The Shrovetide Football Match, Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

The event is held over two days (Shrove Tuesday, and Ash Wednesday) every year. The whole town is boarded up and the male population is divided into two teams, the up'ards, and the down'ards (north and south of Henmore Brook).

The game takes most of the day and goals are scored at particular places in the opponents territory. The game is more a wrestling match between the two teams and all parts of the town are the pitch. The participants are standing in Henmore Brook and have emerged from the tunnel on the left. The ball is being wrestled for under the scrum of bodies in the centre. It will suddenly emerge, held by one side or the other, and the heaving mass of bodies will start moving towards the opponents goal.

Sculduggery and injuries are common.

Derby had an identical annual Shrovetide Football Match until 1846, when it was banned by the mayor.