Sedgefield Ball Game

The Sedgefield Ball Game is a mob football game played every Shrove Tuesday across the town of Sedgefield in County Durham, England.

According to tradition, the parish clerk is obliged to furnish a football on Shrove Tuesday, which he throws into the market place, where it is contested for by the mechanics against the agriculturists of the town and neighbourhood. More recently, however, it is a secret group of local residents who organise the game, provide the ball and choose who will start the game off.

Gameplay

At 1.00 p.m, the game's leather ball is passed three times through a bull ring in the centre of the village. The object of the game used to be to "ally" the ball at two goals at either end of the village. However the ball can not be allied until 4.00 p.m.. due to the expansion of the village it now has only one "ally", which has been slightly moved from its original setting. The ally is a beck at the south of the village. Until 4pm the ball is played around the surrounding villages, and it is a great privilege to get even a kick, as it can get quite physical. The first person to get the ball to any of the local pubs by tradition receives a free drink.

Once the ball has been allied it must be returned to the bull ring in the centre of the village and passed through it three times. The whole task is quite difficult as this is an individual and not a team game.

Winners

A plaque displaying winners can be found in The Golden Lion pub.

YearWinner
2010L. Archer
2011J. Saunders Jnr
2012Martin Lower[1]
2013Stephen Flockett[2]
2014Joe-Louis Fanelli[3]
2015James Archer[4]
2016Daz Clemmet[5]
2017Thomas Adcock[6]
2018Joe Saunders[7]
2019Michael Adcock[8]
2020Paul Johnson[9]
2022Adam Dovaston[10]

The game was cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

See also

References
  1. "Delivery driver wins annual Sedgefield ball game". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  2. "Hundreds join in the fun at the Sedgefield Shrove Tuesday Ball Game". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  3. Lines, Chris. "Winner of the 2014 Sedgefield Ball Game". Twitter. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  4. Anderson, Lizzie. "Shrove Tuesday doesn't only mean pancakes for people of Sedgefield". The Northern Echo.
  5. "Sedgefield Shrove Tuesday Ball Game".
  6. MacFarlane, Katie. "Testosterone aplenty as Shrove Tuesday Ball Game proves hit for town". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  7. McDermott, Paige. "33 Pictures: Sedgefield Ball Game 2018". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  8. "2019 Ball Game - match report" (PDF). SEDGEFIELD NEWS. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  9. Lines, Chris. "Congratulations to Paul Johnson, winner of the 2020 #Sedgefield Ball Game - a deserving and popular victor. Look what it means to Paul! #PancakeDay #shrovetuesday". Twitter. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  10. "Sedgefield ball game winner gains bragging rights after battling his way to victory". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 4 March 2022./
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