Sport in Birmingham
Encyclopedia
Sport
has always been important in Birmingham
, England
, from the hundreds of diverse grass-roots sports clubs to internationally famous teams, associations and venues.
The city was the first city to have been awarded the title National City of Sport by the Sports Council.
teams in the world: Aston Villa
(1874) and Birmingham City
(1875). Nearby West Bromwich Albion
's ground The Hawthorns
used to be divided by the Birmingham/Smethwick
border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now in Sandwell
. In addition, Birmingham features several non-league teams including Romulus
and Sutton Coldfield Town
.
Aston
in Birmingham is notable for being the location for the first football league, which was invented by William McGregor on March 22, 1885. Aston Villa Football Club were among the founding clubs of the Premier League in 1992.
Birmingham City Ladies
compete at the top level of English women's football
, the FA WSL.
Today track and field athletics takes place at the open-air Alexander Stadium
on a national and international level. Recent development has seen addition of a High Performance Centre for indoor intense specialist training. The Stadium is also home to Birchfield Harriers
, who have contributed towards Britain's National and International Athletics for many years and has produced international athletes such as Denise Lewis
, Mark Lewis-Francis
and Kelly Sotherton
. The National Indoor Arena
is Britain's Premier Indoor Athletics stadium and in 2003 successfully hosted the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The city hosted the European Athletic Association
's 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
club in existence in Birmingham by 1745, and that a cricket match was being played in Birmingham on the day that the Battle of Culloden
was fought in 1746. The earliest cricket match in Birmingham for which a definite record exists took place on Monday 15 July 1751, between "Eleven of the Gentlemen of the Holte Bridgman's Club and Eleven of the Gentlemen of Mr Thomas Bellamy's Club, the most of three innings, for Twenty-Two Guineas", at Holte Bridgman's Cricket Ground, at the Apollo in Aston
. Admission was 2 pence. In 1760 a "Society of Cricket Players of Birmingham" advertised in Aris's Birmingham Gazette to challenge any other team within 30 miles of the town to a game for the prize of 20 guinea
s.
The Birmingham and District Cricket League
is the oldest cricket league in the world, having been founded in 1888.
Cricket was extremely popular in Birmingham between World War I
and World War II
. Records from the Sports Argus
show that there were 200 teams playing cricket weekly within Birmingham in 1922, a figure which rose to 300 in 1930 and exceeded 320 in 1939. These figures do not include teams playing in competitions within individual firms – in the early 1930s the Birmingham Small Arms Company
alone supported a cricket league of 14 teams.
Today County Cricket is played at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground
, home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club
. International test matches are also held there.
In 1882, Bournville Cricket Club was founded in Froggarts Farm on the corner of Bournville Lane and Linden Road, which is now The Old Farm Hotel. The Ground held its first county game when Worcestershire
played Essex
in June 1910, and in 1982 held an ICC
champions trophy 3rd Place Play off when Papua New Guinea
played Bangladesh
.
Birmingham was the host for the first ever Cricket World Cup of either gender, a Women's Cricket World Cup
in 1973. England beat Australia in the finals.
is played in Birmingham by Moseley Rugby Football Club
promoted as Champions to the second tier in April 2006, since re-branded as the RFU Championship. The club was founded in 1873 and reached four cup finals, sharing the trophy with Gloucester on one occasion before an outright win at Twickenham in 2009. Playing for most of their history at The Reddings, in 2000 Moseley relocated to a temporary ground at the University of Birmingham
and now have a new permanent home at Billesley Common
.
The Solihull-based Birmingham & Solihull Pertemps Bees
was established in 1989.
was first introduced to Birmingham in 1911 when a YMCA instructor brought basketball to Birmingham YMCA, and a team was produced. The American Rules had been introduced, but the teams in Birmingham found them to be too complicated, and when forming a Local Basketball Association, they compiled a more practical set of rules for their own use. The first basketball tournament for the Senior Championship Cup was held in Birmingham on June 6, 1936. On April 9, 1938, the first Junior Championship Final was held in Birmingham.
For England's first international basketball competition, Birmingham provided three players; F. Cole, C. Hunt and A. J. Lee. A Championship Final was held in April 1940 with the Birmingham Athletic Institute (BAI) beating London Central YMCA in the match. Due to World War II
, there was no championship for the next six years, resulting in Birmingham retaining the trophy for that period.
More recently, basketball was played by the Birmingham Bullets
, who competed in the top United Kingdom basketball league. The Bullets went on a season-long break from competitive action, however, went into liquidation and ceased to exist. The Birmingham Bullets were then replaced by the Birmingham Panthers
.
. It was used up until 1957 and again in 1960. The Birchfield Harriers then refused for the stadium to be used for speedway again.
The team then moved to the former Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium which was renamed the Ladbroke Stadium. It staged speedway from 1929 to 1931, and then from 1971 to 1983. It was demolished the following year. The team broke up in 1986 after their final meeting at Bordesley Green
.
In March 2007, Speedway racing returned to Birmingham after 20 years. A new team was created to compete at the Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium under the name the "Birmingham Brummies
".
is a very popular sport with Edgbaston
, Harborne and Bournville
being the leading clubs in the city.
Edgbaston Hockey Club were founded in 1885, making them the second oldest hockey club in the country. Matches are played at the University of Birmingham, where the club initiated a ground breaking 'time share' arrangement on the world class water based surfaces, and at Edgbaston High School. Bournville Hockey Club were founded in 1902 as a section of the Bournville Athletic Club. Their first game was against Small Heath
on November 15, 1902, in which they lost. Bournville has produced international hockey players including David Griffith-Jones, who was selected to play for Wales
in 1955 becoming Bournville's first international player. Bournville have moved venues in their history as a result of Cadbury's closure of the sports facilities at the factory. They are currently based at the University of Birmingham and King Edward VI High School for Girls.
clubs exist in Birmingham such as the Birmingham City Netball Club (founded in 1995) which coordinates junior and intermediate netball teams (under-18s).
The Birmingham (adult) Netball League plays from September to March (approximately) and has roughly 100 teams which are arranged in 13 divisions. The 1st division includes some of England's top clubs like for instance Linden who are based at Nechells Community Centre and are currently the National Clubs League Division 1 leaders. There are several other Netball leagues in the UK of which Birmingham teams contribute considerably.
A "Netball Little League" was established in 2003 for the areas of Bournville and Selly Oak
.
takes place on a small scale across various venues in the city, several amateur teams exist such as "Selly Baskets Volleyball Team", "Persian Phoenix Volleyball Club"and "University of Birmingham Volleyball Club" http://www.ubvc.co.uk/ who are currently in first division of the national league for men and the Super 8 level for women.
teams in existence across the Greater Birmingham area such as Warley Wasps
who were established in 1888, the team runs both male and female water polo teams. Also "Sutton Coldfield
Water Polo Club" and "Solihull Water Polo Club" offers water polo training for children and Adults with qualified Water Polo coaches.
The City of Birmingham Swimming Club draws from the local water polo clubs and competes at a national level.
, a popular Canadian game, was introduced to Birmingham on June 23, 1883, by a team of Canadian Amateurs and Iroquois
Indians, who exhibited their prowess at the Lower Grounds. The game never quite took off in the city, however the University of Birmingham
, Birmingham Lacrosse Club and Aston University
have lacrosse teams.
in 1859 by Major Harry Gem
and Augurio Perera, both residents of the city.
Tennis is not nowadays regularly associated with inner city urban areas, however several schemes nationwide are working to rectify this under achievement including "Tennis For Free". Many local tennis clubs and teams still exist in Greater Birmingham such as the 'Birmingham City Tennis Club' and international tennis is still played at Edgbaston's Priory Club.
events such as the World Indoor Badminton Championships. The All England Open Badminton Championships
are now held at the NIA as a result of the tournament outgrowing all previous venues.
is a popular sport in the city with many clubs. Boldmere, Cocks Moors Woods, Harborne Church Farm, Hatchford Brook, Hilltop, Lickey Hills and Pype Hayes
are all large high quality golf courses within Birmingham city.
Professional Golf is played at the Belfry (4 km outside Birmingham) which sometimes hosts The Ryder Cup
.
is popular in the city with many clubs and famous professional boxers such as Patrick Cowdell
and Robert McKracken who have continued to support boxing in the UK by turning their skills to coaching new up- and- coming boxers.
Famous Birmingham/Shropshire boxer Richie Woodhall
works and trains with Birmingham Boxing Academy (BBA) and the city's premier boxing team Team Ringside http://www.richiewoodhall.com/biography.htm. The BBA is a charitable organisation that works alongside lesser privileged children of central Birmingham. Richie also commentates for ITV
, BBC
and Sky
.
Prize-fighting was long the popular sport of high and low life blackguards, and Birmingham added many a redoubtable name to the long list of famous prize-fighters, whose deeds are recorded in "Fistiana" and other chronicles of the ring. The earliest account of a local prize-fight is of that which took place in October 1782, for 100 guineas a side, between Jemmy Sargent, a professional, and Isaac Perrins
, one of the Soho workmen. Jemmy knuckled under after being knocked down thirteen times, in as many rounds, by the knock-kneed hammer man from Soho, whose friends, it is said, won £1,500 in bets through his prowess. Bob Brettle
was active in the 1850s.
During the late 18th century William Futrell (a well known Birmingham pugilist) becomes publisher of the first boxing paper.
There are twelve boxing clubs in Birmingham.
club formed in 1862 under the title of the "Birmingham Amateur Swimming Club". The "Birmingham Leander Swimming Club", based at Northwood Street Baths, commenced their aquatic activities in June, 1877. The two clubs merged to form the "Birmingham and Leander Swimming Club" and moved to Woodcock Street Baths, now part of Aston University
.
The celebrated swimmer, Captain Webb, visited Birmingham several times, and the Athletic Club presented him with a gold medal and purse on December 4, 1875. In 1949, the Birmingham Association of Swimming Clubs partnered with Warwickshire Amateur Swimming Association to successfully win a bid to stage the "International Speed Swimming Contest for the Bologna Trophy", which was staged at Woodcock Street Baths. The Birmingham Baths Committee
organised a visit as part of a tour by the "Het Y" Swimming Club of Amsterdam
in 1950.
More recently The University of Birmingham trains some of the most promising professional swimmers in Britain. The team has won bronze medal consecutively in the BUSA team championships 2003-04 and 2004-05.
The "City of Birmingham Swimming Club" also trains swimmers of all ages and competes professionally at local and national level as does "Perry Beeches Sutton Swimming Squad", "Boldmere Swimming Club", "Orion Swimming Club" (located at King Edward VI High School for Girls
) and "Solihull Swimming Club" (located at Tudor Grange Sports Centre, Solihull
).
School swimming was introduced in the city in April 1875 following a campaign by Joseph Chamberlain
, which commenced at a Meeting of the Council on November 10, 1874. Following co-operation between the City of Birmingham Baths Department and the Birmingham School Board, schools were able to buy books of tickets to allow pupils to swim under the guidance of teachers at pools.
is a popular event in the city with two large stadiums at Hall Green Stadium
and Perry Barr Stadium
. A trust has been established in Perry Barr for retired greyhounds.
has long been a popular tradition in Birmingham with bowling greens and quoit
grounds often attached to public house
s.
In 1778 there was one at the Salutation inn
, at the bottom of Snow Hill; in 1741 there was also one at the Hen and Chickens in the High Street. A new green was opened at the Union Tavern on Cherry Street on March 26, 1792. There was also a green at Aston Hall
and Cannon Hill Park
during the Victorian era
.
In 1825 a bowling green was laid out at the corner of Highfield Road and Harborne Road, for "a very select party" of Edgbaston
ians. Bowls is still played in the city today with the existence of The Northfield & District Bowling Association and The Yardley Wood & District Mid-Week Bowling Association.
Rink
s were opened at the Lower Grounds May 1, 1875; at Bingley Hall
, October 2, 1875; at Moseley
, December 6, 1876; and at Handsworth
, October 8, 1877; and, for a time, the amusement was exceedingly popular, more than one fortune accruing from the manufacture of patent and other roller skates
. One of the most noteworthy feats on the slippery rinks was the skating of 200 miles in 24 hours by a Mr. F. Betteridge at Bingley Hall, August 20, 1878.
Birmingham's last ice rink closed in 2003 and a project began campaigning for a new rink.
In the winter of 2005 one of the largest temporary outdoor ice skate rinks in Britain was erected on Centenary Square
. Another rink was constructed in the square in the following year.
leagues the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames, formed in October 2006 by Bee Bentley who introduced the sport of roller derby to the West Midlands from America. Following this formation, the Central City Rollergirls
formed from a split in November 2007.
Roller derby is an aggressive quad skating sport where blockers try to stop jammers from scoring points by lapping the blockers. This fast & furious contact sport has already captured the imagination of West Midlands crowds during Birmingham's first public bout in October 2007.
motor sport park which features a short-track oval circuit based and MSA Kart Circuit. The oval circuit stages a number of high profile stock car and banger race meetings, along with a charity race event every winter for Children in Need
. The Grand Prix Karting circuit, where Nigel Mansell
famously began his motor sport career remains one of the most testing circuits in the UK.
The city also staged the Birmingham Superprix
on a number of occasions during the 1980s, a Formula 3000
event which took place on a street circuit in the city centre. Many of the competitors later went on to compete in Formula One
, including former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi
. Nigel Mansell
also lived in Birmingham as a child and into his early adult years.
is popular in the city. Many small skate parks exist as well as the Epic Skate Park
based in Moseley
, the park opened in 2003 within a former bus and tram garage. The park is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and now hosts international skate competitions as well as music videos and film.
The skate board wheel was pioneered in Birmingham during the 19th century.
was introduced in 1867; the first code of laws being published in October, 1869. There is a croquet club at Edgbaston
, which has been in existence since 1900. The club now play at Richmond Hill Road.
A horse racing
course was located at Bromford Bridge in Bromford
, Erdington
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A smaller course was located on the former site of Four Oaks Hall in Sutton Coldfield
, however its existence was short and it was removed before Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham in 1974.
The 1972
World Snooker Championship was held in Selly Oak
. It was won by Alex Higgins
.
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
has always been important in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, from the hundreds of diverse grass-roots sports clubs to internationally famous teams, associations and venues.
The city was the first city to have been awarded the title National City of Sport by the Sports Council.
Major teams
| Club | Sport | Founded | League | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder... |
Football Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball... |
1874 | FA Premier League FA Premier League The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier... |
Villa Park Villa Park Villa Park may mean:United Kingdom* Villa Park, an association football stadium in Birmingham, EnglandUnited States* Villa Park, California, a small city in Orange County* Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County... |
| West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion F.C. West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands... |
Football Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball... |
1878 | FA Premier League FA Premier League The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier... |
The Hawthorns The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, Sandwell, England, with a capacity of 26,484. It has been the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C. since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the club. The ground was the last Football League ground to be built in the... |
| Birmingham City Birmingham City F.C. Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the... |
Football Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball... |
1875 | FA Premier League FA Premier League The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier... |
St. Andrew's Stadium |
| Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor... |
Cricket Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the... |
1882 | National Cricket League | Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England... |
| Birmingham Panthers Birmingham Panthers The Birmingham Panthers was a professional basketball club in the British Basketball League. Established in 2007, the Birmingham-based franchise competed in Britain's top-tier league during the 2007-08 season, but following a disastrous season and a lack of organisation, the franchise ceased... |
Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
2007 | British Basketball League British Basketball League The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy.... |
Aston Events Centre Aston Events Centre The Aston Events Centre is an indoor sports and event venue, located in Birmingham, England.Formerly called Aston Villa Leisure Centre, the venue is situated adjacent to Villa Park football stadium, home of Aston Villa F.C... |
| Moseley Rugby Club Moseley Rugby Football Club Moseley Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club, based at Billesley Common in Birmingham, that competes in the RFU Championship. The club was historically the premier rugby club in Birmingham, reaching the final of the John Player Cup three times in the late 1970s and early 1980s... |
Rugby union Rugby union Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand... |
1873 | RFU Championship RFU Championship The RFU Championship replaced National Division One as the second tier in the English rugby union system in September 2009. Unlike National Division One, which is semi-professional, the RFU Championship is a fully professional league.-History:... |
Billesley Common Billesley Common Billesley Common is a recreational area of public open space in South Birmingham, England. It is situated along the Yardley Wood Road, between the suburbs of Moseley and Yardley Wood.... |
Football
The city is home to two of the oldest professional footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
teams in the world: Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
(1874) and Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
(1875). Nearby West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
's ground The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, Sandwell, England, with a capacity of 26,484. It has been the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C. since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the club. The ground was the last Football League ground to be built in the...
used to be divided by the Birmingham/Smethwick
Smethwick
Smethwick is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the edge of the city of Birmingham, within the historic boundaries of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire....
border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now in Sandwell
Sandwell
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...
. In addition, Birmingham features several non-league teams including Romulus
Romulus F.C.
Romulus Football Club is a football club based in Sutton Coldfield, England. They currently play in the Northern Premier League First Division South .-History:...
and Sutton Coldfield Town
Sutton Coldfield Town F.C.
Sutton Coldfield Town F.C. are a football club based in Sutton Coldfield, England. They were formed in 1879 and currently play in the Northern Premier League First Division South ....
.
Aston
Aston
Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...
in Birmingham is notable for being the location for the first football league, which was invented by William McGregor on March 22, 1885. Aston Villa Football Club were among the founding clubs of the Premier League in 1992.
Birmingham City Ladies
Birmingham City L.F.C.
Birmingham City L.F.C. is a semi-professional English Women's football club who are affiliated to Birmingham City F.C.. They play their home games at Knights Lane, the home of Stratford Town F.C., and were named as founder members of the FA Women's Super League which started in 2011.-History:The...
compete at the top level of English women's football
Women's football
Women's football can mean one of the following:* Women's Australian rules football* Women's American football* Women's association football* Women's rugby union* Women's rugby league* Ladies' Gaelic football...
, the FA WSL.
Athletics
The Birmingham Athletic Club opened a Gymnasium in King Alfred's Place, in Aug 1865/6, and held their annual display and assault-at-arms in the Town Hall. The first festival of the Birmingham Athletic Club was held in 1868. On March 1, 1880, an association was organised of many of the bicycle clubs, cricket clubs, football clubs, and similar athletic bodies in the town and neighbourhood, under the name of "The Midland Counties Amateurs' Athletic Union." The sport was so popular that in January, 1879 the "Midland Athlete" newspaper was first published.Alexander Stadium
Alexander Stadium is an international athletics stadium located within Perry Park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, at . It has staged the Amateur Athletics Association Championships, and was the venue of the 1998 Disability World Athletics Championships...
on a national and international level. Recent development has seen addition of a High Performance Centre for indoor intense specialist training. The Stadium is also home to Birchfield Harriers
Birchfield Harriers
Birchfield Harriers is an athletics club, founded in 1877. Its home is at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, England.Named after the Birchfield district of Birmingham, their previous home , at nearby Perry Barr, was Alexander Sports Ground. It still carries their badge, a running stag, rendered in...
, who have contributed towards Britain's National and International Athletics for many years and has produced international athletes such as Denise Lewis
Denise Lewis
Denise Lewis OBE is a retired British athlete who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.-2000 Olympics:...
, Mark Lewis-Francis
Mark Lewis-Francis
Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis is a British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialises in the 100 metres. A renowned junior, his greatest sporting achievement at senior level has been to anchor the Great Britain and Northern Ireland 4 x 100 metres relay team to a shock gold...
and Kelly Sotherton
Kelly Sotherton
Kelly Jade Sotherton is an English heptathlete and 400m sprinter. She was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and was fourth at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also was a bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, and was the heptathlon gold medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth...
. The National Indoor Arena
National Indoor Arena
The National Indoor Arena is a large indoor arena and is owned by the NEC Group. It is situated in central Birmingham, England and was opened in 1991, as the largest indoor arena at the time in the UK...
is Britain's Premier Indoor Athletics stadium and in 2003 successfully hosted the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The city hosted the European Athletic Association
European Athletic Association
The European Athletic Association is the European governing body for the sport of athletics.- History :In 1932, during a meeting of the International Amateur Athletic Federation in Los Angeles, a special committee was designated by the Council with the task of reviewing the conditions for the...
's 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Cricket
Records from the 19th century suggest that there was a cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
club in existence in Birmingham by 1745, and that a cricket match was being played in Birmingham on the day that the Battle of Culloden
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...
was fought in 1746. The earliest cricket match in Birmingham for which a definite record exists took place on Monday 15 July 1751, between "Eleven of the Gentlemen of the Holte Bridgman's Club and Eleven of the Gentlemen of Mr Thomas Bellamy's Club, the most of three innings, for Twenty-Two Guineas", at Holte Bridgman's Cricket Ground, at the Apollo in Aston
Aston
Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...
. Admission was 2 pence. In 1760 a "Society of Cricket Players of Birmingham" advertised in Aris's Birmingham Gazette to challenge any other team within 30 miles of the town to a game for the prize of 20 guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
s.
The Birmingham and District Cricket League
Birmingham and District Premier League
The Birmingham and District Cricket League is the oldest club cricket league in the world, formed in 1888. Arguably the strongest club competition in the country, it was also the first ECB Premier League, being designated such in 1998.- Geography :...
is the oldest cricket league in the world, having been founded in 1888.
Cricket was extremely popular in Birmingham between World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Records from the Sports Argus
Sports Argus
The Sports Argus was a Saturday sports paper printed on distinctive pink paper and published in Birmingham, England between 1897 and 2006....
show that there were 200 teams playing cricket weekly within Birmingham in 1922, a figure which rose to 300 in 1930 and exceeded 320 in 1939. These figures do not include teams playing in competitions within individual firms – in the early 1930s the Birmingham Small Arms Company
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
alone supported a cricket league of 14 teams.
Today County Cricket is played at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
, home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
. International test matches are also held there.
In 1882, Bournville Cricket Club was founded in Froggarts Farm on the corner of Bournville Lane and Linden Road, which is now The Old Farm Hotel. The Ground held its first county game when Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
played Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
in June 1910, and in 1982 held an ICC
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
champions trophy 3rd Place Play off when Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
played Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
Birmingham was the host for the first ever Cricket World Cup of either gender, a Women's Cricket World Cup
Women's Cricket World Cup
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is a Women's one-day international cricket competition. The first tournament was held in England in 1973, two years before the first men's ICC Cricket World Cup....
in 1973. England beat Australia in the finals.
Rugby Union
Rugby UnionRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
is played in Birmingham by Moseley Rugby Football Club
Moseley Rugby Football Club
Moseley Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club, based at Billesley Common in Birmingham, that competes in the RFU Championship. The club was historically the premier rugby club in Birmingham, reaching the final of the John Player Cup three times in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
promoted as Champions to the second tier in April 2006, since re-branded as the RFU Championship. The club was founded in 1873 and reached four cup finals, sharing the trophy with Gloucester on one occasion before an outright win at Twickenham in 2009. Playing for most of their history at The Reddings, in 2000 Moseley relocated to a temporary ground at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
and now have a new permanent home at Billesley Common
Billesley Common
Billesley Common is a recreational area of public open space in South Birmingham, England. It is situated along the Yardley Wood Road, between the suburbs of Moseley and Yardley Wood....
.
The Solihull-based Birmingham & Solihull Pertemps Bees
Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C.
Birmingham and Solihull Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing Birmingham and Solihull. It was formed in 1989 by a merger of the original Birmingham and Solihull rugby clubs, which were both established over 60 years ago....
was established in 1989.
Basketball
BasketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
was first introduced to Birmingham in 1911 when a YMCA instructor brought basketball to Birmingham YMCA, and a team was produced. The American Rules had been introduced, but the teams in Birmingham found them to be too complicated, and when forming a Local Basketball Association, they compiled a more practical set of rules for their own use. The first basketball tournament for the Senior Championship Cup was held in Birmingham on June 6, 1936. On April 9, 1938, the first Junior Championship Final was held in Birmingham.
For England's first international basketball competition, Birmingham provided three players; F. Cole, C. Hunt and A. J. Lee. A Championship Final was held in April 1940 with the Birmingham Athletic Institute (BAI) beating London Central YMCA in the match. Due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, there was no championship for the next six years, resulting in Birmingham retaining the trophy for that period.
More recently, basketball was played by the Birmingham Bullets
Birmingham Bullets
The Birmingham Bullets is a basketball team from Birmingham, who competed in the British Basketball League . The club resigned from the BBL league in the summer of 2006 and soon after went into liquidation, and currently no-longer exist as a basketball franchise.-The future of Birmingham...
, who competed in the top United Kingdom basketball league. The Bullets went on a season-long break from competitive action, however, went into liquidation and ceased to exist. The Birmingham Bullets were then replaced by the Birmingham Panthers
Birmingham Panthers
The Birmingham Panthers was a professional basketball club in the British Basketball League. Established in 2007, the Birmingham-based franchise competed in Britain's top-tier league during the 2007-08 season, but following a disastrous season and a lack of organisation, the franchise ceased...
.
Speedway
The first ever speedway meeting in Birmingham was held on July 12, 1928 at The Alexander Sports Stadium (now the Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium). The last speedway meeting of that season was held on September 1, 1928. The first meeting after World War II was held on May 4, 1946 against NorwichNorwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
. It was used up until 1957 and again in 1960. The Birchfield Harriers then refused for the stadium to be used for speedway again.
The team then moved to the former Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium which was renamed the Ladbroke Stadium. It staged speedway from 1929 to 1931, and then from 1971 to 1983. It was demolished the following year. The team broke up in 1986 after their final meeting at Bordesley Green
Bordesley Green
Bordesley Green is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England about two miles south-east from the city centre. It also contains a road of the same name. It is also a ward in the formal district of Hodge Hill. Neighbouring areas include, Alum Rock, Saltley, Small Heath and Yardley.Heartlands Hospital...
.
In March 2007, Speedway racing returned to Birmingham after 20 years. A new team was created to compete at the Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium under the name the "Birmingham Brummies
Birmingham Brummies
Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team, who were reformed in 2006 and then accepted into the Premier League in 2007. The club race at Perry Barr Stadium ....
".
Hockey
HockeyField hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
is a very popular sport with Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, Harborne and Bournville
Bournville
Bournville is a model village on the south side of Birmingham, England, best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate – including a dark chocolate bar branded "Bournville". It is also a ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak and home to the Bournville Centre...
being the leading clubs in the city.
Edgbaston Hockey Club were founded in 1885, making them the second oldest hockey club in the country. Matches are played at the University of Birmingham, where the club initiated a ground breaking 'time share' arrangement on the world class water based surfaces, and at Edgbaston High School. Bournville Hockey Club were founded in 1902 as a section of the Bournville Athletic Club. Their first game was against Small Heath
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
on November 15, 1902, in which they lost. Bournville has produced international hockey players including David Griffith-Jones, who was selected to play for Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
in 1955 becoming Bournville's first international player. Bournville have moved venues in their history as a result of Cadbury's closure of the sports facilities at the factory. They are currently based at the University of Birmingham and King Edward VI High School for Girls.
Netball
Dozens of junior and senior NetballNetball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
clubs exist in Birmingham such as the Birmingham City Netball Club (founded in 1995) which coordinates junior and intermediate netball teams (under-18s).
The Birmingham (adult) Netball League plays from September to March (approximately) and has roughly 100 teams which are arranged in 13 divisions. The 1st division includes some of England's top clubs like for instance Linden who are based at Nechells Community Centre and are currently the National Clubs League Division 1 leaders. There are several other Netball leagues in the UK of which Birmingham teams contribute considerably.
A "Netball Little League" was established in 2003 for the areas of Bournville and Selly Oak
Selly Oak
Selly Oak is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb is bordered by Bournbrook and Selly Park to the north-east, Edgbaston and Harborne to the north, Weoley Castle and Weoley Hill to the west, and Bournville to the south...
.
Volleyball
VolleyballVolleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
takes place on a small scale across various venues in the city, several amateur teams exist such as "Selly Baskets Volleyball Team", "Persian Phoenix Volleyball Club"and "University of Birmingham Volleyball Club" http://www.ubvc.co.uk/ who are currently in first division of the national league for men and the Super 8 level for women.
Water polo
There are many ground root Water PoloWater polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
teams in existence across the Greater Birmingham area such as Warley Wasps
County Borough of Warley
Warley was a county borough and civil parish forming part of the West Midlands conurbation, England, and geographical county of Worcestershire. It was formed in 1966 by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick with the municipal boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis Warley was a...
who were established in 1888, the team runs both male and female water polo teams. Also "Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
Water Polo Club" and "Solihull Water Polo Club" offers water polo training for children and Adults with qualified Water Polo coaches.
The City of Birmingham Swimming Club draws from the local water polo clubs and competes at a national level.
Miscellany
LacrosseLacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, a popular Canadian game, was introduced to Birmingham on June 23, 1883, by a team of Canadian Amateurs and Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
Indians, who exhibited their prowess at the Lower Grounds. The game never quite took off in the city, however the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, Birmingham Lacrosse Club and Aston University
Aston University
Aston University is a "plate glass" campus university situated at Gosta Green, in the city centre of Birmingham, England.Established in 1895 as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School, Aston was granted its Royal Charter as Aston University on 22 April 1966...
have lacrosse teams.
Tennis
The first ever game of lawn tennis was played in EdgbastonEdgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
in 1859 by Major Harry Gem
Harry Gem
Major Thomas Henry Gem , known as Harry Gem, was an English lawyer, soldier, writer and sportsman.Alongside his friend Augurio Perera, he is credited as the earliest inventor of the game of lawn tennis.-Biography:...
and Augurio Perera, both residents of the city.
Tennis is not nowadays regularly associated with inner city urban areas, however several schemes nationwide are working to rectify this under achievement including "Tennis For Free". Many local tennis clubs and teams still exist in Greater Birmingham such as the 'Birmingham City Tennis Club' and international tennis is still played at Edgbaston's Priory Club.
Badminton
The National Indoor Arena has hosted international badmintonBadminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
events such as the World Indoor Badminton Championships. The All England Open Badminton Championships
All England Open Badminton Championships
The All England Open Badminton Championships, or simply All England, is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious badminton tournaments. Played annually, it developed after the success of world's first badminton tournament held in Guildford in 1898...
are now held at the NIA as a result of the tournament outgrowing all previous venues.
Golf
GolfGolf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
is a popular sport in the city with many clubs. Boldmere, Cocks Moors Woods, Harborne Church Farm, Hatchford Brook, Hilltop, Lickey Hills and Pype Hayes
Pype Hayes
Pype Hayes is an area in the east of the Erdington district of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It is located within the Tyburn ward.-Etymology:The name of the area derives from a major landowner in Erdington called Henry de Pipe...
are all large high quality golf courses within Birmingham city.
Professional Golf is played at the Belfry (4 km outside Birmingham) which sometimes hosts The Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
.
Boxing
BoxingBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
is popular in the city with many clubs and famous professional boxers such as Patrick Cowdell
Patrick Cowdell
Patrick Cowdell is a retired boxer from Great Britain. Cowdell now lives just over the border from Smethwick in Oldbury.-Amateur career:...
and Robert McKracken who have continued to support boxing in the UK by turning their skills to coaching new up- and- coming boxers.
Famous Birmingham/Shropshire boxer Richie Woodhall
Richie Woodhall
Richie Woodhall is a former English World Champion super-middleweight boxer. He lost his last fight to his friend Joe Calzaghe in 2000, and subsequently retired in 2002....
works and trains with Birmingham Boxing Academy (BBA) and the city's premier boxing team Team Ringside http://www.richiewoodhall.com/biography.htm. The BBA is a charitable organisation that works alongside lesser privileged children of central Birmingham. Richie also commentates for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and Sky
Sky
The sky is the part of the atmosphere or outer space visible from the surface of any astronomical object. It is difficult to define precisely for several reasons. During daylight, the sky of Earth has the appearance of a pale blue surface because the air scatters the sunlight. The sky is sometimes...
.
Prize-fighting was long the popular sport of high and low life blackguards, and Birmingham added many a redoubtable name to the long list of famous prize-fighters, whose deeds are recorded in "Fistiana" and other chronicles of the ring. The earliest account of a local prize-fight is of that which took place in October 1782, for 100 guineas a side, between Jemmy Sargent, a professional, and Isaac Perrins
Isaac Perrins
Isaac Perrins was an English bareknuckle prizefighter and 18th-century engineer. A man reputed to possess prodigious strength but a mild manner, he fought and lost one of the most notorious boxing matches of the era, a physically mismatched contest against the English Champion Tom Johnson...
, one of the Soho workmen. Jemmy knuckled under after being knocked down thirteen times, in as many rounds, by the knock-kneed hammer man from Soho, whose friends, it is said, won £1,500 in bets through his prowess. Bob Brettle
Bob Brettle
Robert "Bob" Brettle, born at Portobello, near Edinburgh, in January 1832, was a successful bare-knuckle boxer active in Birmingham, England, during the 1850s...
was active in the 1850s.
During the late 18th century William Futrell (a well known Birmingham pugilist) becomes publisher of the first boxing paper.
There are twelve boxing clubs in Birmingham.
Swimming
Birmingham's first swimmingSwimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
club formed in 1862 under the title of the "Birmingham Amateur Swimming Club". The "Birmingham Leander Swimming Club", based at Northwood Street Baths, commenced their aquatic activities in June, 1877. The two clubs merged to form the "Birmingham and Leander Swimming Club" and moved to Woodcock Street Baths, now part of Aston University
Aston University
Aston University is a "plate glass" campus university situated at Gosta Green, in the city centre of Birmingham, England.Established in 1895 as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School, Aston was granted its Royal Charter as Aston University on 22 April 1966...
.
The celebrated swimmer, Captain Webb, visited Birmingham several times, and the Athletic Club presented him with a gold medal and purse on December 4, 1875. In 1949, the Birmingham Association of Swimming Clubs partnered with Warwickshire Amateur Swimming Association to successfully win a bid to stage the "International Speed Swimming Contest for the Bologna Trophy", which was staged at Woodcock Street Baths. The Birmingham Baths Committee
Birmingham Baths Committee
The Birmingham Baths Committee was a Birmingham City Council-run organisation responsible for the provision and maintenance of public swimming and bathing facilities within the Birmingham boundaries in England...
organised a visit as part of a tour by the "Het Y" Swimming Club of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in 1950.
More recently The University of Birmingham trains some of the most promising professional swimmers in Britain. The team has won bronze medal consecutively in the BUSA team championships 2003-04 and 2004-05.
The "City of Birmingham Swimming Club" also trains swimmers of all ages and competes professionally at local and national level as does "Perry Beeches Sutton Swimming Squad", "Boldmere Swimming Club", "Orion Swimming Club" (located at King Edward VI High School for Girls
King Edward VI High School for Girls
King Edward VI High School for Girls is an independent secondary school in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and occupies the same site as, and is twinned with, King Edward's School...
) and "Solihull Swimming Club" (located at Tudor Grange Sports Centre, Solihull
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
).
School swimming was introduced in the city in April 1875 following a campaign by Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
, which commenced at a Meeting of the Council on November 10, 1874. Following co-operation between the City of Birmingham Baths Department and the Birmingham School Board, schools were able to buy books of tickets to allow pupils to swim under the guidance of teachers at pools.
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racingGreyhound racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
is a popular event in the city with two large stadiums at Hall Green Stadium
Hall Green Stadium
Hall Green Stadium is a greyhound racing stadium located in the Birmingham suburb of Acocks Green, just over the border from Hall Green itself. Opened in August 1927 it was the first greyhound track to be built in the city. It hosted speedway between 1928 and 1938...
and Perry Barr Stadium
Perry Barr Stadium
Perry Barr Stadium is a stadium and racetrack on Aldridge Road in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England....
. A trust has been established in Perry Barr for retired greyhounds.
Bowling
BowlingBowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
has long been a popular tradition in Birmingham with bowling greens and quoit
Quoits
Quoits is a traditional game which involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike . The sport of quoits encompasses several distinct variations.-The history of quoits:The history of quoits is disputed...
grounds often attached to public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s.
In 1778 there was one at the Salutation inn
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
, at the bottom of Snow Hill; in 1741 there was also one at the Hen and Chickens in the High Street. A new green was opened at the Union Tavern on Cherry Street on March 26, 1792. There was also a green at Aston Hall
Aston Hall
Aston Hall is a municipally owned Jacobean-style mansion in Aston, Birmingham, England. Washington Irving used it as the model for Bracebridge Hall in his stories in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon.-History:...
and Cannon Hill Park
Cannon Hill Park
Cannon Hill Park is a park located in south Birmingham, England. It is the most popular park in the city, covering consisting of formal, conservation, woodland and sports areas...
during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
.
In 1825 a bowling green was laid out at the corner of Highfield Road and Harborne Road, for "a very select party" of Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
ians. Bowls is still played in the city today with the existence of The Northfield & District Bowling Association and The Yardley Wood & District Mid-Week Bowling Association.
Ice skating
Ice SkatingIce skating
Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...
Rink
Ice rink
An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows...
s were opened at the Lower Grounds May 1, 1875; at Bingley Hall
Bingley Hall
Bingley Hall in Birmingham was the first purpose-built exhibition hall in Great Britain. It was built in 1850 and burned down in 1984. The International Convention Centre now stands on the site....
, October 2, 1875; at Moseley
Moseley
Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, two miles south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants...
, December 6, 1876; and at Handsworth
Handsworth, West Midlands
Handsworth is an inner city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. The Local Government Act 1894 divided the ancient Staffordshire parish of Handsworth into two urban districts: Handsworth and Perry Barr. Handsworth was annexed to the county borough of Birmingham in Warwickshire in 1911...
, October 8, 1877; and, for a time, the amusement was exceedingly popular, more than one fortune accruing from the manufacture of patent and other roller skates
Roller skates
Roller skates are devices worn on the feet to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. A first basic type of roller skate consists of a boot with four wheels with ball bearings, arranged in the same configuration as the wheels of a typical car.-History:...
. One of the most noteworthy feats on the slippery rinks was the skating of 200 miles in 24 hours by a Mr. F. Betteridge at Bingley Hall, August 20, 1878.
Birmingham's last ice rink closed in 2003 and a project began campaigning for a new rink.
In the winter of 2005 one of the largest temporary outdoor ice skate rinks in Britain was erected on Centenary Square
Centenary Square
Centenary Square is a public square on Broad Street in central Birmingham, England, named in 1989 in celebration of the centenary of Birmingham achieving city status in 1889....
. Another rink was constructed in the square in the following year.
Roller derby
Birmingham boasts two female amateur roller derbyRoller derby
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...
leagues the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames, formed in October 2006 by Bee Bentley who introduced the sport of roller derby to the West Midlands from America. Following this formation, the Central City Rollergirls
Central City Rollergirls
Central City Rollergirls are a flat track roller derby league based in Birmingham, UK. The league was founded in 2007 and play by Women's Flat Track Derby Association rules.- League History :...
formed from a split in November 2007.
Roller derby is an aggressive quad skating sport where blockers try to stop jammers from scoring points by lapping the blockers. This fast & furious contact sport has already captured the imagination of West Midlands crowds during Birmingham's first public bout in October 2007.
Motor racing
The city is home to Birmingham WheelsBirmingham Wheels
Birmingham Wheels Park is a dedicated motor sport park with short-track oval motor racing circuit and MSA approved kart circuit, based in the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham, England...
motor sport park which features a short-track oval circuit based and MSA Kart Circuit. The oval circuit stages a number of high profile stock car and banger race meetings, along with a charity race event every winter for Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
. The Grand Prix Karting circuit, where Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
famously began his motor sport career remains one of the most testing circuits in the UK.
The city also staged the Birmingham Superprix
Birmingham Superprix
The Halfords Birmingham Superprix was a motor racing meeting held on a street circuit at the heart of Birmingham, England, from 1986 to 1990. Until 1990 the principal event was a round of the European Formula 3000 Championship, but support races included BTCC and Formula Ford 1600 rounds, as well...
on a number of occasions during the 1980s, a Formula 3000
Formula 3000
The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter the Formula One championship...
event which took place on a street circuit in the city centre. Many of the competitors later went on to compete in Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
, including former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi...
. Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
also lived in Birmingham as a child and into his early adult years.
Skateboarding
SkateboardingSkateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
is popular in the city. Many small skate parks exist as well as the Epic Skate Park
Epic Skate Park
Epic Skate Park was the largest indoor skatepark in Europe. It was located in the Moseley area of Birmingham, England.-History:The skatepark officially opened in October 2001 in a former bus depot and underwent much building and development work...
based in Moseley
Moseley
Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, two miles south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants...
, the park opened in 2003 within a former bus and tram garage. The park is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and now hosts international skate competitions as well as music videos and film.
The skate board wheel was pioneered in Birmingham during the 19th century.
Miscellany
CroquetCroquet
Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
was introduced in 1867; the first code of laws being published in October, 1869. There is a croquet club at Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, which has been in existence since 1900. The club now play at Richmond Hill Road.
A horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
course was located at Bromford Bridge in Bromford
Bromford
Bromford is an industrial area of Birmingham, situated between Ward End and Erdington.- Toponomy :In Old English, "Bromford" means "broom ford", signifying abundance of broom shrubs and a location to cross the River Tame....
, Erdington
Erdington
Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A smaller course was located on the former site of Four Oaks Hall in Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
, however its existence was short and it was removed before Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham in 1974.
The 1972
World Snooker Championship 1972
The 1972 World Snooker Championship, between March 1971 to February 1972, took nearly a year to complete. In a preliminary competition eight qualifiers were reduced to two, and they joined the eight other entrants in the competition proper...
World Snooker Championship was held in Selly Oak
Selly Oak
Selly Oak is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb is bordered by Bournbrook and Selly Park to the north-east, Edgbaston and Harborne to the north, Weoley Castle and Weoley Hill to the west, and Bournville to the south...
. It was won by Alex Higgins
Alex Higgins
Alexander Gordon "Alex" Higgins , also known by his nickname of Hurricane Higgins, was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who was twice World Champion and twice runner-up. Higgins earned the nickname The Hurricane because of his speed of play...
.