Cricket has been the national sport of the UK since the 17th century, but it falls to second place in popularity among the English. Football, also known as soccer, takes the trophy for England’s most popular sport, from playing to watching.
“For anyone in England, soccer is the only sport you really play as a young person,” Marquette men’s soccer volunteer assistant and goalkeeper coach Graham Shaw said.
Shaw, a Liverpool, England native, enjoyed a successful soccer career of his own while growing up.
“At the age of maybe six or seven, I went in goal one time and since then throughout my playing career, that was the position that I only ever played,” Shaw said.