Ashbournes Royal Shrovetide Football - the world's biggest football match. скачать в хорошем качестве

Ashbournes Royal Shrovetide Football - the world's biggest football match.

The annual Royal Shrovetide football game is said to be the world's oldest, largest, longest, and angriest football game. Last year the game was cancelled owing to the Covid pandemic and organisers asked this year’s participants to take a coronavirus test before play. The game is played between the Up'ards, those born north of the River Henmore that divides the town, and the Down'ards, those born south of the river. The game is played with a hand-painted, cork-filled ball. The pitch is a no man’s land between two watermills, Sturston Mill and Clifton Mill, which serve as the goals at either end of the town about three miles apart. Any number may play in this very thinly refereed game, providing they can claim to be Up'ards or Down'ard's. The game can last for up many and rarely is there a goal scored. Although this year a goal was scored in daylight which is very rare. Most games end in a nil-nil scoreline, hardly surprising considering the size of the pitch and the number of players involved. Not many things have interrupted the Shrovetide game since 1891 and it even continued through two world wars. Foot-and-mouth disease canceled the games in 1968 and 2002. So, after a two-year gap due to Covid participants and crowds being larger than normal. The game has little to do with the beautiful game, as we know it. It has few rules - murder and manslaughter are barred though. It is a moving brawl that continues through the roads of the town, across fields, and even along the bed of the local river. To those playing, trying to see where the ball is can be a challenge. The ball was ‘turned up’ meaning thrown in at 2pm. Most of the action was around the narrow streets of Ashbourne. The boisterous play disturbs local traffic and local traders. Shopkeepers in preparation for the two-day match often board up their shop windows for protection. The majority of the play is a series of rugby-type scrimmages known as "Hugs". Very occasionally the ball does break free, and onlookers who number in their hundreds can finally see some action. If and when a goal is scored, the scorer is allowed to keep the ball and drink as much ale as they can consume. The Up’Ards scored first on the first day with a goal James Lyon. He ‘goaled” the ball at Sturston Mill at 5:32 pm, some 3 and half hours after the ball was thrown in. As a goal was scored before 6 PM, the game was resumed and the down’ards scored an equaliser at around 9.30 pm from Nathan Harrison, to conclude day 1 of the event. These are the rushes from the day.