Somewhere between rugby, GAA and MMA.
In the town of Atherstone, Warwickshire, they have a long-standing and bloody traditional game.
The Atherston Ball Game is a type of medieval football with two simple rules. The ball must stay on Long Street and you can’t kill anyone.
It’s played once a year on Pancake Tuesday, when hundreds of men turn out to batter each other and compete to try and grab hold of a massive ball.
The person with the ball at the end of the two hours of play is the winner.
Interest in the game has skyrocketed since going viral on social media so Ed Campbell went down to Atherstone to meet locals determined to keep their 800-year-old tradition alive – and keep the ball game for Atherstonians.
The traditional game has been played yearly for about 800 years in the town, harking back to King John.
Noel Cooper, who won the Atherstone Ball game in 1995, told JOE: “This is a tradition, with regards to being the alpha male in the town.
“It is a lot about determination, a lot about stamina and everything else, but there is also a big accolade for the person that wins the ball.”
One local spoke of how the winner became a local celebrity.
He said: “It’s like being Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, it’s that good.
“I remember being a kid and seeing Tommy Jackson who won it and I saw him and I just…to other people it means f**k all but to people in Atherstone it means alot.
“Eight-hundred and twenty-four years [the game has been played], that’s older than most countries.”
As mentioned, there are only two rules so the game tends to get fairly violent and certainly isn’t one for the faint-hearted.
However, those from the area claim that the coverage of it online makes it seem wildly violent but in actuality the people of the town all know one another and as soon as the game is over so is the violence.
You can watch JOE’s video about the Atherstone Ball Game here:
