A PROUD SPORTING HISTORY AND HERITAGE

We’re a bit obsessed with sport in the West Midlands (which is probably why so many sports began right here). Our football teams – including Coventry City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Walsall – are all followed intensely and passionately.

Cricket enthusiasts are equally well-served, with county, one-day, test and international cricket being regularly hosted at Birmingham’s legendary Edgbaston Stadium. And, for those preferring an ovalshaped ball, Premiership Rugby Union club Wasps is also here.

Golf is a very big deal in these parts too. We’ve two championship golf courses on our doorstep, and we’re home to the UK’s Professional Golfers Association. The Ryder Cup is a regular visitor, as is the PGA European Tour, the British Masters, and the English Open.

We’re also one of the few places in the UK where you can see top international athletics (including the Wanda Diamond League) and we host WTA tennis, world championship snooker, international badminton, professional boxing, horseracing, and plenty more. Just think of a spectator sport and you can probably find it here in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

1823

Rugby is invented in the West Midland market town of the same name

1870s

Aston Villa (1874) and Birmingham City (1875), two of the oldest professional football teams in the world, are founded

1888

Birmingham and District Cricket League is created, the very first of its kind

1902

Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham’s oldest international sports venue, stages its first Test Match

1983

The Birmingham Bulls are among the first to bring American football to the UK

1993

The World Artistic Gymnastics Championships open in the National Indoor Arena, before moving on to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC)

2003

A decade since they were first hosted in the city, the Badminton World Championships return to Birmingham

2010

Rugby was born in Warwickshire (in a town called, you guessed it, Rugby!)

We invented lawn tennis and played the first game over 150 years ago

1859

The very first game of lawn tennis was played in Birmingham

1877

Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club starts up, and soon becomes famous for offering sporting opportunity in the community

1888

The very first football league is invented, and it all begins in Aston

1966

Three FIFA World Cup matches are hosted at Villa Park

1985

The Belfry is host to its first Ryder Cup. It returns three more times, making the West Midlands venue its most visited

1999

The World Judo Championships arrive at Arena Birmingham

2005

The world watches as an Ashes Test Match is played in Edgbaston

The England team’s favourite –Edgbaston Stadium – is our centre for cricket

The Ryder Cup has been hosted at The Belfry more times than anywhere else in the world

The Wimbledon men’s and ladies’ tennis trophies, The FA Cup, Premier League football medals and even the 1948 Olympic torch have all been made in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter

The World Wheelchair Basketball Championships pave the way to the 2012 Paralympics

2018

15 years since they arrived in Birmingham, and the UK, for the first time, the World Indoor Athletic Championships return to the West Midlands

2015

The Rugby Union World Cup visits Villa Park

2022

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games wow in the West Midlands