{"id":741,"date":"2025-03-04T15:52:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T16:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=741"},"modified":"2025-03-11T23:10:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T23:10:33","slug":"this-is-why-an-entire-town-plays-a-brutal-16-hour-football-game-on-shrove-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/04\/this-is-why-an-entire-town-plays-a-brutal-16-hour-football-game-on-shrove-tuesday\/","title":{"rendered":"This is why an entire town plays a brutal 16-hour football game on Shrove Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Up\u2019ards and Down\u2019ards trying to grab the ball (Picture: REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A historic football game played since the 1100s has returned to the north of England<\/a> this Shrove Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Royal Shrovetide Football Match is played every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in Ashbourne, Derbyshire \u2013 and has been since at least the 1660s.<\/p>\n

Shrovetide ball games have been played in England since Henry II was on the throne between 1154-89.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not known exactly when the Ashbourne match started due to a fire in the committee office in the 1890s which destroyed early records \u2013 but that hasn\u2019t stopped locals turning out every year to maintain the legacy.<\/p>\n

In fact the match has only been cancelled three times since 1891: in 1968 and 2001 due to outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, and in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Each game is played for 16 hours in total, from 2-10pm on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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Played since the 17th Century, the annual Shrovetide Football Match sees teams from opposite ends of the Derbyshire town of Ashbourne aim to get a ball into one of two goals, positioned three miles apart at either end of Ashbourne. The game has 'no rules' and can end in injury and damage to property, although volunteer stewards keep a watchful eye for any foul play or damage. The match starts on Shrove Tuesday and can last until 10 PM. If a goal is scored before 6 PM, then a new ball is 'turned up' and a new game started. If the goal is after 6pm, then the game ends for that day and continues into Ash Wednesday. (Photo by Cameron Smith\/Getty Images)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_242472491-4b04.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The match is still being played 400 years on (Picture: Cameron Smith\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Play starts at a plinth in the town centre, and the ball is moved towards either goal three miles apart via a series of \u2018hugs\u2019, not too different from a rugby scrum.<\/p>\n<p>Kicking, carrying and throwing the ball is also allowed, but the match is mainly made up of hugs.<\/p>\n<p>If a goal is scored (or the ball is goaled) before 6pm, a new ball is released in the town centre and the person who scored is carried on their teammate\u2019s shoulders into the courtyard of the nearby Green Man Royal Hotel.<\/p>\n<p>For those on a time crunch, if the first goal is scored after 6pm, the game is wrapped up for the day.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22666645 lazyload\" alt=\"epa11939878 The ball is 'tipped up' as kickoff starts the game where rival teams 'The Up'ards' and 'The Down'ards' compete for the ball during the Royal Shrovetide Football Match in Ashbourne, Britain, 04 March 2025. Played on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday since 1667, the annual Shrovetide Football Match pits two teams from opposite ends of the Derbyshire market town of Ashbourne against each other in an attempt to manoeuvre the ball into one of two goals separated by three miles. Played over two eight-hour periods, using a special hand-sewn leather ball which is moved via a large scrum called 'the hug', this ancient game has few rules and is known to cause frequent injuries. EPA\/ADAM VAUGHAN\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_242474252-6be6.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>There\u2019s no limit to how many people can play the game, drawing big crowds (Picture: EPA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But how are teams decided? Well it\u2019s all to do with where you were born.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tFollow Metro on WhatsApp to be the first to get all the latest news\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"594\" height=\"256\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-19695292 lazyload\" alt=\"Apps With More Than One Million Users\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1632181964-e1700130460337.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Follow us to receive the latest news updates from Metro (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>Metro\u2019s on Whatsapp! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029Va7gy437oQhUmmYX9F2z\">Join our community<\/a> for breaking news and juicy stories.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The two teams are known as the Up\u2019ards and the Down\u2019ards, with the Up\u2019ards born north of Henmore Brook which runs through Ashbourne, and the Down\u2019ards south of the river.<\/p>\n<p>Up\u2019ards try to score goals at the posts near Sturston Mill, while the Down\u2019ards try to score at Clifton Mill. The mills themselves are long gone, but part of their millstones still stand on the riverbank and have been used as scoring posts themselves.<\/p>\n<p>The ball is goaled when a player hits it against the millstone three times in a row \u2013 but since 1996 players have had to be in the river in order for the goal to count. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22666635 lazyload\" alt=\"epa11939907 Rival teams 'The Up'ards' and 'The Down'ards' compete for the ball during the Royal Shrovetide Football Match in Ashbourne, Britain, 04 March 2025. Played on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday since 1667, the annual Shrovetide Football Match pits two teams from opposite ends of the Derbyshire market town of Ashbourne against each other in an attempt to manoeuvre the ball into one of two goals separated by three miles. Played over two eight-hour periods, using a special hand-sewn leather ball which is moved via a large scrum called 'the hug', this ancient game has few rules and is known to cause frequent injuries. EPA\/ADAM VAUGHAN EPA-EFE\/ADAM VAUGHAN\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SEI_242476207-47fe.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The sight draws plenty of spectators too (Picture: EPA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Often the scorer is decided en route to the goal, and the honour usually goes to a local, but tourists and visitors are welcome to join the game.<\/p>\n<p>Forget five-a-side, there aren\u2019t any limits to the number of players on each team, and in preparation for the match shops in the town centre board up their windows and drivers park their cars out of the way.<\/p>\n<p>The game starts when the ball is \u2018turned up\u2019 from a special plinth in the town centre \u2013 and it became known as \u2018Royal\u2019 after two kings kicked off the games while they were still Princes of Wales.<\/p>\n<p>King Edward VIII turned up the ball in 1928 and suffered a bloody nose in the fracas, and in 2003 King Charles III threw the ball into play.<\/p>\n<p>The ball used is larger than a standard football, and usually filled with cork to help it float when it ends up in the river during scoring.<\/p>\n<p>Whoever scores the goal receives the ball to keep, painted by local craftspeople with their name and design.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong><strong><strong>Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"mailto:webnews@metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\">webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this, <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Up\u2019ards and Down\u2019ards trying to grab the ball (Picture: REUTERS) A historic football game played since the 1100s has returned to the north of England this Shrove Tuesday. The Royal Shrovetide Football Match is played every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in Ashbourne, Derbyshire \u2013 and has been since at least the 1660s. Shrovetide ball […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weird"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":747,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741\/revisions\/747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}