British Film Institute

With two goals three miles apart, one football, a team of thousands and no rules, Royal shrovetide football sounds like the kind of game invented by rowdy schoolboys. But every year in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, the entire town gathers to wrestle over a single football tossed into a giant, frenzied crowd. Men, women and children claw, shove, grab and do anything they can to get hold of the ball. In fact, the game has little to do with football at all since the use of hands is entirely encouraged. When the ball falls into a canal during this hilarious film of the event, men dive straight in after it and engage in some spirited water wrestling.

That there are no rules is not entirely true; playing after midnight is disallowed, and murder and manslaughter are strictly forbidden. Although this film was made in 1923, Royal shrovetide football continues to this day.

Christian Hayes

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