Sport
Episode of the series Great Stuff
The episode
Two friends debate England's favourite sport and then tour the surprising origin stories behind five British sports: football's official rules written at a London pub in 1863 and the world's first international match (England v Scotland, 1872), the disputed Rugby School Webb Ellis myth historians don't actually believe, Wimbledon as the world's oldest tennis tournament, golf's 1457 royal ban in Scotland (soldiers were meant to be practising archery), and the true newspaper joke behind cricket's England-Australia rivalry, 'the Ashes'.
Episode worksheets (2)
- Student sheet In your teacher account
- Teacher sheet In your teacher account
Teaching guide
Objective & content
This audio documentary follows two friends who start with a question: which sport do English people play most? They then move through five British sports and the stories behind them: football's first rules (1863) and first international match (1872), the doubtful Webb Ellis rugby story, Wimbledon (1877), the 1457 golf ban in Scotland and the Ashes (1882). The grammar focus is the past simple, regular and irregular, as the narrative spine for dated events; short comparatives and the quantifier most also appear. Learners listen for dates and facts, then work through the in-app questions. One line to notice: "Historians don't actually believe the story."
Materials & prerequisites
- Student sheet and teacher sheet (HTML and PDF, in the printables folder).
- Prerequisites: present simple, basic numbers and years, and the idea of a regular past form (-ed).
Curriculum alignment
Tagged with the axis "child and wider environment" (c3-child-and-wider-environment), cycle 3 (6e). The episode targets CEFR A2-.
Possible adaptations
- Lower levels: Offer segmented listening and additional visual aids.
- Advanced levels: Encourage an oral summary and a debate in English on the theme.
- Large groups: Organise group work with differentiated roles.
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