Sport
The city is home to two of the UK's oldest professional Premier League football teams: Aston Villa (1874) and Birmingham City (1875) . Nearby West Bromwich Albion's ground The Hawthorns used to be divided by the Birmingham/ Smethwick border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now in Sandwell. 

The first football league was invented, by William McGregor on 22 March 1885, in Aston. 

Athletics takes place at the open-air Alexander Stadium on a national and international level. The Stadium is also home to Birchfield Harriers, who have contributed towards Britain's National and International Athletics for many years. The National Indoor Arena is Britain's Premier Indoor Athletics stadium and in 2003 successfully hosted the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The city has been chosen to host the European Athletic Association's European Indoor Championships in 2007. 

Professional Golf is played at the Belfry (4km outside Birmingham) which sometimes hosts The Ryder Cup. 

Rugby Union is played in Birmingham by Moseley in National League 2, while the more recently formed Birmingham & Solihull Pertemps Bees, based in Solihull, are challenging for a place in the Zurich Premiership. 

Basketball is played by the Birmingham Bullets, who are in the top UK basketball league. 

Boxing is popular in the City with many clubs and famous professional boxers such as Pat Cowdell and Robert McKracken who have continued to support boxing in the UK by turning their skills to coaching new up- and- coming boxers. 

County Cricket is played at the Edgbaston ground, home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club. International test matches are also held there. 

Hockey is a popular sport with Harborne and Bournville competing at professional level. 

The National Indoor Arena also hosts many other sporting events, such as the World Indoor Badminton Championships.

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