Sport & Fitness

Football: England v Kazakhstan
Oct 11, Wembley Stadium
England’s opening home World Cup 2010 qualifier is the first ever meeting between these sides. Anything other than a resounding win would be little short of disastrous.
www.ticketing.thefa.com

Basketball: Miami Heat v New Jersey Nets
Oct 12, O2 Arena
American sport continues to push its presence here with this pre-season game forming part of the NBA Europe tour.
www.theO2.co.uk

Motor Sport: Stock Car Racing World Championship
Oct 19, Wimbledon Stadium
Expect a wild array of shunts, scrapes and premeditated mechanical violence, since stock car racing is dodgems – minus the dodging.
www.spedeworth.co.uk

American Football: New Orleans Saints v San Diego Chargers
Wembley Stadium, Oct 26
After its regular-season debut in the UK last year when a sell-out crowd of 81,176 saw the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins, the NFL is back – and tickets are again like gold dust.
www.wembleystadium.com
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Rugby Union: England v Pacific Islands
Nov 8, Twickenham Stadium
Drawing players from Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, the Pacific Islanders will offer a bone-shuddering start to England’s autumn international programme. They then face even more formidable challenges from Australia (Nov 15), South Africa (Nov 22) and New Zealand (Nov 29).
www.rfu.com

Wrestling: WWE Survivor Tour
Nov 10, O2 Arena
Hammed-up action from SmackDown and Extreme Championship stars including Triple H, Edge and Jeff Hardy. Perfect for the ten-year-old boy in your life.
www.theO2.co.uk

Tennis: Black Rock Masters
Dec 2-7, Royal Albert Hall
The finale to the old-timers’ tour has a stellar line-up, including John McEnroe, Goran Ivanisevic, Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras – the last of whom will be returning to play in London for the first time since his final Wimbledon appearance six years ago.
www.theblackrockmasters.com

Rugby Union: Barbarians v Australia
Dec 3, Wembley Stadium
This one-off match is part of the British Olympic Association’s centenary celebration of the 1908 London Olympics. An Olympian parade at half-time will mark the achievements of Team GB in Beijing.
www.wembleystadium.com

Horse Racing: Tingle Creek Chase
Dec 6, Sandown Park
This important Grade 1 race is named in honour of one of the greatest ever two-mile chasers. The meeting itself is a family-oriented Christmassy affair, with Santa’s grotto, horse and sleigh rides, and carol singing.
www.sandown.co.uk

Motor Sport: Race of Champions
Dec 14, Wembley Stadium
Ex-Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher is among the drivers from all facets of motor sport storming round a purpose-built track to discover who’s the quickest.
www.raceofchampions.com