Hiya
Are you kooking at taking video or photos.
If you want to take photos you need to go fo a DLSR that you can remove the lens as Spangley say Canon or Nikon. There are others out there but they are 2 of the best. If you have a look at what you like from them if your photography grows, you can keep your lens and up grade the camera body. You will find that some of the lens will cost more than the camera body.
Digital single len reflex (DLSR) will allow you to set the camera mode from auto that try to find the best camera setting for the situation (this will also have some sort of night mode, sports mode, portrait mode encompassed into the auto mode) (I never use Auto mode now) or you can change the A, S or M on camera. (I will always use one of these mode)
A is for aperture which how big the blades in the lens opens to allow light into the sensor. (This function allow you to cahnge the aperture but the camera changes the shutter speed for you).
S is for the shutter speed how quickly the it opens and shuts the lens blades. In good light conditions or for sports you need to adjust this so it is quick, in low light conditions you want the shutter to stay open longer and allow as much light in to give you a clear picture. If you have a shutter speed to slow in day light hours it would give you a over exposed. (This function allow you to cahnge the shutter speed but the camera changes the aperture for you).
M allows to have full control of A and S
If you look at camera sites they will cameras as body's (the camera with no lens)
Or as a kit normally with akit lens 18-55mm or 18-105mm.
When you have been on a sup air field if you have seen any of the photographer they would have some sort of 200/300mm lens to get those close up shots.
Another function that will be important to you is the multi/continuous shot button that when you press the button down it will continue to take shots until you release the button. This would be useful when tracking a player as he is going in for that slide on the snake.
The last thing that people also forget about is the memory card you will need to go for a class 10U1 that can write at speed there is no point in getting a slower card trying to take continuous shots but the card cant process the shots and you end up with a shot of the guy at the start of his run a few shots of him running and not that all import shot of the slide because the card is still buffering the other shots.
Depending on where you are in the UK there will be some camera shops around, like these
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Secondhand-Search/
http://cameraworld.co.uk/
http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/
They have some good second hand sections
Ants