England

Thousands gather for annual Royal Shrovetide Football game – video

14-Feb-2024 15:52:25 | Guardian

Residents of Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, gathered on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday to play a traditional football game with a twist – there are unlimited players and a three-mile (4.8km) pitch. The Royal Shrovetide Football Match takes place annually over two days and organisers say it is the world’s largest, longest and oldest street football game. Each year, shops in the town are boarded up to limit the damage inflicted by the players and the football, and spectators gather on the sidelines to follow the game through the streets, fields and even the river.

There are few rules in the Shrovetide game that differentiate it from ordinary football matches. Any number of players may participate on the two teams, Up’ards and Down’ards, which represent each side of the town’s river. There is also no time limit for the match.