Free Events

1. Olympic and Paralympic Cycling Road Races
July 28 – August 1, 2012
There are lots of ways to enjoy the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games without a ticket. Some of the most iconic events will be able to be viewed from great vantage points at no cost. The men’s and women’s Road Races will begin on The Mall, a popular backdrop for formal ceremonies and major sporting events throughout the year. From The Mall, the riders will head southwest through London, cross the famous River Thames at Putney Bridge and continue out through Richmond Park past Hampton Court Palace. Before the riders make it back to The Mall for a dramatic finish, they will head to Surrey, travel north through Leatherhead, Esher and Kingston.
(www.london2012.com/cycling-road) And LOCOG have just announced that they are increasing the capacity for spectators at one of the best viewpoint – Box Hill – from 3,500 to up to 15,000 http://www.london2012.com/news/2012/01/more-spectators-will-enjoy-best-views-of-olympic-cycling-road-race.php

2. Olympic Marathons
July 5 and 12, 2012
The Olympic and Paralympic marathons will start and finish at The Mall, an iconic location in central London most recently famous as part of the wedding route for the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Each race will have around 80 athletes taking part, making it a heart-pumping spectacle worth watching.
(www.london2012.com/athletics)

3. Olympic Sailing
July 29 – August 11, 2012
The deep sapphire blue waters of Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour will play host to 10 sailing events over the course of 14 days during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. These free events will offer fans excitement and drama as they watch teams race in the beautiful but testing waters on the southern coast of England.
(www.london2012.com/sailing)

4. Olympic Race Walks
August 4 and 11, 2012
Known for its regal beauty and nature, visitors can watch the Race Walks which begin and finish at The Mall in St James’s Park. Along the 2 kilometre race loop, visitors can take in the sites of Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Queen, and the Commonwealth Memorial Gates.
(www.royalparks.org.uk/London2012.cfm)

5. Olympic Live Sites
With large screens carrying live broadcasts of the Olympic events, visitors in at least 20 locations around the UK will have the best seat in the house to watch their favourite event. Screens will feature a broad range of UK-wide and local content in partnership with community, arts and media organizations.
(www.london2012.com/get-involved/live-sites/index.php)

Affordable Attractions

6. Museum of London Docklands
Occupying a Georgian warehouse on the banks of the West India Quay in trendy East London, home to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Museum of London Docklands is a great place to take the kids and entry is free. Visitors can explore 12 galleries of artefacts, paintings, engravings and photographs that chart the history of the area from the Romans to present day.
(www.museumoflondon.org.uk/docklands)

7. Mudchute Farm and Park
Europe’s largest urban farm is overlooked by Canary Wharf’s skyscrapers in East London. With 34 acres of open parkland, in the heart of the Isle of Dogs, visitors can easily be in the British
countryside just miles away from central London. The farm and park offers visitors the experience to ride horses and pet sheep, pigs, ducks, geese and llamas. Picnics are welcomed and entry is free.
(http://mudchute.org)

8. The London Pass
The London Pass is a great way to experience London like never before. Travellers who purchase this pass at VisitBritain’s online shop prior to going overseas can save on the retail price. The pass allows visitors free entry into over 50 top attractions in London, which can save those on a budget up to £500 on entrance fees. Top attractions include Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, London Zoo, St Paul’s Cathedral, Wembley Stadium and Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.
(www.visitbritainshop.com/usa)

Affordable Accommodation

9. 3 star accommodation is available during the Games at St Giles Hotel in the heart of the West End / Bloomsbury for only £199 per room per night including breakfast and VAT for up to two persons sharing, while studio accommodation is available atCitadines Barbican from just £150 per night on a self catering basis.
http://www.stgiles.com/
http://www.citadines.com/uk/london/barbican.html

10. citizenM, Glasgow, Scotland
Recently opened in 2010, citizenM offers travellers on a budget an affordable luxury hotel in the heart of Glasgow’s city centre. This high-technology accommodation allows guests self check-in on touch screen terminals and has a food and beverage outlet, canteenM, that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Guestrooms are outfitted with a light and sound system that can be controlled with the touch of a button.
(www.citizenmglasgow.com)

11. Cambridge Colleges – Bed and Breakfast, Cambridge, England
Cambridge, a city of all seasons, may be a small city but it still packs a punch and offers
affordable accommodations just 45 minutes from London via rail. Trace the footsteps of college
graduates such as Newton and Darwin and stay in a room at one of the Cambridge colleges.
Staying in an historic Cambridge college accommodation during the London 2012 Games is a
unique opportunity that offers bed and breakfast service.
(http://www.cambridgerooms.co.uk/

12. Camping
There are lots of camp sites being set up in and around London specially for the Olympic Games. For example Camp In London, set in a lovely, 19-hectare green field in Walthamstow, East London is being transformed into one of the largest campsites that London has seen. It is just 4 miles from the heart of the city of London and less than a 10 minute free shuttle bus ride from the Olympic Park. It has great facilities and its own international festival running throughout the duration of the Games. You can stay in a pre-erected tent for just £40 pppn or pitch your own tent for just £15 pppn.
(http://www.campinlondon.com/)

For other great ways to experience the magic of the Olympic Games on a budget go to www.visitbritain.com

12 winning ways to enjoy the Olympic Games on a budget is a post from: Anglotopia.net

One of our favorite yearly British Sporting events is the 6 Nations Rugby Cup and this year it will be airing in the USA again on BBC America.

Here are the airdates:

Scotland vs. England
Murrayfield in Edinburgh
Saturday, February 4, 12 pm ET

France vs. Ireland
Stade de France in Paris
Saturday, February 11, 3 pm ET

England vs. Wales
Twickenham in London
Saturday, February 25, 11 am ET

Wales vs. Italy
Millennium Stadium in Cardiff
Saturday, March 10, 9:30 am ET

England vs. Ireland
Twickenham in London
Saturday, March 17, 1 pm ET

All the matches will be airing live. It’s a lot of fun!

6 Nations Rugby Cup Coming Live to BBC America is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This is a guest post by by John Evans, Editor of sportcloseup.co.uk

Becoming Jane, the 2007 biopic of the writer Jane Austen re-run over the holidays by the BBC, may not seem the most obvious contender to be a movie about sport – but that was just the start of the festive surprises.

What were the odds on Anne Hathaway, the American actress who literally became Jane, getting to hit the winning runs in a village cricket match – yes, cricket – set more than 200 years ago?

Or that Jane Austen and her family in the southern English county of Hampshire would feature in a history of the game of cricket’s early days, written by a former Prime Minister, Sir John Major?

Or, perhaps most surprisingly, that Jane’s first completed novel, Northanger Abbey (written in the 1790s) would include one of the earliest references in literature to cricket’s American cousin, baseball – four decades before Abner Doubleday supposedly invented the sport at Cooperstown.

Forgive me Jane, but it is a truth almost universally acknowledged – and a great source of pride to us – that Britain is where modern sport really began: where so many were played for the first time, or had their first rules laid down, or were popularised before being exported to the rest of the world.

The President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, admitted as much last July as he invited the world’s athletes to come to London for the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer, describing Britain as “the nation that invented modern sport”.

Take the momentous 1860s and 1870s.

In two extraordinary decades, Scotland staged the first of the world’s major golf championships in 1860, and took on England in the first rugby (1871) and football (1872) internationals. The English wrote football’s first laws in 1863 and, in a momentous four months in 1877, staged what was to become the world’s first Grand Slam tennis tournament and took on Australia’s cricketers in the first-ever official international “test” match.

So it is not that surprising that sport is a rich part of Britain’s heritage, on show at more than 30 museums from St Andrews in Scotland (golf) to Brooklands, just south of London – where you can walk on what remains of the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit, dating back to 1907.

These are among more than 100 sports museums, stadium tours, one-off exhibitions and other visitor attractions featured in the sportcloseup.co.uk website that I launched in January 2011, to spread awareness of the UK’s unique heritage early in a decade that will see Britain hosting not just the Olympics but the Commonwealth Games and global championships in athletics, cricket and rugby.

Some of the attractions won’t come up as a surprise. London has three big, thriving, museums at Wimbledon (lawn tennis), Twickenham (rugby union) and Lord’s (cricket). Top English Premier League football (soccer) clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have popular ones too.

And there are plenty more not too far away during the Olympic and Paralympic Games – like the River and Rowing Museum at Henley-on-Thames (just over 40 miles west of the London 2012 Olympic Park) and the National Horseracing Museum at Newmarket in Suffolk, 60 miles north.

Bit there are surprises too, like small museums, some reflecting personal passions for a sport – for cycling (in Wales), fencing in the Midlands county of Worcestershire, badminton at Milton Keynes, just north of London, and shooting at Bisley, to the south.

And there are plenty of less familiar gems too.

One of the Olympic mascots, Wenlock, is named after a small town in Shropshire – between Birmingham and the Welsh border – which is rightly celebrated as one of the main inspirations for the start of the modern Olympics, thanks to a 19^th century sporting festival begun by a local doctor. The town’s museum, spruced up for 2012, re-opens soon.

Close by the 2012 canoeing venue at Broxbourne, just north of London, there is a museum about the sport of speedway, incongruously sited inside a wildlife park. In suburban Oxford – just a relatively short hop from the rowing museum – you can look out on the athletics track where the world’s first sub-four minute mile was run by Roger Bannister in 1954.

And visitors to the golfing shrine of St Andrews, where the sport has been played for six centuries, get not just the legendary “Old” Course and a golf museum (Europe’s largest) but also, just yards away, the chance to take a  walk on the beach where the famous opening shots of the Oscar-winning movie, Chariots of Fire, were filmed.

Its screenplay writer, Colin Welland, famously echoed Paul Revere (“The British are coming!”) in his winner’s speech in 1981. But will it be the Americans who are coming to see Britain’s unique sporting heritage and the museums that cherish it in 2012?

We hope so.

www.sportcloseup.co.uk

Guest Post: A Brief Guide to Britain’s Sporting Attractions and Museums is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The National Football Museum, due to open in Manchester in 2012, plans to show visitors the ‘greatest collection of football memorabilia ever assembled’.

They will be able to see more than 140,000 objects, works of art and photographs. These include a shirt from the world’s first international match, played in 1872, the ball used in the 1966 World Cup Final and the shirt worn by Maradona during the 1986 ‘Hand of God’ quarter-final match between England and Argentina.

There will also be a changing temporary exhibition programme to show the part played in English football by fashion, art and photography.

The museum will provide a permanent home for football’s Hall of Fame. There will be an awards ceremony every year for the new ‘legends’ added to the Hall of Fame.

The National Football Museum is a registered charity overseen by a board of trustees, all former international players. The museum’s President is Sir Bobby Charlton, Vice Presidents are Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Tom Finney, Sir Trevor Brooking and Sir Geoff Hurst, and Museum Special Ambassador is Mark Lawrenson.

The new museum, which replaces the former museum in Preston, Lancashire, is due to open in late spring/early summer in the Urbis exhibition centre in Manchester city centre. Entrance will be free with some paid-for interactive activities. The museum will also be available for corporate events.

National Football Museum, Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester M4 3BG
Tel: +44 161 605 8200
Website: www.nationalfootballmuseum.com

Manchester’s new football museum due to open in 2012 is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The very first festival of golf will take place in Scotland in March.

The five-day St Andrews Golf Festival, from 28 March to 1 April, will celebrate over 600 years of golf in Scotland and around the world. Plans for the festival include talks, golfing events and exhibitions.

Mungo Park, the great-grandson of Willie Park Senior who won the first Open Championship in 1860, will talk about his family history which includes other Open Championship winners Willie Park Jnr and his namesake Mungo Park.

There will be a talk with rare BBC footage about Seve Ballesteros by the BBC producer who spent time with Seve in the last months of his life. A gala evening on 31 March will be dedicated to Seve.

Another talk will celebrate Old Tom Morris (1821–1908) who won the Open four times and still holds the record for oldest winner at 46. His record win of a major by a margin of 13 strokes stood for over a century until it was beaten by Tiger Woods in 2000. Old Tom also designed courses including Carnoustie (with Robertson), Muirfield and Lahinch. He introduced top dressing to greens and reduced the number of holes at St Andrews to 18, which then became the world standard.

Plans also include events for Ladies Golf. Mary Queen of Scots played golf in St Andrews. She allegedly played two days after the death of her husband Lord Darnley, a ‘fact’ used against her in her trial.

Golf has been played since the 1400s. It was so popular that in 1457 King James II persuaded the Scottish Parliament to ban the game. Children in St Andrews played a form of golf in the narrow streets with sticks and old corks.

St Andrews Links, Fife KY16 9JA
Tel: +44 7817 856706
Websites: www.standrewsgolffestival.com
www.standrews.org.uk

Caledoniatopia: St Andrews celebrates 600 years of golf is a post from: Anglotopia.net

One of the Christmas highlights we look forward to is the Top Gear Christmas Special and the 2011 edition is sure to be a fun adventure. Normally they send the Top Gear folks on a grand adventure that leads to hilarity.

This year, they’re being sent to India on a trade mission.

From the BBC:

In this year’s Top Gear Special, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May set out to boost the British economy by embarking on a trade mission to India. Equipped with three old British cars and a range of uniquely British products, they set off on an epic road trip across one of the world’s most fascinating and challenging countries.

I can’t wait!

Top Gear: 2011 Christmas Special details released is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Hundreds of the Yorkshire club’s memorabilia will be on display, including old trophies, historical documents, shirts and scarves, and gifts presented to the club before European games. The exhibits will also include items belonging to current squad members.

The permanent displays will be animated with film, sound and colourful graphics. A changing temporary exhibition programme will include displays covering various periods of United’s history, and an exhibition on the club’s most prolific goal-scorers.

Leeds United became one of the top teams in England under the management of Don Revie in the 1960s and ’70s. Revie’s team included England and Scotland internationals Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles, Jack Charlton, Peter Lorimer, Norman Hunter and Allan Clarke. His team were top of the English First Division in 1969 and 1974 and also won the FA Cup, the League Cup and two European trophies. Leeds won the league again under Howard Wilkinson in 1992.

Visitors to the museum will be able to vote for their greatest Leeds team ever, and choose Leeds’ greatest games and goals. The new museum opens in spring 2012, admission prices to be confirmed.

Leeds United FC, Elland Road, Leeds LS11 0ES
Tel: +44 871 334 1919
Website: www.leedsunited.com

A New Museum Dedicated to Football in Leeds is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The Wheat has been separated from the Chaff! The last sixteen have emerged to take their Quarter Final spots but who were the Wheat and who were the Chaff?

The last week of the pool round had some scintillating match ups with Scotland needing to get at least one victory from two very tough encounters against Argentina and England. New Zealand had to face their World Cup boogey team France to win their Pool and Ireland just had the thorny little task of beating Italy to advance.

The week got underway with Australia facing a weakened United States in Wellington. The US coach Eddie Sullivan chose a second string US side to face Australia due to the Eagles hectic schedule. Eagles had little chance of turning over one of the competitions early favourites, and with the Wallabies running in 11 tries to one, the chances of an upset lasted only until the two teams walked on to the field.

Aussies, Rob Horne and Rocky Elsom scored for the Wallabies, before they were surprised by a JJ Gagiano’s try for the US. The two times World Champions Australia, then put the Americans to the sword, as Kurtley Beale and Anthony Faingaa ensured Australia earned a bonus point by half-time. The Aussies stepped up a gear in the second half, running in seven unanswered tries, including a six-minute hat-trick from Adam Ashley-Cooper, to secure all five points from the match with a 67-5 victory.

England took a more assured step towards the Quarter Finals as they trounced Romania 67-3 with returning from injury winger Mark Cueto scoring a hat-trick along with Chris Ashton. Jonny Wilkinson seemed to be returning to better form as he converted three tries with his trusty boot along with a penalty conversion before being replaced by Toby Flood who also had a superb outing with his boot. The Six Nations champions seemed to be on better form after a couple of error strewn games earlier in the tournament but they would need to in much better form to face Scotland in a crunch final match in the Pool stage for both sides.

Hosts New Zealand went head to head with France to see who would be the winners of Pool A. Les Bleus had famously knocked out the All Blacks from the 1999 and 2007 World Cups, but with rumors of France possibly throwing the game, so they would have an easier run in, in the knock out stages the tie was highly charged. The Hosts weathered the early pressure from Les Bleus but were never truly troubled by their old nemesis, as they ended up clear winners 37-17 at full time.

Ireland kept their chance of winning Pool C with a emphatic victory over Russia as they easily earned their bonus point to go with the four for winning the tie 62-12. The Irish scored nine tries with Ronan O’Gara scoring an impressive six conversions and a penalty kick. The victory left them in control of the Pool and an important test against Italy to see who would be the winner of the group between them and Australia.

Minutes after Ireland had all but secured their place in the Quarter Finals their Celtic cousins Scotland had a tough task of their own to secure a place in the last sixteen of the tournament. The Scots had to face an ever improving Argentina side. The Southern Hemisphere nation have steadily improved over the years and will finally get its inclusion in the Tri-Nations in 2012, as they become the Four Nations, with a possible Pacific Islands team to make a fifth nation in the future.

Argentina had run England very close in their opening game and would look to make Scotland’s road to the Quarter Finals as difficult as possible, as they did with a dour 13-12 victory over the Scots. Both teams made life difficult for themselves with a number of errors that gifted their opponent’s chances to put themselves on the board but points seemed hard to find for the two nations, as Scotland’s Chris Patterson and Felipe Contepomi of Argentina, who had given the Pumas the lead despite Scotland’s early pressure missed a number of penalty opportunities.

Scotland survived an early scare as Martin Rodriguez sliced wide a simple drop-goal attempt in front of the posts during the first spell of Argentine pressure. Rodriguez missed another stellar chance from a drop goal attempt just after Contepomi put the Pumas on the score board. Scotland did pull level with the Pumas before the half as the Argentine forwards collapsed the scrum to give Patterson another chance in front of the posts, and this time he did not fail to hit the target.

After the restart Ruaridh Jackson then gave the Scots the lead with a Penalty conversion of his own after another collapsed scrum. The Argentinians pulled level as Contepomi made amends for a failed penalty conversion as the Scots collapsed a scrum of their own. Scotland applied the pressure and went close as scrum half Rory Lawson was held up on the line by some stalwart Argentine defending. A minute later, a beautifully controlled drop-goal from Jackson restored the Scots’ three-point lead.

Dan Parks replaced Jackson with 10 minutes remaining and, after a monster kick deep into Argentine territory, slotted over a drop-goal that appeared to put Scotland in the driving seat. However, Argentina swept up the field and Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino jagged inside Paterson on the touchline and squirmed inside two more tackles before getting over the try line for an superb try that was converted by Contepomi.

In the dying minutes of the tie, Parks came close to steeling it for the Scots as he sliced wide with a drop goal attempt after being forced on to his weaker left foot by an offside-looking Contepomi, but there was to be no whistle other than the final one from the referee.

Wales not to be out done by Ashton, Cueto and Ashley-Cooper got a hat-trick scorer of their own in Scott Williams in their easy 81-7 victory over Namibia. The Welsh running up an impressive 12 tries to give them the full five points form the match and leave them needing a victory over Fiji to claim their Quarter Final spot.

In other matches Japan and Canada had the first tie of the tournament as they drew 23-23 in Napier. Italy kept on target for a place in the Quarter Finals as they beat the USA 27-10. Georgia beat Romania 25-9 to give the Romanians the ignominy of the Pool B wooden Spoon. The South Africans took a lazy ride through the Samoans as they ran out 13-5 winners to claim top spot in Pool D.

With only two days of Pool action left there were two crunch mates still to play out of the six remaining games on the last Pool weekend. Scotland had a myriad of permutations if they were to win a place in the quarter finals but ultimately they had to hope that they could beat England and prevent England from getting a bonus point to stand any chance. Whilst Ireland had to beat Italy to claim their place in the Quarter Finals as well, but after their historic victory over Australia earlier in the tournament is was Ireland’s to lose.

Despite the hype of an Italy upset before the kick off the Irish easily saw off the Italian threat with a stunning 36-6 victory to win all their pool matches and head the Pool C table over heavily favoured Australia. Scotland on the other hand were not so lucky.

Needing to beat England and prevent their old rivals from claiming a bonus point they failed dismally as the English stumbled to yet another World Cup victory 16-12. The game was over shadowed by the wet and blustery conditions that made handling a major issue for both sides in Auckland. Scotland will count themselves unlucky that they couldn’t put the game to bed as the English gave way numerous penalties in scoring positions for the Scots and failed to put away scoring opportunities of their own.

The Scots had the advantage at the half with a 9-3 lead but whatever England coach Martin Johnson put in his player’s tea certainly did the trick as England came out a new team. Despite some ranging runs from the English backs, the Scottish defence held out and after another error from the English the Scots extended their lead from the boot of Patterson. The tie was in Scotland’s hand but the every present drop goal threat of Wilkinson bore fruit as on 63 minutes the English pulled three points closer. The Scottish line out failed near the Scottish touchline as Wilkinson again gave the English a lifeline from his boot to put the English within three points. However, with England trailing 9-12 and the game entering its painful finale for Scotland, English replacement Toby Flood threw a devious miss-pass to Ashton on the right wing who dived over to end Scotland’s hopes, with Flood adding the extras from the touchline.

The rest of the weekends fixtures were games to make up the number as the Pools had all but ended as expected, Australia routed the Russians 68-22, Argentina rested a few first team players as they ran out 25-7 winners over Georgia. The Welsh continued their fine form as they demolished Fiji 66-0 in Hamilton and New Zealand took a leisurely stroll to beat Canada comfortably 79-15.

In contrast to the majority of tier one nation’s relatively easy passage to the Quarter Finals, the French failed to qualify in style, as they suffered an ignominious 19-14 loss to Tonga. The loss meant that Les Bleus limped into the Quarter Finals, with Marc Lievremont’s side in disarray after a fine start to the Pool stage of the completion.

So the cream of world rugby has risen to the top and the only shock is the omission of Scotland from the Quarter Finals but for Argentina it is a well-deserved spot in the last 16 after some combative and spirited rugby. The Quarter Finals have separated the Northern Hemisphere sides from the Southern, meaning that it will be a North versus South World Cup Final.

The 2003 winners England have looked less then sterling in their Pool play and can count themselves lucky to have squeaked through, after some awful displays. France has also looked like a disjointed team bereft of originality and clearly not at the races in their last two outings. Ireland and Wales both look like they can beat anyone on their day, unfortunately one of them will miss out on a Semi Final spot.

Reigning champions South Africa have a formidable test against Australia but New Zealand will be quite happy that they be playing Argentina in the Quarter Final and hoping that their possible Semi Final opponents have a very tough match. However, the teams got to the Quarter Finals it is now that the real World Cup starts in earnest.

Pool A
1. New Zealand
2. France
Pool B
1. England
2. Argentina
Pool C
1. Ireland
2. Australia
Pool D
1. South Africa
2. Wales

Quarter Finals

Ireland Vs Wales
England Vs France
South Africa Vs Australia
New Zealand Vs Argentina

IRB Rugby World Cup – New Zealand 2011 – Final Pool Week Round Up. is a post from: Anglotopia.net

A beaming David Beckham opens up about the joys of fathering a daughter, Harper Seven, at the launch of the latest brand Beckham product in Los Angeles.

Video: David Beckham waxes lyrical about ‘amazing’ daughter Harper is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Australia collapse another scrum to nullify a dominant Ireland

The 2011 Rugby World Cup got its first upset of the tournament as the Irish turned over Australia in a thriller at Eden Park, Auckland. The United States recorded their first win as they beat Russia, and reigning champions South Africa and host’s New Zealand sustain their dominance in their pools.

The United States had come off the back of a fine performance in their defeat to Ireland to face a Russia side that has one eye on improving their performance as Rugby Sevens is to be included in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The USSR had regularly beaten the likes of Italy in the 1970’s but with the decline of the Soviet Union their players had spread to the four corners of the broken up Soviet Union.

The Eagles outperformed the Bears on their World Cup debut, under horrendous conditions with the wind and rain lashing the Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth. Russia got off to a fantastic start, as Yury Kushnarev kicked Russia’s first World Cup points from a penalty after only three minutes. Ultimately though, despite the early lead the debutants ended up losing 13-6 to the stronger American side. Russia’s coach, ex-Sale head coach Kingsley Jones would have been pleased with the stalwart defensive play of his charges who despite an overwhelming size difference in the pack managed to hold the Americans to one try in the first half, and prevented them scoring any in the second half.

For Russia their second match of the week was against a slightly stronger side than the US, in the shape of Italy. The Italians needed to rack up some points if they wanted to challenge Ireland and Australia for one of the two quarter final berths from Pool C. Unfortunately for Russia that is exactly what they did. As the ran out clear winners with a 53-17 victory to claim all five points up for grabs and claim their first victory of the tournament and leave Russia squarely at the foot of Pool C.

The Pool was thrown wide open for Italy as Ireland pulled off a fantastic mauling of the Tri-Nations Champions Australia at Eden Park, Auckland. The Aussies had gone into the match up as clear favourites but the Irish who have stuttered in the last couple of years produced some of the form that gave them the Six Nations, Grand Slam in 2009 to record an historic victory by 15-6. The Wallabies were without their playmaking flanker David Peacock and influential hooker Steven Moore, but the front five of Ireland would have made it difficult for any team out there, with their total dominance.

The other home nations came through relatively unscathed from their ties but England coach Martin Johnson will not be pleased with the manner of his team’s victory over Georgia. England stuttered through their match, winning 41-10, scoring six tries to gain the extra point but it was only the fitness levels of the English that told at the end to allow them the dominant victory, as they only led 17-10 at the half. Johnson will be hoping that his charges concentrate more on their team performance then their late night partying after a number of them were caught drinking late into the night at a local night club.

The Welsh are sitting in third place in Pool D, after a narrow 17-10 victory over second placed Samoa. In previous World Cup’s the Welsh have struggled to defeat the Samoans but with only Fiji and Namibia to play the Welsh will be feeling confident of moving onto the quarter final stages for the first time since 2003. However, they will be mindful that it was a 38-34 loss to Fiji that stopped them qualifying for the quarter finals in the last World Cup.

Scotland did not play this week but there has been some grumbling in the Scottish camp that their most difficult games come in the span of five days against Argentina and England. However, with nine points in the bag and joint top of Pool B with England, a berth in the quarter finals is theirs to lose.

In other matches the hosts New Zealand gave Japan a 83-7 thumping as they continued their dominancy in Pool A. New Zealand’s main rivals for winners of Pool A, are the French who gave Canada a thumping of their own as they ran out 46-19 winners. The two giants of pool face off next week as the All Blacks and Le Bleus attempt to top the pool, but speculation is rife that the French who have knocked out the All Blacks in recent World Cups are going to play a second string starting XV, in an attempt not win, with the hope of an easier route to the final.

Reigning champions South Africa trounced poor neighbours Namibia 87-0 in Pool D, to all but guarantee their place in the last eight of the tournament but with only second placed Samoa to play it is their berth in the quarters to lose.

In the battle for the wooden spoon in Pool A, Japan were on the end of another loss as Tonga beat the Cherry Blossoms 31-18 and in Pool B, Argentina beat the pool’s whipping boys Romania 43-8 to leave themselves still in the hunt for a quarter final spot at the expense of either England or Scotland.

The second week of ties has shown that the established nations will beat the tier 2, nations, in the Rugby World 99 times out of a 100. This has led to a call in some quarters for the exclusion of the emerging nations from the actual finals. However, this would be wrong. For many players from the lesser rugby playing nations it is a chance to play in some of the finest rugby stadia in the world, in front of thousands of fans. It is a chance to pit their wits, energy and skills against the world’s finest rugby playing athletes. It is a chance at glory, a chance to cause an upset and maybe a chance to be seen by a scout from one of the world’s professional clubs and turn professional.

For the established nations these games are vital, they give the teams a chance to come together as a squad for over two months, a chance to iron out kinks in their games, a chance hone their skills so that when they (barring a humiliating defeat) reach the quarter finals they should be firing on all cylinders. The coaches should know who their ideal first XV is. They should know what tactics they should be employing as they take on their top flight opponents and whether they actually have a cat in hells chance of winning the tournament.

Rugby World Cup – New Zealand 2011 – Week Two Round Up is a post from: Anglotopia.net

South Africa's Captain John Smit Raises Aloft the 2007 William Webb Ellis Trophy

The 2011 Rugby World Cup is only a week old! Everyone has played at least one game but which of the coaches will be the happy hooker and who will feel they are in the sin bin?

The tournament got off to a cracking start with a stunning opening ceremony in Auckland with a choir of 400 singing the Rugby World Cup anthem, World in Union. Martin Sneddon, CEO for Tournament Organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011, said of World in Union, “the performance sums up the cosmopolitan character of our young nation with singers of Maori, Pakeha, Samoan, Fijian, Cook Island, Niuean, Tongan, Tokelauan, Australian, Chinese, Korean, English, Irish, Danish, American, Canadian, Dutch, South African and Indian descent”, and he wasn’t wrong. The massed voices of multi-cultural New Zealand did their nation proud but it was up to the 30 players on the field to make the rugby world proud.

The hosts did not disappoint their fans with a dominant display to open the festival of rugby, beating Tonga 41-10. The All Blacks led by 29-3 at half time with a pair of tries each for Israel Dagg, and Richard Kahui with Tongan, Kurt Morath scoring a penalty to put some points on the board for the visitors. The All Blacks failed to capitalise on fine first half performance but after 19 minutes of the second half gone they managed to break the resolute Tongans with another try, this time from Jerome Kaino after a neat chip from Kahui set him free to power over the line. The Tongans did not take this lying down and took the fight to the All Blacks, gaining some great possession. With New Zealand born Taumalolo burrowing his way over the try line from short range for a well-deserved try, which was converted by Morath.

Despite the five points for the host nation in the opening tie of the competition. New Zealand coach Graham Henry will be happy to have got the opening game under his belt but will be mindful of his team letting the game slip in the second period.

In some of the other opening round match ups, England and Argentina fought out a close match with England ruing five penalty misses from kicking stalwart Jonny Wilkinson. The English looked to be heading for a shock opening defeat at the hands of the Pumas as they were tailing 9-3, with 13 minutes left on the clock. However, a late try from scrum half ,Ben Youngs spared the 2003 champions blushes to leave England second in Group B behind old rivals Scotland.

On paper you would think that Scotland would have an easier task as they took on Romania, but with the Scots ability to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory the game did not seem to be going to plan for their coach Andy Robinson, as his side let a 21-11 lead slip. After victory in all but two of their last twelve encounters it seemed like it was going to be another loss for Scotland as Romania lead 24-21 with only 12 minutes remaining. Unfortunately, for Romania the Scottish kicking metronome Chris Paterson had not left his kicking boots in the dressing room as he leveled the tie before Simon Danielli went over late to take the match away from the Romanians.

Scotland put in a less than impressive display in the second of their first week matches as they struggled to stamp their authority on Georgia, as they won by the tight margin of 15 points to six. Andy Robinson’s side were defensively very strong but had no attacking dynamism which was hampered even more by the difficult wet conditions. Dan Park who was in for Chris Paterson for kicking duties managed to convert only four of his seven penalty attempts and produced all of the Scottish points from his boot. Despite Scotland’s difficulties they still sit on top of Pool ‘B’ with nine points, five ahead of England.

In Ireland’s opening tie the defensively frail United States, showed that they had heeded the warnings of their weak defence and produced one of the best defensive displays so far, holding the 2009 Six Nations Champions Ireland to three points in the first half, and could feel unlucky to have not gone into the dressing room on level terms. However, for the Eagles the Irish were just too strong in the second half running out as 22-10 victors with both side failing to gain the extra point.

The last of the home Nations, Wales can feel slightly unlucky to have lost their opening tie to reigning Webb Ellis trophy holders South Africa, after James Hooks controversial penalty kick was judged to have gone wide despite appearances, to leave the Welsh on the end of a scintillating 17-16 defeat. When questioned about the disputed penalty decision, Tournament organisers said: “Correct protocol was followed. The IRB will not be making further comment.”

In other ties, Australia won 32-6 to run out as clear winners against Italy in a one sided contest that gave them maximum points, and in first place above Ireland in Pool C. France made heavy weather in their opening game against Japan but still ran out clear winners, 47-21. The Frenched claimed the extra point to leave them in second place in Pool A behind New Zealand. Fiji were the first of the second level teams to record a victory as they beat Namibia 49-25. Unfortunately, for Namibia they also lost their second match of the week to Samoa as they the Pacific Islanders won 49-12. It leaves the Africans with no chance of qualifying for the next stage of the Cup.

Canada recorded an impressive victory over Tonga to resign them to a second consecutive defeat in a week as the Canucks ran out winners in a tightly fought contest that ended 25-20. For the Canadians it was the third time that they have defeated Tonga in World Cup competitions and means that Toga have no chance of progressing to the second stage of the Tournament.

With the second set of ties now underway and the Pools starting to take shape it is clear that the usual suspects of England, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and France will be in the mix for the knockout stage. However, the only team to stamp their authority so far on the tournament seems to be Australia and their coach Robbie Deans will be very pleased with their performance. Scotland’s Andy Robinson will be happy to have nine points after two games but won’t be happy with the less then dominant performances from his side, and South Africa’s Peter De Villiers will be unhappy at the way Wales took his reigning champions so close. However, with four more games left for most teams it’s still all to play for.

About the Rugby World Cup

The IRB (International Rugby Board) Rugby World Cup 2011, is one of the preminent sporting events in the world’s sporting calendar and is held every four year. It is the globe’s third most watched sporting event after the Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup. This year’s tournament is being hosted by rugby power house nation New Zealand. The New Zealand, ‘All Blacks’ will be joined by 19 of the World’s finest rugby playing nations. Each country will compete in four ‘Pools’ in their quest to hoist the William Webb Ellis Trophy, at Eden Park, Auckland, on Sunday October 23rd after seven weeks of intense competition.

Each of the four pools consist of five teams, with the top two teams qualifying for the quarter-finals, where it becomes an elimination competition. The pool stage is a round-robin competition of ten games, with each team playing one match against each of the other teams in their group. The teams are awarded four points for a win, two points for a draw and none for a defeat. If a team scores four or more tries in one match, or if a team loses by seven points or less they will score a bonus point.

Sport: Rugby World Cup 2011 New Zealand – 1st Week in Review is a post from: Anglotopia.net

1). The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum - if you thought the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club – to give Wimbledon its proper name – was only worth visiting in the fortnight of the championships, think again. The Museum is open all year round and lets visitors explore the game’s evolution from a garden party pastime to a multimillion dollar professional sport played world-wide. Highlights include the Championship Trophies; a ‘ghost’ of John McEnroe speaking about the game and his legendary opponents; a ‘200° Cinema with special effects capturing The Science of Tennis; and an extensive collection of tennis memorabilia dating back to 1555. Combine a visit to the museum with a behind-the-scenes tour of the grounds. Directed by Blue Badge tourist guides, the tour lasts around 1.5 hours, and takes you to the most recognisable and exclusive places in the Grounds.

2). The North Greenwich Arena - If you can’t wait until next summer to watch some tennis, check out the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which take place for the third year at the O2 Arena in London, from 20-27 November and will include the best eight singles and doubles players in the world. In 2010 Federer beat Nadal in the finals.

3). Rugby Union - Britain is the home of rugby, specifically the Warwickshire town north of London where public schoolboy William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it…There are guided tours of Rugby School, and you can visit the Rugby Football Museum. There are also stadium tours of the international grounds - Twickenham in London; the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff; and Murrayfield in Edinburgh.

4). St Andrews is “The Home of Golf”, and Scotland is where the sport took root. The ancient sport has flourished on Scottish soil for centuries and remains one of Scotland’s greatest attractions. Scotland has more than 550 golf courses, the most famous being the Old Course at St Andrews: the Royal and Ancient Golf Club first met here in the spiritual home of golf in 1754, though the game was first played in Scotland as early as the 15th century. You can actually play on the hallowed turf of the Old Course – however, you need to be rather good! Be inspired by golfing history at the British Golf Museum on the front near the clubhouse, or play a round on the Himalayas, a professionally good 18-hole putting course.

5). Wembley Stadium is not only home to the English national football team and location of the annual FA Cup Final – it also hosts concerts and other events. Take a behind-the-scenes “Legends” tour of the ground and hear about England’s fondly remembered World Cup victory in 1966, the Live Aid concert of 1985, and Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League triumph in 2011.

6). Football fans from around the world follow the English Premier League, watching their team’s ground on the television every week, so a visit to the stadium is a must. All the major stadiums offer tours, including the champions Manchester United,Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. Also check out the Premier League pages on www.visitbritain.com.

7). Lords - the cricket ground in North-West London is home to the Marylebone Cricket Club. First set up in 1787, the club moved to the current ground in 1814. The laws of the club were later adopted throughout the game – and the MCC today remains the custodian and arbiter of laws relating to cricket around the world. A behind-the-scenes tour includes a chance to view The Ashes – a small terracotta urn, whose story dates back to 1882 and an England defeat by Australia, when the Sporting Times carried a mock obituary to English cricket which concluded that: “The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. A few weeks later, an English team, captained by the Hon Ivo Bligh set off to tour Australia, with Bligh vowing to return with “the ashes”; his Australian counterpart, WL Murdoch, similarly vowed to defend them – and so the legendary Test series was born.

8). Ascot is one of the most famous racecourses in the world, and one of the oldest, celebrating its 300^th birthday in 2011. The most famous meeting is Royal Ascot, in June, but there are many other events through the year at the course in Berkshire, west of London.

9). Newmarket in Suffolk is the “historic Home of Horseracing” – and important as the racecourse is, there is much more to the town than the racecourse. It is home to the National Stud, and the National Horseracing Museum, Tattersalls, one of the biggest horse sales in Europe, and much more.

10). Bog snorkelling - it’s described as the dirtiest water sport of the year, certainly you will need a good clean-up after competing in the annual World Bog Snorkelling Championships in Llanwrtyd Wells in Mid Wales. The course? A 60 yard peat bog….

11) Henley - the annual Henley Royal Regatta is not just an event for rowers, but part of the summer social “Season”. First held in 1839, long before national or international rowing federations were established, it occupies a unique position in the world of rowing, with its own rules – for example the length of the Course is 1 mile 550 yards, which is 112 metres longer than the standard international distance of 2,000 metres. But it is still officially recognised by both the governing body of rowing in England (British Rowing) and the International Rowing Federation (F.I.S.A.). Henley is also home to the world-famous Leander Club,with 99 Olympic medals won by its members (who have included Sir Steve Redgrave) as well as The River and Rowing Museum

12). The National Cycling Centre at Manchester Velodrome was Britain’s first indoor Olympic cycling track when it opened in 1994. The track is in constant use seven days a week and with a comprehensive programme of activities for all levels of ability, it is one of the busiest in the world. From elite athletes to novices, the track offers sessions to anyone seeking to experience this exciting sport. Regular users of the track include members of the very successful GB track cycling team, such as Sir Chris Hoy and Vicky Pendleton MBE, as well as local schoolchildren and track enthusiasts. In July it was expanded with the launch of the new £20M indoor BMX track.

Top 12 UK Sporting Venues – Best Places for Sport Fans in Britain is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The 2011 Rugby World Cup is now taking place in New Zealand and we have some key info if you’re in the USA and would like to watch some of the matches.

According to the official website:

Rugby World Cup matches will be broadcast on US network television for the first time after the International Rugby Board announced that NBC Sports and Universal Sports have been awarded the exclusive rights to the 2011 tournament in New Zealand and the 2015 tournament in England.

The groundbreaking deal, announced by IRB Chief Executive Mike Miller in New York today, will see the final of each Rugby World Cup broadcast on NBC and Universal Sports network as a key element of a multi-platform approach that will ensure unprecedented television and digital media coverage in the United States of all 48 matches from Rugby’s premier event.

Under the deal, NBC and Universal Sports has also committed to broadcasting other key matches from each tournament, while live and delayed match video will also be accessible at Universal;sports.com and on Universal Sports’ mobile platforms.

Universal Sports’ and NBC Sports’ match coverage will feature a studio pre-match show, halftime and post-match reaction and all the action will be broadcast in high definition.

IRB Chief Executive Mike Miller said: “Today’s announcement represents a significant milestone in the development of Rugby in the United States. NBC and Universal Sports are globally renowned for quality broadcast delivery of major sports events in the United States and their considerable experience and passion for sport will deliver the widespread platform for Rugby World Cup to truly capture the hearts and minds of American sports fans.”

“The announcement further underscores the sport’s rapidly growing profile in emerging Rugby markets, further accelerated by the IOC’s decision to include Rugby Sevens in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Sports fans across America will be able to look forward to a Rugby World Cup that will showcase the very best that our sport has to offer. I am sure that it will be a hit.”

Universal Sports Chief Executive Officer David Sternberg said: “This is a very significant rights acquisition for Universal Sports, especially given the growing popularity of Rugby around the world and in America. We are delighted to be partnering with the IRB for the Rugby World Cup and other top events, and we look forward to showcasing global Rugby, at its highest level, for our audiences across all of our platforms – television, online and mobile.”

The deal enhances Universal Sports’ commitment to Rugby in the United States and reflects growing interest in the sport following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to include Rugby Sevens in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The network has also broadcast the US College Sevens and the Churchill Cup this year, bringing Rugby to the attention of more sports fans across the country than ever before.

Source.

Where To Watch the Rugby World Cup 2011 in the USA is a post from: Anglotopia.net

With exactly one year to go until the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, organisers confirm that preparations for the Games are on track and London’s vision to host Olympic and Paralympic Games that inspire the world and acts a catalyst for lasting change, is set to become reality.

The Games next year will mark the end of a decade-long project, with London winning the bid in 2005 based on a vision to stage Games which would have athletes at its heart, inspire young people to choose sport, showcase iconic London and be a catalyst for transformation and lasting change. With just 365 days to go, London is on track to deliver on its promises, host spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games and lay the foundations for significant social, sporting and economic legacies.

London’s progress in the last six years has been closely monitored and is now 88% complete. More than 3.5 million tickets have been sold so far, setting the scene for full venues at Games time and a sensational atmosphere for competing athletes. London 2012’s mascots Wenlock and Mandeville have been unveiled to the world, the Olympic sport schedule published, design of the Olympic Torch finalised, the initial route of the Olympic Torch Relay announced and London was given a snapshot of what it feels like to be an Olympic Host City when the giant Olympic rings were unveiled at St Pancras International station earlier this year.

The London 2012 Games will extend well beyond the host city and reflect the worldwide appeal of the Olympic movement. Transport links have been improved, waterways cleaned and communities reconnected and renewed.

Teams from around the world are also confirming pre-Games training camps around the UK where they will be based in the run up to the Games.

With just twelve months before the Games begin, Venues will be turned into Olympic and Paralympic sporting theatres, a 17,000 seat hockey arena must be built, seating for the BMX track installed, two restaurants, a hospitality centre, sponsor pavilions and superstores constructed. Catering outlets and a range of spectator facilities must be installed. Temporary venues around London will also be created – ExCeL will host seven Olympic and six Paralympic sports, Greenwich Park will provide a spectacular backdrop to Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon events and a temporary stadium must be constructed at Horse Guards Parade for the Beach Volleyball competition.

LOCOG has already begun the process of testing venues and between now and 2012, will hold 42 test events in 26 venues, working with partners to test venues, technology and teams to prepare for the events in 2012 itself when 15,000 athletes from over 200 countries will compete in the Olympic and Parlaympic Games for 4,400 medals. With them will be nearly 10,000 team officials, more than 4,000 representatives and officials from the 26 Olympic and 20 Paralympic sports and over 20,000 accredited media will be in London reporting on the Games, with a similar number of unaccredited media expected.

LOCOG is also committed to making sure that the London 2012 Games will be the most accessible possible and that everyone has the opportunity to be involved with the Games. Specific innovations include the Ticketcare programme which allowed disabled people to apply for a free additional carer or Personal Assistant ticket if they were successful in their ticketing application, accessibility improvements to London along the River Walk which are giving disabled visitors the opportunity to enjoy an enhanced City experience while they are here for the Games, and a dedicated web page, www.london2012.com/accessibility, which provides disabled people with the information for a wide range of topics including transport, Blue Badge parking at London 2012 venues and accommodation.

The Mayor of London Marks 1 Year to Go:

One year from now… from TelegraphTV:

London 2012: One year to go from Channel 4:

Videos: London Celebrates 1 Year to go until London 2012 Olympics is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I don’t know how I didn’t hear about this sooner but Manchester United and Manchester City are currently on tour in the USA playing Major League Soccer teams in several major cities.

Here’s the full schedule:

• July 18th, 7pm - Man City vs. Whitecaps FC – Empire Field, Vancouver, BC
• July 20th, 7pm - Man Utd vs. Seattle Sounders – Qwest Field, Seattle, WA
• July 23rd, 4pm - Man Utd vs. Chicago Fire – Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
• July 24th, 1pm - Man City vs. LA Galaxy – Home Depot Center, Carson, CA
• July 27th, 8.30pm - Man Utd vs. MLS All-Stars – Red Bulls Arena, New Jersey, NJ
• July 30th, 7pm - Man Utd vs. FC Barcelona – Fedex Field, Washington, DC

Check local listing for viewing times.

Manchester United and Man City on USA and Canada Tour is a post from: Anglotopia.net

If you’re planning a golfing holiday, or even just a holiday with a bit of golf on the side, then there’s no need for you to splash the cash to go abroad – there are plenty of quality courses for golf breaks right here in Britain.

Lovers of the sport are often put off by the unsavoury, anti-golf weather in this country but, with this summer promising to be a hot one, there has never been a better opportunity to experience what Britain has to offer golfers.

Nottinghamshire – Sherwood Forest Golf Club

Image courtesy of YourGolfTravel.com

Situated beside one of the most legendary forests in the land, if not the world, Sherwood Forest Golf Club offers you a brilliantly scenic round tucked into a quaint corner of Nottinghamshire.

It is a challenging par 70 course filled with bunkers and low-lying heathland that promises to get tougher as you go on. Popular tourist destinations, such as Nottingham Castle and the world famous Major Oak, the supposed hideout of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, lie in close proximity, so you and the family can enjoy a diverse break in the heart of England with a high quality round of golf never far away.

Kent – Chart Hills Golf Club

Image courtesy of Chart Hills

Chart Hills is a handsomely contoured course that will put your golfing abilities to the test. It is the architectural debut of former world number one Nick Faldo, so it hasn’t been made easy by any stretch of the imagination.

These links are amongst Britain’s youngest, which makes it even more remarkable that it holds such a sterling reputation in the golfing world. It blends into the Kentish countryside like a charm and is only half an hour from the historic coastal town of Hastings.

Surrey – Woking Golf Club

Image courtesy of Woking Golf Club

Woking Golf Club in Surrey is a delightfully welcoming course, both in terms of its quality and its warm membership of golfers. Founded in 1893, it has found itself well inside the top 100 courses in Britain and Ireland, according to Golf World Magazine, due to its beautifully structured and well-maintained links.

Golfers from all walks of life are welcome during the week but will need to be accompanied by a club member at the weekends.
However your round goes, you will not leave disappointed by the friendliness and overall charm of this club.

Edinburgh – Duddingston Golf Club

Image courtesy of Duddingston Golf Club

Duddingston Golf Club sits 10 minutes east of the centre of Scotland’s capital city and 10 minutes south west of the North Sea coast, making it a uniquely refreshing golfing location. It’s a must for anyone playing golf in Scotland.

This course gives you breath-taking views to match the golfing challenge, while the cultural hub of Edinburgh offers an endless supply of non-golf things to do for all age groups. At a par of 72, you will be challenged all the way around the demanding fairways of this fresh yet historic course.

Yourgolftravel.com is the principal golf index for those seeking golf breaks, weekends or hospitality packages to major tournaments throughout the UK, Europe and Worldwide.

Guest Post: Britain’s Best Links – Golf Courses and Resorts of Britain is a post from: Anglotopia.net

If this video is real – then it’s quite amazing. Watch David Beckham land three awesome long distant kicks on a beach somewhere.

Is it real? You be the judge. Even if it’s not – it’s still pretty awesome.

Video: Amazing David Beckham Kicks – But is it Real? is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Chelsea Football Club is opening a new museum in early summer, with many new interactive features for fans and visitors.

The club’s current museum will move to a 670 sq metre (7,200 sq ft) space behind the Matthew Harding stand at Stamford Bridge, the club’s home ground. It will contain a collection of Chelsea-related memorabilia, along with some of the most iconic images from the club’s history. Audio-visual shows will bring alive the club’s past, an Adidas shooting gallery will offer a tutorial on how to perfect goal scoring techniques, and there will be a display of shirts worn by some of the greatest players in the club’s history, linking to footage of their best moments.

Sarah Bagg, Chelsea’s Stadium Tours & Museums Manager, says: ‘The new museum is set to be bigger and better than before, allowing every visitor, young and old, to live the Chelsea dream. The new museum draws on innovative technology to create one of the most state-of-the-art attractions open to football and sports fans.’

Visitors can also visit the museum as part of a fully guided tour of the stadium. The tour takes visitors behind the scenes of the football team and includes access to the players’ tunnel, dressing rooms and pressroom.

Stamford Bridge is the most central of the London football stadiums and is easily accessible by tube or bus from the centre of the city. It is open daily 9.30am–5pm (times may differ on match days). Admission for the tour and museum: £18 adults, £13 senior citizens/students, £12 children, £54 family ticket; museum only £10, £9, £8, £32.

Chelsea Football Club, Stamford Bridge, Fulham Road, London SW6 1HS
Tel: +44 8719 841955 (tickets)
Website: www.chelseafc.com

Footie: Chelsea FC Getting New Museum is a post from: Anglotopia.net

One of my favorite events in the U.K. sporting calendar is the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race. Held every year for hundreds of years, it’s a rivalry that goes back centuries.

It’s so awesome to watch the boats plow down the Thames with the beautiful backdrop of London going by.

This year, Anglophiles and British Expats in America are in luck. BBC America will be airing the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race Live on March 26th, 2011.

Here are the details from BBCA:

Join BBC AMERICA for live coverage of the world-renowned rowing race between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club on the River Thames in London. The idea for the race came from two friends – Charles Merivale, a student at Cambridge, and his school friend Charles Wordsworth (nephew of the poet William Wordsworth), who was at Oxford. In March 1829, Cambridge sent a challenge to Oxford and thus the tradition was born which has continued to the present day, where the loser of the previous year’s race challenges the opposition to a re-match. The Modern Boat Race still runs along the same lines but has now become a major international sporting occasion drawing millions of viewers from around the world. The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race premieres Saturday, March 26, 12:30p.m. ET/PT.

So if you’re looking to watch the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race in the U.S.A., your best bet is to tune in to BBC America on Race Day.

I know we will!

Ancient Rivalry Comes to BBC America This Month – Oxford Cambridge Boat Race in the USA is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The Queue, opening in April, is Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum’s latest exhibition, exploring the traditions and history of the Wimbledon queue and offering visitors an insight into the very British queueing experience.

Every year for more than a century, the Wimbledon tennis championships have attracted more would-be spectators than the grounds can hold. In 1927 ,queues started outside the ground at 5am, and more than 2,000 people were turned away. In 1991, Wimbledon experienced one of the wettest first weeks on record, and play took place on middle Sunday for the very first time. The queue stretched for 2.4km (1.5 miles) outside the grounds.

A “code of conduct” applies to the queue, which is kept in check by the Honorary Stewards. The code includes a clear non-reservation policy where people queueing must be present in person and may not place equipment in lieu of themselves.

The latest exhibition includes tips for potential queuers and a display of objects collected from queueing over the years. Other highlights in the museum include the 3-D “ghost” of John McEnroe, the Championship Trophies, the 200° Cinema, and CentreCourt360, the new viewing experience in Centre Court.

Behind-the-scenes tours of the grounds are available for groups and individuals. The one-hour tours are led by Blue Badge guides and include views of London from the top of the Aorangi Terrace (known as Henman Hill or Murray Mount), No1 Court, the Millennium Building with the players’ gym, and Japanese Zen garden as well as the main press interview room and the BBC TV Studio.

The Museum is open daily all year 10am–5pm (closed 9–26 June, 4–5 July, unless the tournament overruns, 24–26 December and 1 January). Museum admission is £11 (£9.25 in a group booking), children £6.75 (£5.25), concessions £9.50 (£7.75). Museum entrance with guided tour costs £20 (£16), children £12.50 (£11.25), concessions £17 (£13.75).

Website: www.wimbledon.org
www.aeltc.com/museum for online booking for groups of under 13
Tel: +44 20 8946 6131 for larger group bookings

Join the queue for Wimbledon’s history is a post from: Anglotopia.net

If you’ve never watched British Rugby – then I highly recommend catching the 6 Nations Coverage on BBC America.

Here’s a schedule of upcoming 2011 Six Nations coverage on BBC America:

• England vs. 2010 Champion France (in London) - Saturday, February 26, 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT
• Calcutta Cup – England versus Scotland (in London) - Sunday, March 13, 10:30 a.m. ET / 7:30 a.m. PT
• Millennium Trophy – Ireland versus England (in Dublin) - Saturday, March 19, 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT

Here’s a couple fun videos that explain the basics of Rugby and the Six Nations matches:

Rugby Six Nations 2011: Fun Videos and Upcoming Match Schedule is a post from: Anglotopia.net

A motorist says David Beckham stopped and helped push his broken down car. The driver called into BBC Radio 5 Live to tell his story.

David Beckham The Good Samaritan is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Big news for folks looking forward to the London 2012 games – tickets will officially go on sale on March 15th – but this is only for UK residents.

The process sounds complicated:

Olympic Games tickets will be on sale for six weeks, until 26 April 2011, enabling people to consider their options before making final choices and submitting their application. Tickets for oversubscribed sessions will be allocated via a ballot process.

Applications for tickets can be made at any point during the six-week period – tickets are not allocated on a first come, first served process.

LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe commented: ‘On 15 March, the application process opens to be part of the greatest show on earth. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world’s greatest athletes going for gold in the UK – a chance for people to see their favourite sport and perhaps try a new one. Our message today is simple – mark the date in your diary and sign up to our ticketing site at www.tickets.london2012.com to receive all the information you need to help you with the process.’

LOCOG will announce full details of the purchasing process and the finalised schedule for all 650 sport sessions in February 2011. The two million people who have already signed up to the London 2012 ticketing database will receive all the information about how to apply and use their existing log-in details to access the application process.

Further details of the application process for Paralympic tickets will be announced later this year, with prices announced in May 2011.

Source.

However, if you’re like us and your based in the USA – this does not affect you. DO NOT apply when tickets go on sale.

To become eligible for London 2012 tickets, you have to apply through the US Olympic Committee and the organization they sell tickets through.

You can already express your interest on this form here.

But there’s no information yet on when tickets will become available for Americans and how much they’ll cost.

My dream is to at least attend the opening ceremony. But looking at the process they’re putting into place, I’m not optimistic for that outcome.

London 2012 Tickets To Go On Sale March 15th – But Not for Americans – Details Inside is a post from: Anglotopia.net

An eccentric, ancient football game is played in Ashbourne, Derbyshire every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday (8-9 March in 2011).

Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football is played over two eight-hour periods, the goals are 5km (3 miles) apart and there are very few rules. The teams are the Up’ards – Ashbourne town locals born on the north side of the Henmore river – and the Down’ards who were born on the south side.

The ‘turning up’, or kick-off of the specially painted leather ball, takes place at 2pm from a brick-built plinth in the town centre. In 1928 the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, ‘turned up’ the ball and gave the game its Royal title. The current Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) ‘turned up’ the ball in 2003.

The ball may be kicked, carried or thrown, but is mostly ‘hugged’ by a scrum which tries to move forward. At times there seems to be hardly any movement at all, except for players trying to get into the hug. If a goal is scored before 6pm, a new ball is ‘turned up’ and a new game started. If the goal is after 6pm then the game ends for the day. Otherwise it continues until 10pm.

The game is thought to date from Elizabethan times, although it may have started centuries earlier. The earliest reference seems to be in a poem by Charles Cotton in 1683.

Spectators come from all around to watch the annual game, and many people follow the ball all day, through the streets of the town, over local fields and in the river. Local shop-owners prepare for the game by boarding up their windows to protect them from the hug.
Royal Shrovetide Football, 8-9 March, Ashbourne, Derbyshire
Website: www.shrovetide.net
Facebook: Shrovetide.net

Weird Britain: The 16 Hour Football Match is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The London 2012 Olympics are still 18 months away but the main stadium is almost done – and was built under budget, they like to add. The Prime Minister and Mayor of London recently turned on the lights in the stadium for the first time with a gaggle of school children.

Here’s a video of the show:

London 2012: Olympic Stadium Lights Turned on for the 1st Time is a post from: Anglotopia.net