Which sports do you associate as being posh?
Posted by throwRA5638263@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 167 comments
I've always listed them based on multiple factors such as county, regional, national, global etc.... but wondered what folk thought were the poshest sports in the UK generally speaking?
my top 5 (and I'm sure I've missed some obvious ones):
-
Equestrian (or just any horse sport)
-
Skiing
-
Rugby
-
Cricket (it's the outfits and the boys club mentality that make it posh to me)
-
Golf
New-Process-52@reddit
Polo for sure
New-Process-52@reddit
Rugby league and local rugby clubs in southern working class towns are as working class as you get
888z@reddit
Peasant shooting...
Wonderful-Tale-1483@reddit
I’m Not a peasant plucker I’m a pheasant pluckers son
Positive_Feedback989@reddit
A lot easier to shoot than pheasants though
888z@reddit
and cheaper
Win-Specific@reddit
Thought I read it wrong but I did in fact read it wrong
Wonderful-Tale-1483@reddit
Rugby
ThatNiceDrShipman@reddit
Walking along in a straight line, kicking a beggar, slamming a car door.
https://youtu.be/zGxSM5y7Pfs?si=WzMG4gEFPP6S4q1d
ot1smile@reddit
Yeah rugby’s definitely location specific. In England it’s posh, in Wales not so much.
theotherquantumjim@reddit
Not posh in Wigan or Salford
godtierjerker@reddit
Or Warrington. Or St Helens.
Guilty_Struggle_6089@reddit
They are primarily Rugby League towns which is massively different to union. Rugby League is very much working class sport
The_39th_Step@reddit
Cornish teams aren’t posh either
rybnickifull@reddit
Yes, in some specific areas rugby union isn't posh. Go and hang around outside 'Twickers' on a Six Nations afternoon though, and see what the majority of accents sound like.
The_39th_Step@reddit
That’s self-selecting though. Twickenham tickets are expensive
rybnickifull@reddit
Ah right, so I can't count the national stadium and arguable home of the entire sport. You should've said!
The_39th_Step@reddit
Lords is the home of cricket and it’s a crazily different experience from the other cricket grounds around the country. One stadium does not a sport make
rybnickifull@reddit
Can I count the school I went to which banned football and only permitted rugby as a winter sport? Or the club I played for from age 10 to 17? Or are they outliers too? There must be a lot of rugby being done wrong!
godtierjerker@reddit
So you're telling me there's a posh rugby and a not-posh rugby? I don't watch it so no idea about the massive differences. I just know these north West towns are not posh.
Familiar-Bug2664@reddit
Its majority quite posh, but not exclusively.
I grew up playing club rugby in the south london/north Kent border, without blowing my own trumpet, we were fucking good. We were also, broadly, not that posh.
We got through to the national colts finals or something and ended up losing to a team from Liverpool, they were, also, broadly, not that posh.
But, realistically, its a fairly posh sport, its a shame tho, cos the lads from the council estates we had playing were mustard.
Courtney lawes, who is one of England's greatest ever players does not come from an upper class background at all
Guilty_Struggle_6089@reddit
Rugby Union players usually start playing while enrolled at public school.
Rugby League players usually start playing at a young age at clubs local To the area in mostly Yorkshire and Lancashire towns along the M62 Corridor
theotherquantumjim@reddit
Absolutely. But the comment I replied to made no distinction other than to say rugby is posh in England, which isn’t necessarily true
Used-Flamingo-4320@reddit
Yeah defiantly posh here. Private school sport.
hairychris88@reddit
There are plenty of places in England where one code or the other is the traditional working-class sport too. Nothing posh about Camborne or Castleford but they're both real rugby towns.
ot1smile@reddit
Happy to be corrected.
AmarilloMike@reddit
Likewise Northampton
zwifter11@reddit
Rugby is not posh along the M62 motorway
OzzyinKernow@reddit
I use to play for the only rugby club in tower hamlets - now based in converted railway arches but initially in an ‘old island’ Isle of Dogs boozer. I now live in Cornwall and it’s the game of choice for most youngsters across the board.
JennyW93@reddit
I’m was genuinely stunned when I moved out of Wales and first discovered some people think rugby is posh
MissionLet7301@reddit
In England it depends on if it's Union or League too, at least up North.
Union is for the public school pretty lads, and League is for the rest of us.
ot1smile@reddit
Yeah I should have specified. The comment I was replying to was referring to union and that’s all that’s played in wales.
BrieflyVerbose@reddit
First I've heard of it being posh and I'm nearly 40!
External-Piccolo-626@reddit
The English team is basically all public school boys.
DownrightDrewski@reddit
Depends where in England, there's plenty of smaller Rugby clubs around. I played when I was younger.
Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit
Sorry, cricket is not really posh any more.
Even rugby, especially if you include rugby league.
The rest, absolutely.
Puzzled-Lunch-6558@reddit
Toboggan. (IYKYK)
Sailing - no kid is getting into sailing competitively if they're skint. Honestly, anything that requires a lot of kit/equipment.
Wastedyouth86@reddit
Archery, horse riding and croquet
Sufficient_Depth_195@reddit
Golf
chewmypaws@reddit
Motorsport/formula racing
Major-Credit-2442@reddit
Maybe to a high level, yeah. But I don’t agree at all in terms of people who enjoy watching it or taking part at a low level.
AutisticElephant1999@reddit
fox hunting
Chrykal@reddit
That's not a sport, it's a disgusting hobby.
BeeCharacter1416@reddit
Lol
PurpleOctopus6789@reddit
It's not only disgusting, it's cruelty at its finest
Terrible_Tap_4385@reddit
You have no idea, towny
Rude-Possibility4682@reddit
Agree,for posh twats.
BeeCharacter1416@reddit
Polo and shooting
ProfPMJ-123@reddit
I’d guess you’ve just never bothered to actually meet people who take part in the different sports.
My friends wife participates in equestrian. They’re rich, but she’s anything but posh. A chap in the village where I live is a jockey. He’s as working class as they come.
The cricket team I play for is made up almost entirely of farmers. Posh we are not. I don’t know what a “boys club mentality” is. The women’s team is as active as the men’s.
I’d guess the problem is you have a chip on your shoulder because some people have decided to do things that you don’t.
Turbulent_Pace_2388@reddit
You live in the dales? Jammy bastard! I live about one mile from the m25 🤣
Derbyshire or Yorkshire?
ProfPMJ-123@reddit
Yorkshire. Wensleydale.
There’s nobody posh plays cricket here. It’s a farmhands game.
rybnickifull@reddit
Farmers and poshness are by no means mutually exclusive.
ProfPMJ-123@reddit
You’ve never met any farmers either, have you?
rybnickifull@reddit
Lived a decent chunk of my life in West Berkshire, surrounded by the constant smell of pig shit. I've met a few, thanks for asking.
DameKumquat@reddit
There are posh landowning ones. And the others.
The Tenant Farmers Association and the NFU don't always agree.
WanderWomble@reddit
I'm very much not posh or rich. My horse cost £500 out of racing nearly 20 years ago. He lives on my friend's farm
Terrible_Tap_4385@reddit
A one off payment. What a bargain. No feed or bedding, equipment nor vets bills required. You’re right, very good value……
PurpleOctopus6789@reddit
A lot of sports on local levels attract people from all walks of life and often allow people to use equipment for free or a small fee. It's the competitive levels that tend to get expensive and attract certain type of people (not necessarily posh but with specific traits that often lead to better quality of life). Donna who works shifts in a local Tesco can hardly afford to travel to a two day tournament twice a month; not to mention free time that not everyone has. But she can still attend training sessions once a week.
ShiteCrack@reddit
Darlington District League?
ProfPMJ-123@reddit
Wensleydale.
whucares000@reddit
Basically anything with white t shirts
Turbulent_Pace_2388@reddit
Port vale 🤪
usernameinmail@reddit
The England football team?
split-tennisball@reddit
Spurs is posh
MrboboCatman@reddit
Elephant polo.
DameKumquat@reddit
Real Tennis. And Fives.
So niche they barely exist outside certain boys' public schools and associated Oxbridge colleges.
Polo.
Horse racing if you're the owner of some of the horses.
DreadLifter@reddit
I thought the"Fives" was sarcasm as that's what we always called five-a-side football!
glittermaniac@reddit
Fives is posh, but Raquets is more posh. Only 13 schools in the country play it (and it isn’t a stretch to work out which ones they are!).
DameKumquat@reddit
Apparently there are 28 rackets courts and 28 real tennis courts in the UK. I'm not 100% sure Wikipedia knows the difference.
LittleSadRufus@reddit
My takeaway from this thread is no one thinks croquet is posh
DameKumquat@reddit
It's only posh if you measure up a pitch and follow the proper rules, which are vicious. Just sticking some hoops in a circle - not posh.
thehappyonionpeel@reddit
Horses
Numerous-Paint4123@reddit
Horses are either the roughest people women in the world or super posh. Absolutely nothing inbetween.
OldTomToad@reddit
Horses is a funny one. Same as having loads of kids. Either very posh, or very not
deanomatronix@reddit
Horsey stuff
Rugby union
Cricket (outside of the north)
Rowing/sailing
Shooting
Active_Doubt_2393@reddit
Tennis.
NrthnLd75@reddit
Rugby League isn't posh.
Cricket is both posh and not posh depending on where it's played.
Golf crosses all class boundaries these days.
bahumat42@reddit
Polo
Lacrosse
PolgaraEsme@reddit
We did lacrosse for one term at my comprehensive school.
One broken nose later, and that was quietly shelved.
Dimac99@reddit
We did hockey, well, the girls did. Is lacrosse really that much more dangerous? I never even got round to buying shin pads.
carlovski99@reddit
Lots of broken fingers too.
We had an American coach going round local schools teaching it for a few weeks at each. We though he was super cool, and a few of the lads got really into it and went on to play at a fairly decent standard.
Other than that though, its only ever been really posh girls I 've known who have played it.
bisectional@reddit
Lacrosse has its roots in a native American sport of war where violence is part of the game.
Dimac99@reddit
I had a wee wiki and it seems it's full contact in the men's game and non contact in the women's game. No jolly lacrosse sticks for the boys then, sounds a bit terrifying.
PolgaraEsme@reddit
From what I remember, very like hockey, except the ball is being flung around at head height. Hence the broken nose. I remember learning to cradle the ball as you run so it doesn’t bounce out of the little net on the stick.
Demostravius4@reddit
Anything on a horse, snow, or a boat.
chestyCough94@reddit
Golf Tennis Horse riding Fencing
Ill-Yogurtcloset1515@reddit
Golf is very lower middle class, nouveau rich sport in the UK.
PurpleOctopus6789@reddit
fencing is hardly posh. It's got a reputation for being posh but it attracts people from all walks of life. most clubs will allow you to use their equipment for free. It can be very cheap if you just do it locally. Things get a lot more pricey if you want to compete but most people don't and local clubs offer very affordable classes. Doing it once a week will cost you less than £50 a month unless you're in a very competitive club (which there are very few of in the UK).
RCMW181@reddit
I did 10 years as a fencing coach. It's a real mix.
High level tournaments are not cheap with gear, and everyone competing regularly needed a bit of money.
It's also the case the expensive private schools have regular clubs, where as it's are to see in state schools. A lot of the places I work had "Royal" in the name.
Got sponsorship to cover my costs.
baldeagle1991@reddit
Tbh that could apply to virtually any sport listed here. Even many equestrian clubs provide mounts and equipment for those that can't afford them.
oscarx-ray@reddit
Dressage. Although "sport" is a push.
Terrible_Tap_4385@reddit
Do you understand the body strength and control required to get a horse to perform dresssge? You utter simpleton
oscarx-ray@reddit
Obviously not, I'm a simpleton and I'm not posh! (The "not a sport" part was facetious, sorry, but I stand by it being posh)
Terrible_Tap_4385@reddit
Can be posh, at elite levels, like all sports. Most local riding stables are not rich by any means and the kids taking part are not posh also.
Siggi_Starduust@reddit
Cricket’s not posh. Never mind it being the number one sport among over a billion people on the Indian subcontinent, some of its most noted players include Shane Warne, Freddy Flintoff and David Boon.
CommercialAd2154@reddit
In this country, it absolutely is posh, and I say that as a big fan of the sport!
Aggravating_Panda783@reddit
Rowing
Dennyisthepisslord@reddit
Went to one of the few state schools with a rowing club
It's posh.
JLinCVille@reddit
Wall game.
naynaeve@reddit
Formula one
Truewit_@reddit
Polo.
Also Water Polo. tbh all swimming.
Track cycling.
Hockey.
lildogeggs@reddit
All swimming 😂
fork_the_rich@reddit
It kinda is in the uk, no? Swimming inner city is tough!
Rekyht@reddit
I’d argue it’s considerably easier than if you’re in the middle or the country side
fork_the_rich@reddit
Less and less so. Not trying to argue city over sticks.. I’ve lived in both.. just saying if you’re not a kid on swimming lessons it is quite hard to swim. Community pools always rammed and gym ones are spenny
Bring back the pools for the working classes 😅
Truewit_@reddit
Yeah like I don’t think anyone who didn’t go to a school with a pool ends up competing in actual competitive swimming right? If the school didn’t have a pool then your parents could pay for you to go to the club at the school that did. Same as all the pos sports.
SpudFire@reddit
But that doesn't make it a posh sport though, there are plenty of state comprehensive schools that do have a pool. All the secondary schools in my hometown do so swimming is very accessible to work class kids.
Boxing is only accessible to kids whose parents pay for them to go to a club yet that's one of the most working class sports going.
Truewit_@reddit
I don't think I've ever seen a state school with a pool. We barely had a sports hall and used the nearby park for football.
No-Photograph3463@reddit
We had a pool. It was tiny, probably between 10-25% of Olympic size one at most. It was also always broken at when it wasn't broken it was freezing, we had to stop one lesson as someone's lips starting turning blue because of how cold it was...
lildogeggs@reddit
State comprehensive that was on same grounds as a leisure centre so we used their pool - everyone swam, poor area
DTH2001@reddit
I know a few people who swim with the club at my local leisure centre. All of them go to decidedly unposh schools with nary a pool between them.
Truewit_@reddit
Should I have put an asterisk on anyone* so as to indicate I was using the term generalistically?
Illustrious-Log-3142@reddit
Women's Lacrosse
therealhairykrishna@reddit
My wife played Lacrosse for Wales. Basically everyone on the national team went to Winchester with her.
Illustrious-Log-3142@reddit
Assume you mean St Swithuns rather than Winchester college? If so that's literally where I went and was thinking about haha, incredible. They always did have successful lax players!
therealhairykrishna@reddit
I do, yes. Hilarious!
zwifter11@reddit
Rugby is not posh in Warrington, Wigan, St Helens, Leigh, Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds, York, Castleford, Wakefield, both sides of Hull, Toulouse and Catalonia
mainukfeed@reddit
All winter sport, winter Olympics.
Like how the fuck does two dudes laying on top of each other on slay down some snowy hill become a sport? How do you fund that?
fluidaffiliation@reddit
Any winter sport!
bisectional@reddit
Any low paid professional sport is posh. Badminton in the garden? Not posh. Badminton for the county? Posh.
Cricket with a few mates, a bat ball and a wicket. Not posh. Professional 20-20 er playing for East Sussex? Posh.
Sailing lessons on the Channel or a lake for your 14 year old ? Not posh. Professional sponsored racing shipman on a catamaran with a chap named Giles? Posh
Jacks_Journey@reddit
Croquet
NaaNaaRitRit@reddit
Soggy Biscuit.
Sad_Pie_3862@reddit
Fives, Eton rather than Rugby of course.
The Eton wall game.
Real tennis.
thegskingII@reddit
Y'all know the one with the balls on the grass, dat one
Mapleess@reddit
Lawn bowing.
Xaavuza@reddit
Clay pigeon shooting
therealhairykrishna@reddit
That's probably the least posh of the shooting sports though.
gr33nday4ever@reddit
horses and literally anything involving snow or ice
Familiar-Woodpecker5@reddit
Polo
ArcadeCrossfire@reddit
Horse stuff
Racket stuff
Bat stuff
Snow stuff
Wet stuff
theotherquantumjim@reddit
By wet stuff do you mean dogging?
ZoltanGertrude@reddit
Pheasant shooting
perhapsflorence@reddit
Any and all winter sports.
aldog90@reddit
Lacrosse
4321zxcvb@reddit
It would be interesting to think of which are posh as the cost to participate makes them exclusive, like horses, sailing or skiing and which are posh culturally, like tennis or rugby.
I think the culturally posh tend towards middle class rather than rich posh.
Culturally posh for me:
Rugby, Tennis, Cricket, Golf (bit borderline as is expensive to join club so might fall into financially exclusive category) Fencing.
jaBroniest@reddit
Dressage! Those horse girls are high maintenance
Smudge3108@reddit
Having been involved in club cricket for the last 20 years, I can guarantee you that the vast majority of it is not posh lol
PurpleOctopus6789@reddit
Real tennis or royal tennis, whatever you want to call it. There are less than 50 courts in the world. Posh AF
vientianna@reddit
Played a lot of sports in my time. Of those it would be lacrosse. In hockey there were plenty of people from privileged backgrounds but they tended to keep quiet about it. In lacrosse they openly boasted about it
Spottyjamie@reddit
Pretty much all of them are posh to me
Footer, rugger, chucka etc
Own_Glove845@reddit
Rowing for one
KingKhram@reddit
Fencing
TomL79@reddit
Rugby Union, Polo, Equestrian
clumsyIam@reddit
In my local area lacrosse, tennis & sailing. Not a sport but this independent over priced Gym that only posh people would attend. Fair to say I participate in none. Too scummy for all that malarkey
DoubleSpudd@reddit
Well let me know if you're ever feeling athletic and we can chug a litre of White Lightning and wrestle outside the Jobcentre.
ODFoxtrotOscar@reddit
I’m trying to work out which parts, if any, of that are euphemisms
DoubleSpudd@reddit
How dare you degrade the ancient art of White Lightning Wrestling.
lumixjourney@reddit
it's got to be darts
Worried_Suit4820@reddit
Polo Sailing Equestrian events
ODFoxtrotOscar@reddit
Lacrosse
Fives
Three day eventing
TheRealPyroManiac@reddit
Cricket
MelodicAd2213@reddit
Definitely Polo - must be the poshest sport. Showjumping, dressage, skiing and lacrosse
Notagelding@reddit
I was invited to watch polo once and let me tell you, everyone there was posh. Felt well out of my depth!
havesomelove@reddit
Can’t tell if no one’s said croquet because they don’t think it’s posh or they don’t think it’s a sport but either way it’s the second on my list
Chrykal@reddit
Polo was the first thing that came to mind.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
Any you sit down for - rowing, sailing, polo, dressage, show-jumping. The cost of the equipment is one of the main issues for people breaking into them. Though top riders often are subsidised and lessons can be variable in cost. Owning a horse though is converting money into poop and vet bills and top-tier horses sell for price of a house. But if got land, a stable and a pony, then you can have a lot of fun at low level shows without much wealth.
Additional-Nobody352@reddit
Sailing, Rugby Union, Polo, Golf
box_frenzy@reddit
Most Volkswagens to be honest
Firm-Statistician772@reddit
Polo
Fine_Ad_3705@reddit
Golf & Tennis
Best-camera4990@reddit
Tennis, sailing
emmapizzle@reddit
Lacrosse seems like such an upper class sport to me!
gemmanotwithaj@reddit
I actually joined a ladies softball cricket team last year and it is anything but posh. But I would have said cricket before I joined lol
Repulsive_Dig_133@reddit
I'd agree unless you add in caricature sports like croquet or lacrosse.
I think Rugby League is quite popular in parts of England with working class people and also Rugby Union is popular in parts of Scotland ( Borders ) with non posh people :) . Golf cuts across in Scotland a bit too.
BertieBus@reddit
Horse polo
Shooting sports
Rowing.
Lacrosse
DTH2001@reddit
Yacht racing, polo, rowing
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.