There are a number of football / rugby like games played around the country every year, but the one in Ashbourne has a unique feature – it is played by royal approval.
It should be pointed out that this game of “football” bears little resemblance to what you might see Wayne Rooney playing on the TV, although players such as Vinnie Jones might recognise it from his days at Wimbledon. It’s more like a very disorganised bordering on utterly chaotic game of rugby played across an entire town.
The idea is that Ashbourne is split into two sides – above and below the Henmore Brook river. Those on the upperside are known as the Up’Ards and the others are the Down’Ards. The game runs from 2pm to 10pm after the ball, which is like an oversized football, is tossed into the crowd of players and then simply runs riot around the town. The goal is scored when either team bounces the ball against an assigned millstone at their end of the town.
There are very few rules as to how you get the ball to the goal although murder, carrying on a vehicle or hiding the ball are not allowed….and serious physical violence is frowned upon. With anything up to 1000 people playing there are usually a lot of bruises but rarely any serious injuries.
Not everyone will see the ball never mind actually get hold of it, and there’s generally a pretty casual atmosphere with breaks to head for the pub for a quick pint during the game a pretty frequent occurrence.
The royal connection was added originally back in 1928 by the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward Viii) who played part of the game and ended up with a bloody nose. It was then visited by royalty in 2003 when Prince Charles started the game by throwing the ball – perhaps a safer way to participate.
More details on each years game on the “official” Shrovetide web site.
There’s also a good video of this on the Guardian web site.
Other Ashbourne Links:
More things to see in Ashbourne
Hotels in Ashbourne
Holiday cottages in Ashbourne
Firsthand account of Royal Shrovetide Football by DoctorDanger
