Sport and Leisure

Over the last four years or so, no other city in Europe has held more major sporting championships than Birmingham.

Currently, local football teams Aston Villa (Villa), West Bromwich Albion (The Baggies), Birmingham City (The Blues), Coventry City and ‘Wolves’ are competing in England’s top two Divisions (The Premiership and Championship) and all have their home grounds within easy reach. Warwickshire County Ground at Edgbaston (3 miles south of the city centre) provides Test and county cricket games and a number of local rugby teams compete in national divisions.

Major tennis tournaments are held at Edgbaston Priory and international golf tournaments at The Belfry, the National Golf Centre (including the Ryder Cup). The Alexander Stadium hosts international athletics, whilst the National Indoor Arena (NIA) is also the venue for over thirty indoor sports, including tennis’ Davis Cup and the 2003 World Indoor Athletics and World Badminton Championships. Leisure activities in and around Birmingham include go-karting, snowboarding and skiing (for example at Tamworth Snowdome), ice skating, tenpin bowling and paintball, whilst the city’s many parks and gardens offer space to relax in the open air. In fact, Birmingham has more square miles of open space than any other UK city, including Sutton Park, Europe’s largest urban nature reserve.