Chester-le-Street Football
Chester-le-Street Football was a type of medieval football, where unlimited number of people can take part in the sport. It was played in the streets of Chester-le-Street town in England. The sport is now extinct and was played for the last time in 1932. It was played every year up until that point.
To play the sport, residents of the town were divided into two teams, the Upstreeters and the Downstreeters. The annual match conducted was between these two teams. Each team was allowed to have as many players as possible. There are records of matches in which 400 or more players have taken part. The match used to start at 1 PM, end at 6 PM. A ball thrown out of a building's window in the center of the town, signified the start of the match. The street at the center of the town was the dividing line. Each team tried to keep the ball within their side. At the end of the of the match, depending on where the ball was at that time, either up or down the street, the winner was decided.
With increased violence around it, the sport which was played for several centuries was outlawed in 1932.
Related Pages
- More about Medieval Football
- About Extinct and Ancient Sports
- List of Extinct Sports
- Football Decoder — what is called football around the world?
- List of unusual sports
- Complete list of sports
- About sport in the UK
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