While the return of sports in recent months has been thoroughly enjoyed by fans, they have still, for the most part, been restricted to watching the events on TV as opposed to in person.
What should have been a year filled with excitement on the sports front in the capital – with the UEFA European Championship heading to Wembley, Major League Baseball returning to the London Stadium, four NFL fixtures, Wimbledon, and so much more – has instead been a period in which everyone has had to watch from their armchairs.
But the hope is that 2021 will see supporters be able to return to arenas and watch the most talented individuals on the planet live and in living colour. Below are some of the best events that are currently scheduled.
Euro 2021
UEFA’s biggest international football tournament was originally supposed to begin in June 2020, with the semi-finals and final, as well as all of England’s group games and a last 16 tie, set for Wembley Stadium in north west London.
The competition has been pushed back by 12 months, which means that the UEFA Women’s Euro 2021 event will now be played in England in 2022.
England reached the semi-finals at their last major tournament, the FIFA World Cup in 2018, and should they repeat that feat, they will hope that the chance to play in front of their own fans will help them go one better.
You can expect a variety of betting offers to pop up around this time, particularly on the best betting sites for football.
Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon – one of tennis’ four Grand Slam events – was cancelled for the first time since World War II in 2020, with singles champions Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep having to wait another year to defend their respective crowns.
Other majors, the French Open and US Open, both pressed ahead with plans to go ahead behind closed doors in 2020, but a move to July or August was not possible at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club because of the lack of sunlight and the amount of dew.
The 2021 championships are set to begin on June 28, and there will be no public ballot, with tickets instead allocated to those who were successful applicants in 2020.
Rugby League World Cup
Sixteen teams will participate in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup and there will be a total of 21 stadiums in England playing host to the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments.
The Emirates Stadium will be the venue for the men’s semi-final on November 20, with tickets on sale on the official website soon.
England were runners-up in the 2017 tournament, losing 6-0 to Australia in the final.
ICC World Test Championship
The inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship began all the way back in August 2019 at Edgbaston with the first test of the Ashes series between England and Australia, and the tournament is set to end at Lord’s Cricket Ground in June 2021.
Two finalists will be determined by a nine-team league which is currently ongoing. England have taken on West Indies and Pakistan during the summer of 2020 and will tour Sri Lanka and India in 2021 as they bid to finish in the top two.
It is hoped that a full programme of domestic and international cricket will be open to fans in 2021.