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English National Sports
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I did mean cricket in England but good point
Even I sort of like cricket, but then I'll watch most sports except Formula 1 which I find worse than watching grass grow.
Is sort of like it or I kinda like watching it enough though? I'd say running is a spectator sport but so much more a participation sport. How many millions of people have made running an intrinsic part of their life not just kinda like watching it. Football is a much closer contender but perhaps there is an under 40/ over 40 divide between football and running, generally.
I agree to an extent but mass participation sports like running, or angling, are less likely to bring people together than mass viewing sports like football.
i go to the football not necessarily out of any great love for the game, but out of a sense of community. some people meet their friends in a coffee shop, or a pub. we go to the football. others up and down the land do the same.
i felt a similar sense of community when following baseball in america, and aussie rules in australia.
when I visit a new town, the first thing I do (sad I know) is find out about the local football team and go and see a game, if I can. I find it gives me a better feel of the place than traipsing round a town centre.
Having said that, the other I do when I'm somewhere new...is go for a run
If it's a combination of participation and spectating then football wins hands down.
You have international football through the Premiership all the way down to local leagues, pub teams, workplace leagues (all with 22 players on the pitch and crowds of anything from 100,000 to one man and a dog) 5 a side leagues, junior leagues, school teams and kids having a kick about in the park.
Rugby League or Union (or both) might be a better comparison?
i think in terms of participation the top sports were:
Fishing
Football
Hockey
Rugby
the reason running might not appear is because many of the people on the street/gym you see running are doing so for fitness for another sport.
I've always been sceptical about that 'angling is the most popular sport' thing. Apart from anything else, if it was really that popular then there'd be the angling equivalent of Sports Direct on every high street.
And for most of the people that do it it's not a sport anyway, any more than riding a bike to work is competing in the Tour de France.
Not disagreeing with you Dean but those stats just have to be wrong with regards to fishing.
As CD says there would be an angling shop on every high street if that was the case.
2010/2011 - 1,431,981
I think that's just freshwater, so add on some more for sea fishing. There are 2 tackle shops in my local town, always see people fishing at my local parkrun or if I go running along the seafront.
I think a good indicator of a country's national sport is the one that "matters most" in terms of how much international success, stand out individuals etc mean to the majority of the population.
As a Welshman, it still has to be Rugby Union; for England/Italy/Germany/Portugal etc - surely football (imagine the reaction if England ever win another World Cup). Kenya - running; India - cricket, Australia - cricket, New Zealand - Rugby Union etc.
It's also self-perpetuating to an extent; a lot of the most naturally talented individuals tend to get drawn to the sport that has the most kudos in the society in which they grow up.
Test Cricket is awesome. It's like an ultra
so many different things can happen and a large part of it's a mind game.
Went to three of the 5 Adhes test in the summer.
The worrying thing is that people are talking of a national sport in terms of spectating rather than participation. In The West Indies they are playing in the street all the time. I imagine the same is true in India etc. Here we talk of cans of beer in front of the telly.
I'm not. I think it has to be both, as I've said.
Running doesn't naturally spring to mind as a spectator sport but it is.
You're not people darling
I agree with a post before that a lot of people do run just to keep fit for their chosen sport and they would not class themselves as runners.....
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