86-536: The Atherstone Ball Game is a " medieval football " game played annually on Shrove Tuesday in the English town of Atherstone , Warwickshire . The game honours a match played between Leicestershire and Warwickshire in 1199, when teams competed for a bag of gold, and which was won by Warwickshire. At one time similar events were held in many towns throughout England, but Atherstone's is now one of at least three such games that are still played each year at Shrovetide ,
172-710: A bag of gold offered as a prize by King John . This original "Match of Gold", as it became known, was won by Warwickshire. The Ball Game was once one of many such games held in towns throughout England, but is presently one of three that continue to be held over Shrovetide, the other two being the Royal Shrovetide Football match in Ashbourne, Derbyshire , and Scoring the Hales in Alnwick , Northumberland. Medieval football matches were more common before
258-529: A creamery in the town which, for a period, was contracted to produce Carnation condensed milk . The factory had its own private sidings connected to the railway station goods yard, which allowed milk trains to access the facility and distribute product as far south as London . After milk trains ceased in 1965, the railway track was lifted as passenger services and the railway station had already been closed back in 1954. The factory closed in 2003 and, since demolition in 2006, has been redeveloped as housing and
344-527: A "playing ball" ("pila ludicra") in his work De Temporum Ratione . Another early reference comes from the ninth-century Historia Brittonum , attributed to the Welsh monk Nennius . The text, written in Wales , mentions a group of boys "playing at ball" ('pilae ludus'). The earliest reference from France which provides evidence of the playing of ball games (presumably La soule ) comes in 1147. This refers to
430-465: A Clergymen from the Southeast of England: They get the bladder and blowe it great and thin, with many beanes and peason put within, It ratleth, shineth and soundeth clere and fayre, While it is throwen and caste up in the eyre, Eche one contendeth and hath a great delite, with foote and hande the bladder for to smite, if it fall to the ground they lifte it up again... Overcometh the winter with driving
516-543: A ball game. The students of each school have their own ball; the workers from each city craft are also carrying their balls. Older citizens, fathers, and wealthy citizens come on horseback to watch their juniors competing, and to relive their own youth vicariously: you can see their inner passions aroused as they watch the action and get caught up in the fun being had by the carefree adolescents. The earliest confirmation that such ball games in England involved kicking comes from
602-465: A ball in mid-air between them. There is a hint that the players may be using their hands to strike the ball. A second medieval image in the British Museum , London clearly shows a group of men with a large ball on the ground. The ball clearly has a seam where leather has been sewn together. It is unclear exactly what is happening in this set of three images, although the last image appears to show
688-687: A critic of the game) advocates "footeball" as part of what he calls vehement exercise in his Castel of Helth published in 1534. Secondly English headmaster Richard Mulcaster provides in his 1581 publication Positions Wherein Those Primitive Circumstances Be Examined, Which Are Necessarie for the Training up of Children , the earliest evidence of organised, refereed football for small teams playing in formation. The first reference to football in Ireland occurs in
774-475: A declaration, in 1363: "[m]oreover we ordain that you prohibit under penalty of imprisonment all and sundry from such stone, wood and iron throwing; handball, football, or hockey; coursing and cock-fighting, or other such idle games". At this time football was already being differentiated in England from handball, which suggests the evolution of basic rules. Between 1314 and 1667, football was officially banned in England alone by more than 30 royal and local laws. (See
860-472: A distraction from the mandatory archery training required of all males over age 12. In 1472 the rector of Swaffham , Norfolk bequeathed a field adjoining the church yard for use as a "camping-close" or "camping-pightel" specifically for the playing of the East Anglian version of football known as Camp Ball. In 1486 comes the earliest description of "a football", in the sense of a ball rather than
946-510: A few rules. Shrovetide football has been played for several centuries. It is a moving mass (the Hug) that continues through the roads of the town, across fields, and even along the bed of the local Henmore Brook . There were intermittent unsuccessful attempts to ban the game until the late 19th century. Before the 1966 Football World Cup , the West German squad stayed at the nearby Peveril of
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#17327722313511032-637: A foot-balle". It may be the earliest use of the word football in English. That football was known at the turn of the century in Western England comes from about 1400 when the West Midland Laud Troy Book states in English: "Hedes reled aboute overal As men playe at the fote-ball". Two references to football games come from Sussex in 1403 and 1404 at Selmeston and Chidham as part of baptisms. On each occasion one of
1118-531: A football ('pro pila pedali'). In 1410, King Henry IV of England found it necessary to impose a fine of 20 shillings on mayors and bailiffs in towns where misdemeanours such as football occurred. This confirms that football was not confined to London. The Accounts of the Worshipful Company of Brewers between 1421 and 1423 concerning the hiring out of their hall include reference to "by the "footeballepleyers" twice... 20 pence" listed in English under
1204-633: A football match. The oldest surviving ball that might have been used for football games dates to about 1540 and comes from Scotland. It is made from leather and a pig's bladder. It was discovered in 1981 in the roof structure of the Queen's Chamber, Stirling Castle . Whilst other uses for the ball, such as the Italian game pallone , have been suggested, most notably by the National Museum of Scotland , due to its size (diameter 14–16 cm ), staff at
1290-610: A game. This reference is in Juliana Berners ' Book of St Albans . It states: "a certain rounde instrument to play with ...it is an instrument for the foote and then it is calde in Latyn 'pila pedalis', a fotebal." It was considered socially acceptable for a football to be included in medieval English Heraldry . On 22 April 1497, James IV of Scotland , who was at Stirling Castle paid two shillings for footballs, recorded as, "giffen [given] to Jame Dog to b[u]y fut ballis to
1376-405: A large campynge balle". In 1440 the game of Camp Ball was confirmed to be a form of football when the first ever English-Latin dictionary, Promptorium parvulorum , offered the following definition of camp ball: "Campan, or playar at foott balle, pediluson; campyon, or champion". In 1457 King James II of Scotland , like his father James I, also banned football and golf , viewing the games as
1462-485: A light industrial estate , although the old loading ramp from street level up to the factory floor is still in place. Water from a borehole on the site was first marketed as Ashbourne Water in 1975 and was sold mostly to the catering trade. Nestlé retained the borehole after the factory shut, taking water by tanker to Buxton for bottling. Declining sales (1.3 million bottles in 2005, compared to 90 million for Buxton water) meant it could not justify further investment and
1548-450: A man with a broken arm. It is likely that this image highlights the dangers of some medieval football games. Most of the very early references to the game speak simply of "ball play" or "playing at ball". This reinforces the idea that the games played at the time did not necessarily involve a ball being kicked. The earliest reference to ball games in post-classical Europe comes from the eighth-century English historian Bede , who refers to
1634-536: A total of 13 councillors. It meets at Ashbourne Town Hall in the Market Place. Ashbourne lies at 53°01′N 01°44′W / 53.017°N 1.733°W / 53.017; -1.733 . Ashbourne Green and Sturston are hamlets close by. Henmore Brook , a tributary of the River Dove , flows through the middle of the town. It has an elevation of 400 feet (122 m). From 1910, Nestlé had
1720-488: A verse about Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln . This was probably written in the thirteenth century, being recorded by Matthew Paris , although the precise date is not known: "Four and twenty bonny boys, were playing at the ball.. he kicked the ball with his right foot". In about 1200, "ball" is mentioned as one of the games played by King Arthur's knights in Brut , written by Layamon , an English poet from Worcestershire . This
1806-411: A warning prior to the 2024 game that "Levels of violence witnessed last year will not be tolerated". For several years the ball was made by the sportswear manufacturer Webb Ellis . Prior to this Alan Johnson the local saddler from Market Street was the maker from the 1950s. Following the 2017 game, Webb Ellis cancelled their contract to make the ball. As a consequence, Atherstone upholsterer, Pete Smith,
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#17327722313511892-612: Is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district in Derbyshire , England. Its population was measured at 8,377 in the 2011 census and was estimated to have grown to 9,163 by 2019. It has many historical buildings and independent shops. The town offers a historic annual Shrovetide football match . Its position near the southern edge of the Peak District makes it the closest town to Dovedale , to which Ashbourne
1978-514: Is also one reference to ball games being played in southern Britain prior to the Norman Conquest . In the ninth century Nennius 's Historia Brittonum tells that a group of boys were playing at ball ( pilae ludus ). The origin of this account is either Southern England or Wales . References to a ball game played in northern France known as La Soule or Choule , in which the ball was propelled by hands, feet, and sticks, date from
2064-699: Is being preserved locally. Ashbourne railway station once served the town on the Ashbourne to Buxton railway line ; the line was closed to regular passenger traffic in 1954. Today, the nearest railway stations are Uttoxeter , 12 miles away on the Crewe-Derby Line , and Derby , 13 miles away on the Midland Main Line . Construction of the Ashbourne to Buxton line began in 1896. Passenger services started to Buxton in August 1899, after
2150-461: Is declared at 5.00pm, the title going to the person who has possession of the ball when the whistle sounds. Ahead of the game itself, sweets and pennies are thrown to local children. The ball is decorated with ribbons before the game, and prizes are also awarded to anyone who gets hold of one, as well as to the person who gets the golden penny, thrown into the crowd shortly before the game commences. The ribbons are usually red, white and blue to represent
2236-576: Is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large foot balls [ rageries de grosses pelotes de pee ] in the fields of the public from which many evils might arise which God forbid: we command and forbid on behalf of the king, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in the future." Another early account of kicking ball games from England comes in a 1321 dispensation , granted by Pope John XXII to William de Spalding of Shouldham in Norfolk : "To William de Spalding, canon of Scoldham of
2322-450: Is sometimes referred to as the gateway. The town is 14 miles (23 km) west of Derby , 21 miles (34 km) south-east of Buxton , 22 miles (35 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent , 49 miles (79 km) south-south-east of Manchester , 35 miles (56 km) south-west of Sheffield and 27 miles (43 km) north of Lichfield . Nearby towns include Matlock , Uttoxeter , Leek , Cheadle and Bakewell . The town's name derives from
2408-565: Is the earliest reference to the English language "ball". Layamon states: "some drive balls (balles) far over the fields". Records from 1280 report on a game at Ulgham , near Ashington in Northumberland , in which a player was killed as a result of running against an opposing player's dagger. This account is noteworthy because it is the earliest reference to an English ball game that definitely involved kicking; this suggests that kicking
2494-512: Is uncertain it certainly comes from between 1481 and 1500. This is the first account of an exclusively "kicking game" and the first description of dribbling : "[t]he game at which they had met for common recreation is called by some the foot-ball game. It is one in which young men, in country sport, propel a huge ball not by throwing it into the air but by striking it and rolling it along the ground, and that not with their hands but with their feet... kicking in opposite directions." The chronicler gives
2580-578: The City of Melton , who said: "It would be great to import the game when we have a main street built. It could be a good way to launch the main street and the development. But we would probably have to find out the rules involved first!" Harold Taft, a long-term member of the Ball Game Committee who had recently stepped down from the role, said he would be willing to offer the new town some advice, but would not want them to create an exact replica of
2666-455: The Green Man & Black's Head Royal Hotel , closed in 2011 and underwent a change of ownership in 2013, before reopening in 2018. The rare gallows sign across St John's Street remains a meeting point in the town. In June 2020, the caricature of a black man's head atop the sign became the focus of racial debate. It was removed after a petition had gathered more than 40,000 signatures, but it
Atherstone Ball Game - Misplaced Pages Continue
2752-661: The High Peak Trail (the old Cromford and High Peak Railway ) at Parsley Hay . The Limestone Way passes 2–3 miles away, through Tissington, Thorpe, Marten Hill and above Mayfield to Rocester. There are several routes for walkers from Ashbourne to Limestone Way. The main secondary school is Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School , founded in 1585. It moved to its current site on the Green Road in 1909 and took over Ashbourne County Secondary School in 1973. The 215 ft (66 m) spire of St Oswald's Church overlooks
2838-648: The Old English æsc-burna meaning "stream with ash trees". Ashbourne was granted a market charter in 1257. In medieval times it was a frequent rest stop for pilgrims walking "St Non's Way" to the shrine of Saint Fremund at Dunstable in Bedfordshire . The forces of Charles Edward Stuart passed through Ashbourne during the Jacobite rising of 1745 . Ashbourne Town Council has four wards – Belle Vue, Hilltop, Parkside and St Oswald's – represented by
2924-660: The Orkney Islands of Scotland, Uppies and Downies over Easter at Workington in Cumbria , and the Royal Shrovetide Football Match on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday at Ashbourne in Derbyshire , England. Few images of medieval football survive. One wooden misericord carving (photo below right) from the early fourteenth century at Gloucester Cathedral , England, clearly shows two young men running vigorously towards each other with
3010-471: The Statute of Galway of 1527, which allowed the playing of football and archery but banned " 'hokie' – the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves" as well as other sports. (The earliest recorded football match in Ireland was one between Louth and Meath , at Slane , in 1712.) Apprentices progressing to become master craftsmen in 16th-century Perth traditionally had to pay for a banquet and hold
3096-407: The 12th century. These archaic forms of football, typically classified as mob football, would be played in towns and villages, involving an unlimited number of players on opposing teams, who would clash in a heaving mass of people struggling to drag an inflated pig's bladder by any means possible to markers at each end of a town. By some accounts, in some such events any means could be used to move
3182-610: The 20th century, but their violent nature led the government of the time to pass the Highway Act 1835 to prevent it being played in the streets, although games continued to take place in Atherstone. In 1901, an attempt by police and local authorities to also have the Atherstone game banned was rejected by parish councillors. The game continued throughout World War I and World War II , even though shopkeepers had difficulty sourcing wood to board up their premises, and leather for
3268-673: The Ashbourne Show website: "In 1881, four gentlemen founded a society aimed at improving the standard of Shire horses in the Ashbourne area. Originally known as the Ashbourne Cart Horse Society, later that year, it held its first a show on the Paddock, at Ashbourne. This was so successful, it was determined by public meeting to put it on a permanent basis. Apart from a few years lost to war and foot-and-mouth , an annual show has been held ever since. In 1888,
3354-503: The Ashbourne game did not take place. The 2005 game marked the first occasion on which money was raised for charity, with funds donated to the Indian Ocean Tsunami Appeal . In 2012, and following cuts to policing that would reduce the number of officers present at the game, a new company was formed to help the game comply with health and safety regulations. An 18-year-old competitor from the nearby town of Nuneaton
3440-530: The King". It is not known if he himself played with them. The earliest and perhaps most important description of a football game comes from the end of the 15th century in a Latin account of a football game with features of modern soccer . It was played at Cawston in Nottinghamshire , England. It is included in a manuscript collection of the miracles of King Henry VI of England . Although the precise date
3526-583: The LNWR gained running powers over the line. It also closed to passengers in 1954 and completely in the early 1960s. The course of the Ashbourne to Buxton line up to Parsley Hay has since been converted to the Tissington Trail , a popular recreational walking and cycle path. Bus services in the area are provided by High Peak Buses and TrentBarton . There is an hourly service between Derby and Uttoxeter that stops in Ashbourne; other routes connect
Atherstone Ball Game - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-707: The Stirling Smith Museum and researchers at the Scottish Football Museum have attributed its use to football, citing the description of the ball used in the Carlisle Castle game of 1568. The violence of early football in Scotland is made clear in this sixteenth-century poem on the " beauties of football ": Bruised muscles and broken bones Discordant strife and futile blows Lamed in old age, then cripled withal These are
3698-623: The article Attempts to ban football games for more details.) Likewise the poet Geoffrey Chaucer offered an allusion to the manner in which contemporary ball games may have been played in fourteenth-century England. In Part IV of The Knight's Tale , the first of the Canterbury Tales (written some time after 1380), he uses the following line: "He rolleth under foot as doth a ball". The English theologian John Wycliffe (1320–1384) referred to football in one of his sermons: "and now þei clouten þer shone wiþ censuris, as who shulde chulle
3784-550: The ball towards the goal, as long as it did not lead to manslaughter or murder . These antiquated games went into sharp decline in the 19th century when the Highway Act 1835 was passed banning the playing of football on public highways. In spite of this, games continued to be played in some parts of the United Kingdom and still survive in a number of towns, notably the Ba game played at Christmas and New Year at Kirkwall in
3870-581: The ball was difficult to obtain. The Cheshire family, who won the game during World War II, filled the ball with cigarettes and tobacco to send to British troops of the Eighth Army , who were stationed in the Sahara desert . Before the 1970s the game was played throughout the town, but was restricted to Long Street because the ball frequently ended up in the Coventry Canal . In 1986, a public meeting
3956-506: The beauties of football The earliest specific reference to football (pila pedalis) at a university comes in 1555 when it was outlawed at St John's College, Oxford . Similar decrees followed shortly after at other Oxford Colleges and at Cambridge University . Another reference occurred in 1555, when Antonio Scaino published his treatise Del Giuoco della Palla ( On the Game of the Ball ). It
4042-467: The brand was discontinued in 2006. Tourism is an important element of the local economy, due to the town's proximity to Dovedale and the Peak District. The Tourist Information Centre was closed in 2011 but, from January 2018, a visitor information centre was made available again in the town hall. The cobbled market place hosts a traditional outdoor market every Thursday and Saturday throughout
4128-677: The building of a joint railway station to serve the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) lines. It closed to regular passenger traffic in 1954; all services on the Ashbourne–Parsley Hay section ceased in 1963. The line continued down the Dove to Rocester , near Uttoxeter , where it joined the main North Staffordshire Railway . This southern link had opened in 1852 and, in 1867,
4214-662: The colours of the Union Flag , but other coloured ribbons have appeared from time to time. Gameplay can become quite intense as players compete to keep hold of the ball, with clothes torn off and occasional violence. The New Zealand Herald has described it as "combining all the best aspects of the UFC , volleyball and Gloucester's famous cheese wheel chase ". The event is policed by officers from Warwickshire Police , while members of West Midlands Ambulance Service are on standby to treat any injuries. Famous people who have started
4300-430: The earliest reference to a football field, stating that: "[t]he boundaries have been marked and the game had started." Nevertheless, the game was still rough, as the account confirms: "a game, I say, abominable enough . . . and rarely ending but with some loss, accident, or disadvantage of the players themselves." Medieval sport had no referee. In 1510 comes the next description of early football by Alexander Barclay ,
4386-644: The education of children in a school in Bihar , one of the poorest states in India . In the annual two-day Royal Shrovetide Football Match , one half of the town plays the other, using the town as the pitch, with goals three miles apart. As many as several thousand players compete for two days with a hand-painted, cork-filled ball. The game is played by two teams, the Up'ards and the Down'ards, over two eight-hour periods, subject to
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#17327722313514472-479: The following year... But then it comes back again. It is the nature of it." Following the 2019 game, a clip of participants fighting received 3.4 million views on Facebook , and a report in the Daily Mirror newspaper claimed that a man's ear had been ripped off during the fracas. However, no such casualties were reported either by police or ambulance officials. The 2020 game, held on 25 February of that year,
4558-490: The foote-ball. The first record of a pair of football boots occurs when Henry VIII of England ordered a pair from the Great Wardrobe in 1526. The royal shopping list for footwear states: "45 velvet pairs and 1 leather pair for football". Unfortunately these are no longer in existence. It is not known for certain whether the king himself played the game, but if so this is noteworthy as his son Edward VI later banned
4644-620: The game had been developing around Florence for some time before that date. The game involved teams of 27 kicking and carrying a ball in a giant sandpit set up in the Piazza Santa Croce in the centre of Florence, both teams aiming for their designated point on the perimeter of the sandpit. In 1586, men from a ship commanded by English explorer John Davis , went ashore to play a form of football with Inuit (Eskimo) people in Greenland . Ashbourne, Derbyshire Ashbourne
4730-536: The game in 1548 because it incited riots. The reputation of football as a violent game persists throughout most accounts from 16th-century England. In 1531, Sir Thomas Elyot noted in his The Book of the Governor the dangers of football, as well as the benefits of archery ("shooting"): Some men wolde say, that in mediocritie, whiche I haue so moche praised in shootynge, why shulde nat boulynge, claisshe, pynnes, and koytyng be as moche commended? Verily as for two
4816-548: The game include those from the worlds of sport, acting and television. Among those to throw the ball out to the crowd are rugby player Wally Holmes in 1953, actor Sid James in 1963, comedian Jimmy Tarbuck in 1968, comedian Larry Grayson in 1976, former Aston Villa manager Brian Little in 1985 and 2019, soul-singer Edwin Starr in 1994, footballer Gordon Banks in 1995, television newsreader Llewella Bailey in 2000, and actress Annette Badland in 2017. Singer George Formby
4902-464: The game was cancelled for the first time in its 821‑year history due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic . It returned in March the following year. The 2023 game was reported to have been the scene of a number of violent incidents, including a mass brawl where several kicks and punches were thrown, and during which damage was caused to a William Hill bookies. This prompted Warwickshire Police to issue
4988-525: The game's rough nature, and from Atherstone residents because of the negative way the event had been portrayed by the programme. In 2011, the Coventry Telegraph reported that a new housing development in Australia which shares its name with Atherstone was keen to host a version of the ball game, and forge links with its UK counterpart. The article quoted Bob Turner, a local councillor from
5074-535: The game. Medieval football Medieval football is a modern term used for a wide variety of the localised informal football games which were invented and played in England during the Middle Ages . Alternative names include folk football , mob football and Shrovetide football . These games may be regarded as the ancestors of modern codes of football , and by comparison with later forms of football,
5160-414: The handing over of "seven balloons of greatest dimension". An early description of ball games that are likely to be football in England was given by William Fitzstephen in his Descriptio Nobilissimi Civitatis Londoniae (c. 1174 – 1183). He described the activities of London youths during the annual festival of Shrove Tuesday : After lunch, all the youth of the city go out into the fields to take part in
5246-405: The laste, be to be utterly abiected of al noble men, in like wise foote balle, wherin is nothinge but beastly furie and extreme violence; wherof procedeth hurte, and consequently rancour and malice do remaine with them that be wounded; wherfore it is to be put in perpetuall silence. In class she is emploied to litle strength; in boulyng oftentimes to moche; wherby the sinewes be to moche strayned, and
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#17327722313515332-401: The local relay transmitter. Ashbourne's local radio stations are BBC Radio Derby on 104.5 FM, Smooth East Midlands on 106.6 FM, Capital Midlands on 102.8 FM and Greatest Hits Radio Midlands on 96.7 FM (formerly Ashbourne Radio). The Ashbourne News Telegraph is the town’s weekly local newspaper. Ashbourne currently has eleven public houses and two social clubs . The most famous,
5418-509: The medieval matches were chaotic and had few rules. The Middle Ages saw a rise in popularity of games played annually at Shrovetide (before Lent ) throughout England, particularly in London . The games played in England at this time may have arrived with the Roman occupation but there is little evidence to indicate this. Certainly the Romans played ball games, in particular harpastum . There
5504-540: The modern Ashbourne Show, now presented by the Ashbourne Shire Horse Society. However, what has not changed is the aim and ambition to produce a show for the encouragement of excellence in agriculture and animal husbandry and for the information education and entertainment of the local community and the visitors to the area each August." Local news and television channels are BBC East Midlands and ITV Central . Television signals are received from
5590-414: The order of Sempringham. During the game at ball as he kicked the ball, a lay friend of his, also called William, ran against him and wounded himself on a sheathed knife carried by the canon, so severely that he died within six days. Dispensation is granted, as no blame is attached to William de Spalding, who, feeling deeply the death of his friend, and fearing what might be said by his enemies, has applied to
5676-399: The others being the Royal Shrovetide Football match held in Ashbourne , Derbyshire , and The Alnwick Shrovetide Football Match in Alnwick, Northumberland . The game is an annual event played in Atherstone each Shrove Tuesday. Shops in the town are boarded up in preparation for its staging, while local children are allowed to leave school early on that day. The two-hour game is played in
5762-485: The players broke his leg. King Henry IV of England provides an early documented use of the English word "football" when in 1409 he issued a proclamation forbidding the levying of money for "foteball". On 4 March 1409, eight men were compelled to give a bond of £20 to the London city chamberlain for their good behaviour towards "the kind and good men of the mystery of Cordwainers ", undertaking not to collect money for
5848-609: The pope." Banning of ball games began in France in 1331 by Philip VI , presumably the ball game known as La soule . In the mid-fourteenth century a misericord (a carved wooden seat-rest) at Gloucester cathedral , England shows two young men playing a ball game. It looks as though they are using their hands for the game; however, kicking certainly cannot be excluded. Most other medieval images of ball games in England show large balls. This picture clearly shows that small balls were also used. King Edward III of England also issued such
5934-418: The prior of Bicester , in Oxfordshire , England, made a payment on St Katherine's day "to sundry gifts to football players" ('ludentibus ad pilam pedalem') of 4 denarii. At this time the prior was willing to give his patronage to the game despite its being outlawed. In about 1430 Thomas Lydgate refers to the form of football played in East Anglia known as Camp Ball : "Bolseryd out of length and bread, lyck
6020-474: The retinue of Mary Queen of Scots : "20 of her retinue played at football before her for two hours very strongly, nimbly, and skilfully, without any foul play offered, the smallness of their ball occasioning their fair play". Mary's retinue was predominantly Scottish, made up primarily by nobles who had followed her south in the aftermath of the Battle of Langside . The first official rules of Calcio Fiorentino (Florentine kick) were recorded in 1580, although
6106-407: The title "crafts and fraternities". This reference suggests that bans against football were unsuccessful and the listing of football players as a "fraternity" is the earliest allusion to what might be considered a football club. The earliest reference to football or kicking ball games in Scotland was in 1424 when King James I of Scotland also attempted to ban the playing of "fute-ball". In 1425
6192-452: The title Ashbourne Shire Horse Society was adopted and royal patronage was granted in 1899 by King Edward VII , who was President in 1901. Shrovetide Football although much older, did not become royal till 1928. Although there have been ups and downs, the ambition of the founders has been fully justified. It has grown, changed and evolved, with cattle introduced in 1925 and sheep in 1957. Other sections have also been added, so that it has become
6278-401: The town with Matlock , Leek , Buxton , Nottingham , Wirksworth and Burton . The Tissington Trail begins in the town. The path starts at Mappleton Lane on the northern outskirts of the town, accessed by a Victorian tunnel at the end of the leisure centre car park, which was formerly railway sidings. It follows the course of the former railway through the village of Tissington and joins
6364-487: The town's main street, Long Street, and sees groups of players compete for possession of a giant ball that is specially made for the occasion. The match is usually started at 3.00pm on Shrove Tuesday by a celebrity guest, usually someone associated with the area, who is invited to throw the ball from the upstairs of a building on Long Street. The game itself has few rules, two being that play is restricted to Long Street and participants are not allowed to kill anyone. The winner
6450-516: The town. The church is Early English in style and was built around 1220. There are a few remnants of earlier Norman construction and the south aisle has part of a Saxon cross shaft. The church of St John was built on Buxton Road in 1871 in a neo-Norman style . Ashbourne Churches Together (ACT) has a link with the Diocese of Patna in the ecumenical Church of North India . Regular reciprocal visits take place. Members of ACT are currently sponsoring
6536-460: The vaines to moche chafed. Wherof often tymes is sene to ensue ache, or the decreas of strength or agilitie in the armes: where, in shotyng, if the shooter use the strength of his bowe within his owne tiller, he shal neuer be therwith grieued or made more feble. Although many sixteenth-century references to football are disapproving or dwell upon its dangers, there are two notable departures from this view. First, Sir Thomas Elyot (although previously
6622-516: The year, complementing the wide range of individual shops in the town. Although its market heritage is important, it came under threat of closure from Derbyshire County Council in November 2012. The people of Ashbourne opposed any such moves by the council and started an online petition . Ashbourne became the 97th Fairtrade Town in March 2005 after many businesses, cafes, shops and community organisations started supporting Fairtrade . According to
6708-454: Was abandoned around halfway through the match when a steward was taken ill, having collapsed from a heart attack at the town's Conservative Club. He was treated at the scene by first responders – special constables and paramedics from West Midlands Ambulance Service – before being airlifted to hospital, where he underwent medical procedures. A JustGiving page was subsequently established to provide financial help for his family. In 2021,
6794-594: Was alleged that he was killed by Irish students, whilst playing the ball in the High Street towards Eastgate ". In 1314, comes the earliest reference to a game called football when Nicholas de Farndone , Lord Mayor of the City of London issued a decree on behalf of King Edward II banning football. It was written in the French used by the English upper classes at the time. A translation reads: "[f]orasmuch as there
6880-423: Was also pictured at the game in 1937. The 2020 game had two personalities to launch proceedings, former Coventry City footballers Dave Bennett and Kirk Stephens . The 2024 game was started by comedian Josh Pugh , himself a native of Atherstone. The original medieval football game honoured by the annual event was held in Atherstone in 1199, during which teams from Warwickshire and Leicestershire competed to win
6966-460: Was also treated in hospital after being knocked unconscious during the final minutes of the game. Violence broke out at the 2019 game and committee chairman Rob Bernard later suggested those responsible for the violence threatened the game's future, stating: "In the past, when things have got out of hand, we've put it out there that the future of the Ball Game is under threat and it calms down a bit
7052-481: Was commissioned to produce the ball for the 2018 game. This marked the first occasion the ball had been made in the town since 1982. Smith based his design on an original cardboard template made by local craftsman Brian Brown. Coverage of the game was first heard on BBC radio in 1934, and footage of it was first shown on television in 1958. The game was featured on a 2018 edition of BBC One 's The One Show , drawing criticism from both users of social media because of
7138-462: Was for each team to try to cross the ball across a marked space at the opposite end of the field. To start, the ball was placed in the middle of the field and kicked by a member of the team that was chosen by lots. Scaino remarks that its chief entertainment for the spectators was to see "the players fall in great disarray & upside down." In June 1568 Sir Francis Knollys described a football game played at Carlisle Castle , Cumbria , England by
7224-402: Was held to determine the game's future after that year's event got out of hand. The outcome of this meeting was the formation of a Ball Game committee, which now has responsibility for organising the event. The 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak almost led to that year's game being cancelled, but it was given the go-ahead at the last minute, becoming the only such game of its type to be held in 2001 as
7310-413: Was involved in even earlier ball games in England. In Cornwall in 1283 plea rolls No. 111 mention a man named Roger who was accused of striking a fellow player in a game of soule with a stone, a blow which proved fatal. The earliest reference to ball games being played by university students comes in 1303 when "Thomas of Salisbury , a student of Oxford University , found his brother Adam dead, and it
7396-415: Was mostly concerned with a medieval predecessor of tennis, but near the end, Scaino included a chapter titled, "Del Giuoco del Calcio" ("On the Game of Football"), for comparison. According to Scaino, the game was popular with students. It could be played with any number of players. The only rules seem to be that weapons could not be brought onto the field, and the ball could not be thrown by hand. The goal
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