Shrove Tuesday ball games a 'Midlands Tradition'

The Atherston Ball Game, pictured here in the 1950s, has been held in the town since the 12th Century. Credit: British Pathe

The towns of Atherstone in Warwickshire and Ashbourne in Derbyshire are holding their annual 'ball games', a tradition dating back 800 years.

ATHERSTONE:

The game is a complete free-for-all played along Watling Street (the old Roman road) at the point where it forms the main street of Atherstone town.

Tradition dictates that the ball is decorated with red, white and blue ribbons that are exchanged for money by who ever is able to obtain one and is made of thick leather to make it too heavy to kick far.

The match starts at 3:00pm when the ball is thrown from the window of Barclays Bank and continues until about 5:00pm.

There is only one rule: players are not allowed to kill one another.

Whoever is able to hang onto the ball at the end of the game not only wins the game but is allowed to keep the ball as well.

This Shrove Tuesday ball game has been held annually since the early 12th century and is one of Atherstone's claims to fame. Its origin dates to the reign of King John.

The 'ball' used is specially made each year and is 'thrown out' by a prominent sporting or show business personality. This year it will be Leicester City's Mark Albrighton.

Shop windows are boarded-up and traffic is diverted on the afternoon whilst the game, in which hundreds of people take part, progresses along the town's main streets.

Stewards have also taken part in recent years to clamp down on any violence.

ASHBOURNE:

Ashbourne is known for its annual two-day Royal Shrovetide Football Match, in which one half of the town plays the other at football, using the town as the pitch and with the goals three miles apart.

As many as several thousand players compete for up to two days with a hand-painted, cork-filled ball.

The game is played by two teams, the Up'ards and the Down'ards, the side you choose depends where you live in the town.

Like the Atherstone game, Ashbourne's football match is though to date back to the 12th century.

It is a moving mass (the Hug) which continues through the roads of the town, across fields and even along the bed of the local Henmore Brook.

There were intermittent attempts to ban the game until the late 19th century, but none was successful and the tradition continues to this day.