Sport in the United Kingdom United Kingdom operate high-profile professional leagues. Football is the most popular sport and is played from August to May. Rugby league is traditionally a winter sport, but since the late 1990s the elite competition has been played in the summer to minimise competition for attention with football. Rugby union is also a winter sport. Cricket is played in the Summer, from April to September. There is also a professional Ice Hockey league operating in Great Britain called the Elite Ice Hockey League. The modern global game of football evolved out of traditional football games played in England in the 19th
United Hospitals Cup United Hospitals Cup The United Hospitals Challenge Cup is contested by the six medical schools in London and is most notable for being the oldest rugby cup competition in the world. In 1874 the United Hospitals RFC instituted a cup competition, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup, also known as the Inter-Hospital Challenge Cup. The first final was played on Wednesday 3 March 1875 at The Oval, which had also been the site of England's first home rugby international three years earlier. The match predated by four years the first Calcutta Cup match and is the oldest cup competition in the