Unlike a conventional football match, Shrovetide Football is much longer than a regular football match and is played over two eight-hour periods. The goals are three miles apart and there are very few rules. The ball is rarely kicked but instead moves through a giant ‘hug’. There is no set pitch: the game is played throughout the entire town, so shops and businesses board up their windows in preparation!
The game starts on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday at 2pm, when the ball is ‘turned up’ from a stone plinth on Shaw Croft car park in Ashbourne town centre.
Please see the Visit Peak District & Derbyshire website for more information. Ashbourne does not have a station but is accessible by bus from Derby station.