Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football 2013

[ChrisLewis]

Did anyone go & take part in this years Shrovetide football game - A traditional, quirky, manic, game of football through the streets of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, from turning up the leather painted ball at 2 pm until well after dark. First recorded as long ago as 1682. Two teams, Up'ards born North of the River Henmore and Down'ards born South, battle to score by striking the ball 3 times against the old mill wheel goals, which are 3 miles apart at Clifton and Sturston Mill. The large hand sewn leather ball can be kicked, carried or thrown, but generally passes along in a "hug" invisible to the spectator. An experience not to be missed, but don't get too near the ball!

If you did go? Could you imagine this being played across Stafford from say The Common across the Town through to Rowley Park - interesting?

 

[Gramaisc]

Possibly offside..?

 

[John Marwood]

I took part in 1984 as an outsider

That was my second appearance on Blue Peter

But I really wanted to frottage with Jenny Hanley from Magpie - I never even managed a signed photograph

 

[Withnail]

Last i heard the up'ards were one up.

It is possibly a knownish fact that football was banned in this country in the Middle Ages - a possibly little known fact that the above species of football was the game known as 'football' that was banned several times during the late 13th and early 14th Centuries.

It was not 'liked' by Medieval Monarchs on two counts -

1) People would rather dick about with a ball than practice at the Shooting Butts with their bows
2) People would get seriously injured, and often killed, at the game

The ramifications of 2) were also quite serious - subsequently this would

a) mean there were fewer menfolk to shoot arrows at Frenchmen,
and
b) kindle feuds that would linger on for generations, propagating murders that thinned further those mentioned above

Monarchs, and the governments that followed them, have always been keen on maintaining their firepower.

 

[Noah]

Last i heard the up'ards were one up.

It is possibly a knownish fact that football was banned in this country in the Middle Ages - a possibly little known fact that the above species of football was the game known as 'football' that was banned several times during the late 13th and early 14th Centuries.

Is it in fact true that the first two references to football in England are a law banning it and a complaint about crowd viol;ence?

kindle feuds that would linger on for generations

I was not aware that disputes about e-book readers were that common or violent in medieval England.

With respect to this years match, is it correct that a Staffordshire licensee was amongst those responsible for placing an inflatable plastic horse called Findus on top of a memorial?