Pancakes coming into sight and a traditional game of Shrove Tuesday-Ash Wednesday football in action. I have written about this traditional, sporting event before because it is where the dignified game of soccer has its roots. Hard to imagine??
The "mob" game, as it was known, still exists in places such as Ashbourne in Derbyshire, Workington in Cumbria and Kirkwall in Orkney, Scotland. They all have slightly different rules but the aim is the same-get a ball shaped thing or a 'ba as the Scots pronounce it, through the opposition goal, which is a milestone at each end of the town. It's tradition and fun, apparently. Here's the Derby version today.....
"Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide" live updates on day one, as ball stuck in car park for first hour...........there are "two days to go!"
The game (AND BALL) goes through rivers and villages; houses have to board up their windows to prevent damage. There are casualties!
The Derby match has been played since 1667 at least, although records were lost in a fire. Famous game openers, that is "turning up the ball", have been Prince Charles, Brian Clough, Sir Stanley Matthews and this local lad (BELOW), who has reached 100 years old. Bill Milward who played in the game when he was a lad, with the 2016 Ball.
The game lasts for two days and starts at 2pm lasting till 10 at night. It is said to be the last bastion of mass football and is one of only a handful of games of its kind to be played annually in the streets of the UK. There are records of mass football being played as early as 1667, but Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide's origins are unknown due to a devastating fire at the Royal Shrovetide Committee office in the 1890s, which destroyed the earliest records. Every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday the town is divided into two mobs, by the Henmore Brook (the local river). Traditionally, those born north of the river are Up'ards, and those born south of it are Down'ards. There are no holds barred!
These two sides lock horns on both days, with the game starting at 2pm when an invited local man is given the honour of "turning up" the ball from a plinth in Shaw Croft Car Park. Unlike a conventional football match, the game takes place over two eight-hour periods, the goals are nearly three miles apart at former mills and there are few rules. It's better compared to rugby, with a huge, steaming hug at its centre, not unlike a rugby scrum.
There are players who specialise in water play, spending much of their time in the river, and players who are more suited to grappling away in the hug/maul.
There are the super-fit players who wait on the periphery of the mob all day, ready for a chance to run the ball away from the action, into the darkness and - hopefully - all the way to the goal.
The match continues until 10pm. If the goal is scored (goaled) before 6pm a new ball is released and play restarts. However, play ends for the day if a ball is goaled after 6pm. To goal a ball the players must first reach the sites of the former mills, and then jump into the river and hit the ball against a mill stone, mounted in a plinth, three times.
It could take hours for the hug to push all the way to the goals. If a ball is goaled, it is handed back to the scorer after the goal is declared good at the Green Man Royal Hotel, and becomes theirs to keep. If a ball is not goaled it is given back to the turner-up.
Many people wrongly believe Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide has been given its Royal status because two princes have come to turn up the ball - Prince Edward in 1928 and Prince Charles in 2003 - but that's actually not correct. The real reason Shrovetide is "Royal" is because a ball was given to Princess Mary, daughter of King George V, when she was married in 1922 on Shrove Tuesday. The Shrovetide committee sent her a special Shrovetide ball as a wedding gift. As a mark of gratitude, the game was given the right to be called "Royal" Shrovetide Football.
The market town, set right in the centre of the "pitch", is Ashbourne which effectively shuts down for the two days. Shops are boarded up to protect their windows, car parks are closed off, roads are temporarily blocked off by marshals to keep traffic away from players and the pubs prepare for their busiest days of the year. Many pubs can sell three weeks' worth of beer during the game.
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