Sport
Devon has been home to a number of customs, such as its own form of wrestling. As recently as the 19th century, a crowd of 17,000 at Devonport, near Plymouth, attended a match between the champions of Devon and Cornwall. Another Devon sport was outhurling which was played in some regions until the 20th century (e.g. 1922, at Great Torrington). Other ancient customs which survive include Dartmoor step dancing, and "Crying The Neck".
Devon has three professional football teams, based in each of its three most populous towns and cities. In the 2011/2012 football season, Exeter City F.C. will compete in Football League One, and Torquay United F.C. and Plymouth Argyle F.C. in Football League Two. Plymouth's highest Football League finish was fourth in the Second Division which was achieved twice in 1932 and 1953 respectively, while Torquay and Exeter have never progressed beyond the third tier of the league. The county's biggest non-league club is Tiverton Town F.C. which competes in the Southern Football League Division One South & West.
Rugby Union is popular in Devon with two teams – Exeter Chiefs play in the Aviva Premiership and Plymouth Albion who are, as of 2011, in the RFU Championship. In basketball, Plymouth Raiders play in the British Basketball League. Tamar Valley Cannons, also based in Plymouth, are Devon's only other representatives in the National Leagues. Motorcycle speedway is also supported in the county, with both the Exeter Falcons and Plymouth Devils succeeding in the National Leagues in recent years.
There are five rugby league teams in Devon. Plymouth Titans, Exeter Centurions, Devon Sharks from Torquay, North Devon Raiders from Barnstaple and East Devon Eagles from Exmouth. They all play in the Rugby League Conference.
Devon also boasts a field hockey club who play in the National Premier League, the University of Exeter Hockey Club
Horse Racing, particularly point to point racing and National Hunt Racing is also popular in the county, with two National Hunt racecourses (Exeter and Newton Abbot), and numerous point to point courses. There are also many successful professional racehorse trainers based in Devon.
The county is represented in cricket by Devon County Cricket Club, who play at a Minor counties level.
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Famous quotes containing the word sport:
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“Rabelais, for instance, is intolerable; one chapter is better than a volume,—it may be sport to him, but it is death to us. A mere humorist, indeed, is a most unhappy man; and his readers are most unhappy also.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Americans living in Latin American countries are often more snobbish than the Latins themselves. The typical American has quite a bit of money by Latin American standards, and he rarely sees a countryman who doesn’t. An American businessman who would think nothing of being seen in a sport shirt on the streets of his home town will be shocked and offended at a suggestion that he appear in Rio de Janeiro, for instance, in anything but a coat and tie.”
—Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939)