Editing St Albans (section)

==Sport==
In December 2007, [[Sport England]] published a survey which revealed that residents of St Albans were the 10th most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 30.8% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 90 minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sportengland.org/index/get_resources/research/active_people/active_people_survey_headline_results.htm |title=Sport England—Active People Survey |publisher=Sportengland.org |access-date=17 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100225091431/http://www.sportengland.org/index/get_resources/research/active_people/active_people_survey_headline_results.htm |archive-date=25 February 2010 }}</ref>

===Cricket===
[[File:Cricket Pavilion, Clarence Park - geograph.org.uk - 121356.jpg|thumb|[[Cricket pavilion]] at [[Clarence Park, St Albans|Clarence Park]]]]

Clarence Park plays host to St Albans Cricket Club.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stalbanscc.com |title=St Albans Cricket Club |publisher=Stalbanscc.com |access-date=17 July 2010}}</ref> The club currently runs four Saturday sides, playing in the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League and also two Sunday sides in the Chess Valley Cricket League. In 2008 the club's 1st XI won the Hertfordshire League Title. In the previous two seasons, the first XI came 5th (2011) and 4th (2012) in division one.

===Football===
The local football team is [[St Albans City FC]]: its stadium is on the edge of Clarence Park and the team won promotion from the [[Conference South]] League in 2005–06. It played in the [[Conference Premier|Nationwide Conference]] Division of the [[Football Conference]] for the 2006–07 season, but finished at the bottom of the table and was relegated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.footballconference.co.uk/Table/FC_League_Table_Page/0,14387,,00.html|title=Football Conference – League Table – Nationwide Conference|date=27 November 2005|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051127091331/http://www.footballconference.co.uk/Table/FC_League_Table_Page/0,14387,,00.html|archive-date=27 November 2005}}</ref>

===Gymnastics===
St Albans Gymnastics Club, founded in 2005, provides the St Albans area with recreational classes as well as a professionally managed competitive squad.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stalbansgymclub.com |title=St Albans Gymnastics Club |publisher=stalbansgymclub.com |access-date=2 September 2010}}</ref>

===Hockey===
St Albans is also home to [[St Albans Hockey Club]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stalbanshc.co.uk/ |title=St Albans Hockey Club |publisher=Stalbanshc.co.uk |date=17 April 2010 |access-date=17 July 2010}}</ref> based in Oaklands, St Albans. The club is represented at National league level by both women's and men's teams, as well as other local league competitions. The club's nickname is ''The Tangerines''.

===Rugby league===
[[St Albans Centurions]] [[Rugby league]] Club have their ground at Toulmin Drive, St Albans. They play in the London Premier League. In 2007 and again in 2010 'The Cents', as they are known, won 'the triple' – topping the league, and becoming the Regional and National Champions of the Rugby League Conference Premier Divisions.

===Rugby union===
[[Old Albanian RFC]] is a [[rugby union]] club that plays at the Old Albanian sports complex. They play in [[National League 1]] [[English rugby union system|the third tier of the English rugby union system]]. Saracens A team and OA Saints Women's Rugby team also play here. This complex hosts the offices of the [[Premiership Rugby]] club [[Saracens FC|Saracens]] (and have recently moved their home ground to [[Barnet Copthall|Barnet]]).
[[St Albans RFC]] play at Boggymead Spring in Smallford.
Verulamians RFC (formerly Old Verulamians) play at Cotlandswick in [[London Colney]].

===Skateboarding===
St Albans is home to one of the country's oldest indoor [[skateparks]],<ref name="History"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hertsad.co.uk/lifestyle/property/area-guide-bernards-heath-st-albans-8600982|title = Area Guide: The popular Bernards Heath area of St Albans|date = 14 January 2022}}</ref> the Pioneer Skatepark in Heathlands Drive, next to the former fire station. Its ramps are available to all [[skateboarding|skateboarders]] and [[inline skates|inliners]]. A new outside mini ramp was built in March 2005. A second outdoor mini ramp was opened at Easter 2009.

===Links with other sports===
St Albans is additionally home to a community of [[traceurs]] from around Hertfordshire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hertsparkour.co.uk |title=Hertfordshire Parkour |publisher=Hertsparkour.co.uk |access-date=17 July 2010}}</ref>

St Albans was once home to the then most prestigious [[Steeplechase (horse racing)|steeplechase]] in England. The Great St Albans chase attracted the best horses and riders from across Britain and Ireland in the 1830s and was held in such high esteem that when it clashed with the [[1837 Grand National]] the top horses and riders chose to bypass [[Aintree]]. Without warning the race was discontinued in 1839 and was quickly forgotten.

St Albans was once home to [[Samuel Ryder]], the founder of the [[Ryder Cup]]. He ran a very successful packet seeds business in the 1890s which at one time he ran from a packing warehouse on Holywell Hill (became [[Café Rouge]] until closure in 2023). His interest in golf and sponsorship led to his donation of the now famous [[Ryder Cup]]. He is buried in Hatfield Road Cemetery, where in [[London Olympics 2012|July 2012]] the [[2012 Summer Olympics torch relay|Olympic Torch Relay]] passed by to honour him.