The bar chart compares the percentage of UK residents interested in six different sports in 1995, 2000 and 2005.
Overall, football was consistently the most popular sport among British people, whereas golf was generally the least favored. Additionally, while the popularity of football, swimming, and rugby showed an upward trend, the figures for snooker and tennis experienced a decline over the period.
Turning to the sports whose popularity increased over the period, the figure for football stood at about 41% in 1995, before rising gradually to 43% in 2000 and 44% in 2005. Meanwhile, swimming and rugby started at much lower levels in 1995, attracting 22% and 24% of respondents respectively. Although both sports saw an overall rise, their trends were different. Interest in swimming peaked at 29% in 2000 before dropping slightly to 27% in 2005, whereas rugby experienced a sharp drop to 19% in 2000, followed by a strong recovery to 27% by the end of the period.
The opposite pattern could be seen in snooker and tennis. In 1995, the figure for snooker was 30% before decreasing dramatically to roughly 21% in 2000, and then increasing to 23% by 2005. Meanwhile, tennis experienced a similar trend initially, dropping from 29% to 22%, but then remained stable at this level throughout the 5-year timeframe. Finally, golf was the least favored sport, with its proportion remaining relatively unchanged, fluctuating slightly between 15% and 17% throughout the decade.