The number of people working in the sport sector has surged by almost 10 per cent since London 2012, according to government statistics.

In 2015, there were 1.2m jobs in the sport sector, accounting for 3.6 per cent of all jobs in the UK.

This represents an increase of 9.5 per cent from 2012, when the figure was 1.06m.

The UK Sport Satellite Account, 2012, 2014 and 2015 – which was produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) – also presented top line details on sport’s effect on the economy.

During 2015 sport contributed £35bn (US$42.5bn, €39.9bn) to the UK economy, or 2.1 per cent of total UK gross value added (GVA)

That number has increased by 8.9 per cent since the London Olympics and Paralympics, when sport brought home £32.1bn (US$39bn, €36.6bn).

In 2014, sport contributed 34.3bn (US$41.7bn, €39.1bn) to the UK economy.