For England's Ashbourne, Shrovetide football is 'in our blood'

ASHBOURNE, England : For two days every year, residents of the English market town of Ashbourne set aside friendships in favour of geographical rivalries and family ties to play Shrovetide football, a ferocious and chaotic game that's centuries old.

"For a lot of the people, it is the highlight of the town's year, there are some families who live and die for Shrovetide," said Ashbourne native Richard Bott, who played the game for decades until his mid-50s. "It's in your blood, I suppose."

Traditionally played on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday deep in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales, the Royal Shrovetide Football game sees hundreds of players compete to move the ball toward goal posts that are three miles (5 kilometres) apart.

The locals clamber over fences, through muddy fields and into the River Henmore. The game is more rugby than football, with a large, round leather ball thrown or pushed through a giant scrum, called the hug.

"The hug smells awful. Sweaty bodies and beer," Bott said. "And cigarettes it used to be. Not so many cigarettes now."

The town is split into two teams - the Up'Ards and Down'Ards. Most historians trace the Ashbourne game's origins back to the mid-1600s.

The town is the pitch, and the list of rules succinct. A longstanding rule? Murder and manslaughter are prohibited.

EVENT 'KEEPS PUB GOING THE WHOLE YEAR'

Most shops closed early on Tuesday before locals headed to two gathering points to share pre-game pints, in one of the best weeks for the pub industry.

"We'll take a lot more money, this week keeps the pub going probably for the whole year," Hayley Williams said from behind the bar of The White Swan.

Robyn Wright, supporting the Up'Ards, hollered from atop a picnic table: "This game is a