No Result
View All Result
  • Login
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Afternoon Voice
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Top News
  • City News
  • Nation
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    • Bollywood
    • Hollywood
  • Sports
    • Cricket
    • Hockey
    • Tennis
    • Football
    • Badminton
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
    • Column
    • Diary
    • Letters
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Editor’s Pick
    • Featured
    • Lifestyle
    • Different Strokes
    • Multimedia
    • Sci-Tech
    • Politics
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top News
  • City News
  • Nation
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    • Bollywood
    • Hollywood
  • Sports
    • Cricket
    • Hockey
    • Tennis
    • Football
    • Badminton
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
    • Column
    • Diary
    • Letters
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Editor’s Pick
    • Featured
    • Lifestyle
    • Different Strokes
    • Multimedia
    • Sci-Tech
    • Politics
No Result
View All Result
Afternoon Voice
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top News
  • City News
  • Nation
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Epaper
  • More

Home > Uncategorized > Bizarre game brings English town to standstill

Bizarre game brings English town to standstill

afternoonvoice@gmail.com' by Afternoon Voice
March 5, 2014
in Uncategorized
A A
0

The strains of ‘God Save The Queen’ have died down by the time a local businessman, standing on a 10-foot-high plinth in the middle of a town-center car park, tosses a leather ball into a vast sea of bodies.

Hundreds of men of all ages and builds, wearing a combination of rugby jerseys, hoodies and fleeces, grapple and tussle – in fact, use any means necessary – in frenzied attempts to grab the ball.

And so begins one of Britain’s most cherished, fabled and downright bizarre sporting traditions.

Played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday ever since the late 1600s, and maybe even before, the Royal Shrovetide football game sees thousands of locals from rival sides of a sleepy market town in central England take part in a chaotic and often brutal contest.

The aim: To ‘goal’ the ball against scoring posts situated in the middle of a shallow river and three miles apart at either end of town. Injuries and black eyes are common – there have been broken legs and reportedly heart attacks, too. But it’s worth all the pain to have bragging rights over your fierce rivals for the next 12 months.

Don’t underestimate its importance to the locals.

“It’s chaos, it’s like a riot – an organized riot,” says Dave Leigh, a pub landlord in Ashbourne. “But they live and die by it.”

The game is regarded as a carry-over from the “mob football” matches played in the Middle Ages. These matches are believed to have spawned the global sporting phenomenon that is soccer, as well as rugby.

afternoonvoice@gmail.com'

Afternoon Voice

Recommended For You

michael martin, irish pm, irish prime minister, martin
Uncategorized

Irish PM Martin urges Britain to resume talks with EU over its N.Ireland law

June 19, 2022
RESERVE-WILDLIFE-NATURE-RHINOCEROS
Nation

ESZ of one km from the demarcated boundary is must for National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, directs Supreme Court

June 3, 2022
p chidambaram, chidambaram, congress, Jawaharlal Nehru, Narendra Modi
Uncategorized

Attempt to distort history, Nehru intervened in Goa at right time: Chidambaram on PM’s criticism

February 11, 2022
ks sethumadhavan, director, south indian, filmmaker, sethumadhavan
Uncategorized

Legendary South Indian director K S Sethumadhavan passes away

February 9, 2022
japanese, japan pm, shinzo abe, shinzo
Uncategorized

Ex-Japan PM says a Chinese military “adventure” could be “suicidal”

February 9, 2022
tayyip erdogan, erdogan, Alevi, Alevi community, AK Party
Uncategorized

Tayyip Erdogan faces uphill bid to woo Turkey’s large Alevi minority

February 9, 2022
ADVERTISEMENT

LATEST

Israel’s parliament, Elections, Benjamin Netanyahu,

5th election in 4 years Israel’s parliament dissolves

June 30, 2022

Devendra Fadnavis Punha Yenar

June 30, 2022
Z level Security, Eknath Shinde, Goa, Mumbai, Governor of Maharashtra.

Eknath Shinde gets Z level security

June 30, 2022
Udaipur Murder Case, Crime Scene do not cross, Police line,

MHA orders the NIA to investigate the “brutal” murder of a tailor in Udaipur and any international connections

June 30, 2022
Sanjay Raut, MVA, Maha Vikas Agadhi, Shivsena

Sanjay Raut to appear before ED tomorrow

June 30, 2022
ADVERTISEMENT
Afternoon Voice

© 2022 Newsmakers Publications Pvt. Ltd. | All rights reserved.

Important Links

  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Support Parallel Media

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top News
  • City News
  • Nation
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    • Bollywood
    • Hollywood
  • Sports
    • Cricket
    • Hockey
    • Tennis
    • Football
    • Badminton
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
    • Column
    • Diary
    • Letters
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Editor’s Pick
    • Featured
    • Lifestyle
    • Different Strokes
    • Multimedia
    • Sci-Tech
    • Politics

© 2022 Newsmakers Publications Pvt. Ltd. | All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?