London Summer Olympics and football Premier League
London was chosen to host the Games in 2012, which will make it the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times( London has hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1908 - 1948). London was also the host of the British Empire Games in 1934.London's most popular sport is football and it has thirteen League football clubs, including five in the Premier League: Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. London also has four rugby union teams in the Guinness Premiership (London Irish, Saracens, Wasps and Harlequins), although only the Harlequins play in London (all the other three now play outside Greater London, although Saracens still play within the M25). There are two professional rugby league clubs in London – Harlequins Rugby League who play in the Super League at the Stoop and the National League 2 side the London Skolars (based in Wood Green, London Borough of Haringey).
From 1924, the original Wembley Stadium was the home of the English national football team, and served as the venue for the FA Cup final as well as rugby league's Challenge Cup final. The new Wembley Stadium serves exactly the same purposes and has a capacity of 90,000. Twickenham Stadium in south-west London is the national rugby union stadium, and has a capacity of 84,000 now that the new south stand has been completed. Cricket in London is served by two Test cricket grounds Lord's (home of Middlesex C.C.C) in St John's Wood, and The Oval (home of Surrey C.C.C) in Kennington. One of London's best-known annual sports competitions is the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, held at the All England Club in the south-western suburb of Wimbledon. Other key events are the annual mass-participation London Marathon which sees some 35,000 runners attempt a 26.2 miles course around the city, and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the River Thames between Putney and Mortlake.
