll stick to baseball…!!!
Jed - The London Traveler
Oct 17, 2007 at 4:22 am
If you know the rules of cricket, that’s actually largely correct! But it’s more simple if you think of it like baseball. Each batter bats and scores runs until he’s out. Once the entire side (team) is out, the other team gets up to bat, until all of their team is out. In a five-day international match, there are two innings. Though sometimes, in order to get the game over and done with in a day, there is a limit to how many balls (pitches) are thrown.
Again, the best way to get it is to watch a game with someone who knows what they’re talking about, and is patient enough to teach you!
www.soccersecrets.info » A North American’s guide to British sports
Oct 24, 2007 at 6:59 pm
[…] Jed added an interesting post on A North American’s guide to British sports.Here’s a small excerpt:Again, if you’re fascinated by the sport I recommend looking around for tickets to a match. ———————. Rugby = American Football (NFL). The sport of rugby is more similar to American football than UK football (soccer), though the culture … […]
A visitor’s Guide to British pubs
Nov 25, 2007 at 2:51 pm
[…] probably like this one on translating the “Queen’s English” to regular English, a North American guide to British sports, and a hidden little gem in the heart of […]
irishbloke
Nov 29, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Surprising as it may seem, it wasn’t until around the 1920s that cricket really died out in the USA
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: