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The Elite Ice Hockey League is the professional ice hockey league in Britain and comprises eight teams, led by the champions, Sheffield Steelers. The South Yorkshire team plays at the biggest stadium in the league, the Sheffield Arena which holds 8 500 people. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
While London is currently preparing to host the 2012 Olympics, four other cities are chasing the dream and trying to show the world why they should be chosen to host the following Olympics in 2016. There were originally seven candidate cities that applied to host the 2016 games. However, three of these were eliminated in the first round of voting. Four cities remain - Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
As a youngster, I was fascinated by the sight of motorcycle riders racing on TV. It wasn’t the Moto GP form that is popular today and has made Valentino Rossi world famous, or the 500cc Grand Prix form that made the late British rider Barry Sheene a star. No, it was speedway. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Mixed martial arts, or MMA, is one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the world. It now rivals traditional boxing in terms of the number of pay-per-view viewers it is able to attract. Whilst the sport has been around in some form since ancient Greece and arguably even earlier, the organisation that has done most to make MMA so popular in more recent years is the ‘Ultimate Fighting Championship’, also known as the ‘UFC’. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
What does it take to be a true follower of a Premiership team in the 21st century? You need love for your team of course – plenty of us have that. The time to indulge your love is also a must these days. Add a pinch of madness to take you half way across Europe one Wednesday and to a rainy northern town the next week. Got all that? Well then what about bottomless pockets? No? Me neither! So, what exactly does it mean to follow your team home and away for a single month in the season? Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
What do you get if you take a fireman, a solider, a miner, a merchant and a chimney maker, and put them together with two solicitors, two clerks a student and a doctor? Answer: Wales’ first ever football team. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Long before the FA existed, or the Cambridge Rules were drawn up in England, the Romans, the Greeks and the Japanese all had the idea of kicking a ball around for sport. In fact the ancestry of football can be traced right back to 200 BC, when the Chinese played a game called ‘Tsu Chu’, using a stuffed leather ball. In medieval Britain, the forerunner to modern football was Shrovetide Football. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Speed, height, spectacular stunts, or a combination of all three – extreme sports, an umbrella term that includes skateboarding, BMX freestyle, surfing and snowboarding, attracts a following – mainly of young adults – keen to push the limits of their own courage and physical ability. The wide variety of activities in this category makes it difficult to define, but it is certainly one of sport’s biggest growth areas. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
September 2009 sees the start of the summer Deaf Olympic Games. The event, commonly known as the Deaflympics will be held over two weeks in Chinese Taipei. This event is the world's second oldest multiple sports games after the Olympics. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The United States Open Tennis Championships, (the US Open), is the fourth and final Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. The 2009 US Open will be held from 31 August to 13 September at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows in New York City. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
English Premier League regulars Aston Villa and West Ham United will not be the only teams playing in claret and blue in the top tier of English football this season. There will be a little more claret in the shape of EPL newcomers Burnley. The Clarets, as Burnley Football Club are known, may be new to the English Premier League but they are hardly new to English football, having been one of the founder members of the Football League way back in 1888. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The 2009 Badminton World Championships will take place from 10th – 16th August in Hyderabad, India. This is the first time the event has been held in India. The BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Championships is held every year to determine which players in the world are the best with the shuttlecock. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
British cyclists have hit the headlines over the last year after their great success at the Beijing Olympics last year and the knighthood awarded to Olympic gold medalist, Chris Hoy. However, another British cyclist is hoping to grab the headlines at this year’s Tour de France. That cyclist is the ‘Manx Express’, Mark Cavendish. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
As a fervent Liverpool supporter, I was delighted when the club announced it would play a pre-season friendly against Thailand. I’ve already bought my ticket to sit on the famous Anfield Kop which will be especially recreated for the match at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on July 22nd. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
For a few months in the summer of 2005, cricket replaced football as the most watched sport in England. For the first time in a generation, England beat their oldest rivals Australia in a very exciting test match series. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The Tri Nations is the annual rugby union tournament played annually between the three most powerful rugby union nations in the Southern Hemisphere; Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Motor racing takes many forms. However, in North America, one motor race stands head and shoulders above the others and is described as the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing.’ That race is the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, otherwise known as the Indianapolis 500, the Indy 500 or simply The 500. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Any boy brought up on the banks of the Tyne dreams in black and white and the majority of those dreams involve wearing the famous black and white striped shirt of Newcastle United, and especially the revered number 9 shirt worn by so many legendary strikers over the years. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The game of football has often been referred to by those who love the sport as the beautiful game. This sentimental comparison certainly conjures up images of great players in the past like Pele, Best and Cryuff. They had great skill, technique and grace, and contributed to the global popularity football now enjoys. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Some of them have hardly any rules and are chaotic, others have a strict formula and a whole language to describe how they’re played. They don’t have media attention, sponsorship or players with star status, but in some communities they’re important events and great fun. Some traditional sports in the UK might make you wonder how civilized Britain is, or if fighting over a giant leather ball could have impressed Europeans. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
In a nail-biting climax to the 2008 Formula One season, during the last seconds of the Brazilian race, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton snatched the championship away from Brazilian Felipe Massa by one point; in 2007 Hamilton lost the title by the same margin. Hamilton, 23 years old, became the youngest and first black, Formula One World Champion; the previous youngest champion, at 24 years old, was Hamilton’s ex-team mate Fernando Alonso.Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
This season’s English Premier League, (EPL), is closer than ever and the struggle to avoid relegation from the EPL into the Championship is preying on the minds of most fans and fascinating football observers around the world. There are twenty clubs in the EPL and the bottom three will be relegated at the end of the season in May. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The first season of the Indian Premier League, (IPL), was such an incredible success last year that many cricket followers are wondering whether it is how cricket will be played in the future. The superiority of the five-day form of the game, Test-match cricket, is seriously under threat from the fast and furious short-form of the game, Twenty20, played in the IPL. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Long before the FA existed, or the Cambridge Rules were drawn up in England, the Romans, the Greeks and the Japanese all had the idea of kicking a ball around for sport. In fact the ancestry of football can be traced right back to 200 BC, when the Chinese played a game called ‘Tsu Chu’, using a stuffed leather ball. In medieval Britain, the forerunner to modern football was Shrovetide Football. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
While basketball fans around the world are watching the best players in the world parading their skills in the NBA all-star game in Phoenix, Arizona in America, devoted hoops fans in Britain are peering through the dark and struggling to find some high-quality basketball action on British shores. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
It is hard for overseas supporters to appreciate the importance of derby games because, to them, they are just ordinary football matches. However, if you come from an English city with two teams it is likely that you will love one and hate the other. North Londoners usually support either Spurs or Arsenal and both teams have some famous followers. Spurs have Jude Law and Shania Twain, while Arsenal can boast the support of Jackie Chan and Dido. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The Cheltenham Festival is the most prestigious horse racing festival in Britain. The Grand National receives more public and media attention and the Epsom Derby attracts the millionaires, royalty and heads of state but true horse racing fans consider the Cheltenham Festival as the biggest event of the year. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
In the world of Badminton, the All England Open Badminton Championships is the most famous and the most prestigious tournament of all. The All England, as it is generally known, was for many years the unofficial world championships until the International Badminton Federation organized its own official World Championships. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
At first glance, the sporting year in 2009 looks a little unappealing, coming a year after the excitement of the Beijing Olympics and a year before the first ever FIFA World Cup finals tournament in Africa. However, real sports fans will tell you that if you look a little closer, you will see that there is plenty to get excited about. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The Tough Guy Challenge takes place over 150 acres on a farm called ‘Mr. Mouse’s farm for unfortunates’ near Wolverhampton, England. It is named so because the farm’s owner, Mr. Mouse takes care of abandoned horses and offers jobs to unfortunate people (why he is called Mr. Mouse though is a mystery). The race started 22 years ago and is run to raise money for charity. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
February sees England’s cricket team head west to embark on their first Test match since the sacking of the coach, Peter Moores, and captain, Kevin Pietersen. This has left England in some turmoil and Andrew Strauss, the new captain, will have his work cut out to solidify the team and bring home the Wisden Trophy once again. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Who’s the best player in women’s tennis? In times gone by, this was an easy question to answer as Margaret Court, Billie-Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf took their turns in dominating women’s tennis. But 2008, showed how much tennis has changed. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson was born on the 31st December 1941 in Glasgow. He is currently the manager of Manchester United Football Club and has been in charge since 1986. He has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of English football. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Numbers on the backs of shirts were first used in 1928 when the players wore numbers 1 to 11 on their shirts. It wasn’t until 1993 that the FA abandoned the use of 1-11 for the starting line-up and, although players now are allowed to change their numbers in between seasons, a lot of them don’t and so become identified with a particular number. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The precise origins of boxing are unknown but records indicate that the first recognition of boxing as a sport was in the 23rd Olympiad, in 688BC. In those days boxers took far more risk than their modern day Olympic counterparts. Unlike the padded 8 or 10oz gloves worn today, gloves were made of very thin strips of leather worn to protect the fighter’s hands rather than the opponent’s head. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
In the early 1900’s boxing was extremely popular with the American public. However, the sport was illegal at that time and it wasn’t until 1920 that New York passed the ‘Walker Law’ permitting prize fighting, and boxing entered its ‘Golden age’. The two bouts between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney best represented this era. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
At the end of last season, Arsenal fans voted for the Gunners’ Greatest Players and Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams filled the top three places in the fans’ poll. As I looked at the list of fifty Arsenal legends chosen, I wondered who would appear in a greatest ever Arsenal team, so this is my selection. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The Australian rugby union team, otherwise known as the Wallabies, will probably find their five-match tour of Europe an exhausting and confusing experience. The team will not only have to deal with the challenge of playing against tough, determined hosts, but will also have to cope with the effects of jet lag, and the current confusing mix of rugby’s rules.
Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere equals spring in the Southern Hemisphere. So, while the Wallaby players will be reaching the end of a long tiring season that began many months, and thousands of kilometers, ago, their European opponents will just be beginning their own campaigns. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The idea of a World Cup competition for men’s national rugby league teams was first proposed by the French in 1935. The idea was put on hold during the war, but gained ground in post-war France when President of the French Rugby League, Paul Barriere, began to promote the concept. The idea was finally accepted by the International Rugby League Board in 1953. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The world of football is full of individuals with egos almost as large as their salary demands. It should be no surprise then that over the years there have been some high profile disputes, between big names in the game. These bust ups can involve players, managers and even the chairmen. Whilst such disharmony can cause huge internal problems within clubs, the media loves nothing more than to expose and exaggerate any disagreements. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The 2008 Olympic Games will take place this month in Beijing. This year the games will be a huge and costly event but this hasn’t always been the case. The first games of the modern era were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece. These games had only 300 participants representing just thirteen nations. Since the Athens games the Olympics have been held every four years except for 1916, 1940 and 1944 (when they were cancelled due to war). The Olympics have been held in London twice, in 1908 and 1948, and they will be held in London again in 2012. This will make London the only city to have hosted the modern Olympics three times. The games have changed considerably between the 1908 London Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Twenty20 is a relatively new form of cricket that is making waves in the game throughout the world. It is so called as each team bats for a maximum of twenty overs. This means that a typical game lasts around three hours. This is the big hook for the format, making it more accessible to a larger crowd of spectators that do not have the time to invest in longer forms of the game. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The phenomenal increase in appeal of golf over the last decade or so in terms of participation and television viewing figures has created a new form of golf for those who just can’t give it up. While people are living longer, the minority who remain fit and healthy in their later years are proving that they can still compete and can still entertain, while winning millions of dollars for doing so. These golden oldies are known as seniors and the best of them will be in Scotland this week trying to win the Senior British Open at Royal Troon in Ayrshire from July 24-27. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
On July 10th England and South Africa will start the first game of a four-test series. The overall winners of the series will be presented with the Basil D'Oliveira Trophy. If the series is tied, England, the team currently holding the trophy, will be declared the winners. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The United Kingdom is an uneven place when it comes to height; there are large areas of ground at, or only a little above, sea level. However, for a growing number of enthusiasts, the interesting parts of Britain are the areas over 3000 feet (914 metres) high. England and Wales have a few mountains over this height; but it is Scotland that has the most. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 means some of the most popular players on the continent won’t be on show in Austria and Switzerland. How much will they be missed? Well, in truth, English players have rarely stood out in this tournament when they have managed to qualify. So if the stars of England have often failed to perform, which players have lit up the competition since it began in 1960? Who deserves to make the all-time Euro dream team? Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The Formula One travelling circus has now arrived in England at the midpoint of the season for the British Grand Prix which will be held at Silverstone on July 6. For many, this is the highlight of the season with several of the teams being based near to the circuit and arranging lavish homecoming parties. For the drivers, this race offers the opportunity to put your foot down and just drive fast on one of the straightest and fastest circuits on the motor racing calendar. And for the Brits, it offers the chance of glory, whether that means claiming pole position, leading the race or standing on the podium as race winner. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Although, in tennis terms, Wimbledon is no more important than the other Grand Slam tournaments, the US Open, French Open and Australian Open, its location and peculiar traditions make it different in many ways. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
This summer, the football season in Europe is a little longer for some countries as the finals tournament for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, Euro 2008, is held in Austria and Switzerland from June 7-29. England won’t be there nor will any of the other home nations, having failed to qualify, but many of the best players in Europe will be heading to the mountains and hopefully bringing football fans a festival of football. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The words, “The Americans are coming!” have been uttered many times throughout history, to varying degrees of delight or despair, but this time things are different. Those words are being used by football fans in England to describe the visit of the United States to the new Wembley Stadium to take on England on May 28. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The UEFA Champions League is now down to the final and both finalists, Chelsea and Manchester United, have high hopes of winning the trophy at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on May 21. For the first time ever, two English teams will meet in the final aiming to be crowned Europe’s finest football club. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The US Open will be played at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California this week, offering golf fans the opportunity to watch the world’s best professional golfers attempting to win the second tournament of the four known as ‘the majors’. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The English Premier League (EPL) recently announced that it was considering playing a 39th game in five international cities to try and satisfy the growing appeal of the EPL from football fans abroad. The idea was described as foolish and was rejected by the clubs, the fans, the authorities and the media but it may happen sometime in the future. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Sheffield is known as ‘the Steel City’ and is not only home to the oldest football club in the world, Sheffield F.C., it is also the venue for one of the biggest derby matches in the English game. When the red and white stripes of Sheffield United face off against the blue and white stripes of Sheffield Wednesday, few people in England’s fifth biggest city are impartial. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Sunday, March 30th March at Anfield sees the 177th epic league encounter between Liverpool FC and Everton FC. The Merseyside Derby has traditionally been called “The Friendly Derby” because of the large number of families in the city of Liverpool who have both Reds and Blues supporters in them. With so many families and friends supporting both clubs, many Evertonians and Liverpudlians sit together at the ground during the derby. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
There are many bitter rivalries in the world of football, and in England there are several cities that have derby matches between city rivals. Manchester has the derby between United and City while Liverpool has the Liverpool-Everton derby. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
On March 26 David Beckham joined the elite group of English footballers who have a century of caps from playing a hundred games for their national team. Beckham had looked certain to reach the milestone quickly when he joined Real Madrid in 2003 as England captain and elevated his megastar status even further. However, things have not gone so smoothly for him in the last couple of years and the dream seemed to be slipping away. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
Derby County has spent most of this season languishing at the bottom of the English Premier League, (EPL), and the club is the red hot favourite to be the first team to be relegated to the Championship this season with one bookmaker paying out on all bets on the team being relegated after only five EPL games. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
There are only six players who have played in all fifteen seasons of the English Premier League since its inception in 1992. Can you name the six Premier League perennials that form this elite group? Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
On March 16th, the traveling circus of Formula One will begin again as millions of viewers tune in to watch the first Grand Prix of the 2008 season. The traditional venue at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia, will mark the first of eighteen races all over the world, finishing in Brazil on November 2nd. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
On February 2nd this year, Europe’s premier international rugby tournament, the Six Nations Championship, will kick off again when Ireland play Italy and England entertain Wales, before France travel to Scotland the following day. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
This year sees the fiftieth anniversary of one of the most devastating events in football history, the Munich air disaster of 1958. The date was February 6th. The plane was carrying 44 passengers: the Manchester United football team and a group of supporters and journalists. Twenty three people died in the crash. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
When Roman Abramovich flew over London in his private helicopter looking for a club to buy, he was first shown White Hart Lane, the home of Spurs. Nice enough stadium, but Roman preferred the idea of holidays in Kensington and Chelsea, the most expensive area of London and close to Harrods, owned by the Fulham chairman. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
In the climax to the 2007 Formula One season Britain's Lewis Hamilton lost his chance to make history and failed to become the first ‘rookie’ to win the championship in his first season and to be the youngest champion in the history of Formula One motor racing. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
The best players in the world arrived in the city of Melbourne this month for the first major tournament of the 2008 tennis season, the Australian Open. Over half a million people will walk through the gates of Melbourne Park between the 14th and the 27th of January, hoping to see some thrilling tennis in the sweltering Australian summer. All the top names in the sport will be there, fighting to be crowned the champion in 2008, the 96th time the tournament has been held. Download the full article as a printer-friendly PDF file
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