TRADITION IN PAIN?!?! Americans React To "Atherstone - Is This Britain's Most Violent Game?"
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- čas přidán 22. 06. 2021
- #Atherstone #AtherstoneBallgame #AmericansReact
Original Video: • Is This Britain’s Most...
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Duke of Wellington said about his people the poor ........... I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but by God, they frighten me
He was talking about his soldiers.
@@Codex7777 yes he was taking about the underclass in his ranks the poor
Thank you! That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while 🤣 Cheers from Sweden 🇸🇪
Actually what the Duke of Wellington's comments were about the Enniskillen Fusiliers a British Regiment that are from Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. My late mum came from Northern Ireland and I have been to Northern Ireland many times for holidays and also to meet my Northern Irish relatives. I have been to Enniskillen and what the Duke of Wellington said about their Regiment is held with pride from the people of Enniskillen. 💂♂️💂♂️💂♂️💂♂️🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴🏴🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪💙💛🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
The US does have its own version of this. Its called Black Friday.
😂😂
We brits have a day called black eye Friday and it has nothing to do with shopping and everything to do with drinking
@@jlen1185 It's called Mad Friday in North Yorks, Last working mans Friday before Christmas.
That one night probably made up 25% of the fights in one year lol.
@@jlen1185 What a strange game, the only winning move..is to get drunk first..*I LIKE IT!*
They kick the shit out of each other, get patched up at the hospital (for free) then go to the pub and drink with the people they have just battled with. A bit like rugby really.
This just makes me feel so Proud to be British.
This makes me proud to be English
Me too we are mad and I love it ❤
I was born and bred in Atherstone and been going to the ball game for around 60 years.
Too old now, but the son still competes. Cracking day, and a lot of scores are settled on the day 😚😚😚
Seen a lot of changes over the years like making the ‘pitch’ shorter. I remember one year the ball got kicked into Woolworths store
which was a bit scary as a load of coal miners charged in after it.
Sorry for this wierd reply mate but i couldn't resist. You'll probably know my dad then? Bill Simpson?
@@joshuaperry7199 yeah he's homer's cousin I think
@@samuelpinder1215 - Lol, great one.
no killing?!?!? bloody health and safety!
Gone mad!!
This is my home village, and I never thought there would be 2 americans finding out about it and reacting to it. Just as rough as the video makes out, if not more. All authorities want it banned but the locals will never let them
Up the Adders!
Imagine the meeting at the council when the " concerned citizens " of Atherstone turn up " for a chat " with their representative... who would dare vote to ban it with all these voters staring at them. Democracy in action!
I'm also from Atherstone... it's not worth the injuries getting involved in this blood sport
@@samthemadman5000 fun to watch though, eh?
@@rorz999 errrrr not particularly, I'd rather watch a football match or get tickets for boxing
Oh boys, your faces when the "no killing" rule came up! absolutely priceless 😂😂
Hey; it's us the eccentric British. Bog Snorkelling anyone?
tar barrel rolling.
I am cheese rolling again next year.
I’m a Tour Guide in the city of York. Love meeting American tourists, but they have some very strange ideas about English Culture. Good to see that there exists a least two Americans who no longer think our culture is centred around Tea, Crumpets and Shakespeare.
During the 18th Century, visitors to the UK would remark on many aspects of British culture, but a recurring theme was the amount of fighting that went on in towns and cities - with London being particularly commented on as the capital, but there were similar trends in other parts of the country. Basically, it was very very common for disputes to devolve into physical fights - usually with a crowd gathered round. Men and women both - there are accounts of women fist fighting over disagreements too.
The American version involves Body Armour and Crash Helmets, the British version has a rule Not to Kill. Don't say any more. LOL
But..Accidents can happen....
It’s very much like American Football, except for men.
Us brits ain't as posh as everyone makes out brothers 🤣
We have “the scum of the earth” for the rank and file, and the posh ones for the officer class!
as the Americans may say 'word'.
Guys I honestly think that 'Purge' comment is spot on. The Game gives the populous a chance to let off steam in a fairly 'controlled' manner. Well done. 😊 👍
I kept thinking Purge all the way through so was glad when Daniel mentioned that towards the end
You could never have this in America because of your healthcare system lol
Existed well before the UK's health system so no excuse
"Are they crazy?"
"No, they are just British."
"O, that makes sense."
Maaaaannnnn.......i've seen gravestones that are older than america🤣
Shin Kicking is another one of those olde worlde folk competitions. It is literally what you would expect, two competitors stand face to face with hands on each others shoulders, then proceed to take turns booting each other in the shins, straw is allowed to add some padding and the loser is the first one to say "sufficient" as this signifies they've had enough. Shin kicking still goes on today although not quite with the same level of footwear as was used historically, in the heyday of shin kicking the competitors would wear wooden clogs which would often have iron braces down the toe section, so you were basically getting hit in the shins with a crude axe!
Sufficient😁
We brits are unique and I am proud to be British
These old traditions must take place annually or they lose ‘tradition’ status and would become illegal. People all around Britain make them stay tradition and it’s amazing 🙌👍❤️
Yes between this and the cheese rolling competition
@@madyottoyotto3055 - One of the attempts to end cheese rolling was a threat to prosecute the cheesemaker if he sold them to the organisers - the locals just bought them from him instead and donated them privately.
Well. It was cancelled due to covid but is back on now so...that is not entirely true.
@@gavinhell4597 huh?
If they are studying concussion in the NFL? that should visit the UK on a Friday night when the pubs close.
Atherstone used to be known for having the most pubs per square mile in the whole country
I’ve been drinking there and it is a good night out
That’s how us brits roll. Nothing better than ‘organised’ violence! Another great watch along boys. 👍🏻
Check out the Sedgefield ball game which is also around 800 years old and is also played every Shrove Tuesday still. It's near to where I live and I've been to see it a few times. It's a great day out. The council wanted to oversee it at one point but the villagers wouldn't let it happen as they knew it would involve health and safety and bureaucracy. It starts at noon and at about 11:50 a stream of people suddenly emerge down the High Street. A village elder is chosen the night before to do the throw in. The ball is made each year, it's moved three times under the bull ring and then thrown in. The only place off limits is the church and there are usually two policemen at the church gate but they're only there for tradition.
I seen this and cheese rolling as completely normal until I seen you guys reaction to them. We are pretty hard-core in the uk.
Breeds character and ends with a Pint.
Try looking up the flaming tar barrels of Ottery St.Mary. Another bonkers English tradition. 😳
At school we used to have a game called murder ball. Two teams of equal size, one medicine ball, two goals. No rules. One year the masters played. Very, very bad choice, two were hospitalised, none left unmarked. Great fun!
we used to play murderball in the cubs & scouts - so i probably played my first game aged 8 or 9 - great fun.
we weren't allowed to wear shoes while playing , to minimise injuries 😎
7:48 ‘including the addition of the no killing rule’ - thats terrible! What’s next, wearing body armour and crash helmets? 😔we’re going soft….
Try watching the tradition of carrying upon your back of the burning tar barrels at Ottery St. Mary in Devon.
(There's even a special kids event where the little nippers get to carry their own mini burning tar barrels)
This is how football started. All other 6 versions come from this.
Particularly Rugby, nothing to do with some toff running with a ball
As I said, all of the other 6 versions of football originated from mob ball.
The town of rugby is less than 30 miles away aswelll lol
I've played it. I got a broken wrist and nose, but it was still the best thing I've ever played
I love that you were so entertained by the "No killing" rule. We wouldn't want things to get out of hand, now would we...? 🤣
Gotta love us Brits and our crazy games.
Royal Shrovetide Football is believed to have been played in Ashbourne since 1667. This game still happens every year in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. The event happens on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.
Tar barrels would be a good reaction!! Completely bonkers! Fill a barrel with tar, light it and run through the crowds in Ottery St Mary!!
I'm a local and the ball game is a lot of fun. Long may it continue. Love your commentary.
When I was younger we use to love playing British Bull Dog .Look it up
Used to play in school dinner time 👍
Oh yes,always to finish the Scout meeting.Also played Murderball.Get the ball back to your base played by four teams,patrols,but no actual murder
@Bruce I’m in South London. Being on the large side they always left me until last.
Police are there to enforce the law immediately after the end whistle. People participate knowing that violence is used between 15:00 - 17:00. Any punches etc thrown after that whistle are no longer consensual and are prosecuted.
We have the world nettle eating championships as well. Simple rules, eat as many stinging nettles as you can.
This is no different from any UK town centre on a Saturday night. The pubs close and it all kicks off. Swap the ball for a pretty woman and watch the violence commence
Ain’t that the truth. And she doesn’t have to be that pretty if you’ve got your beer Goggles on…… doesn’t matter if it’s too cold, either, if you’ve remembered to bring your beer overcoat before the beer taxi takes you home. No one has ever seen the beer taxi, although it must exist, as I’ve woken up at home despite my last conscious thought being taken the night before in a pub 15 miles away. I don’t know how they do it, but they get you home and then steal all your memories of the journey (plus all your ready cash). I think it must be something like the technology they used in the ‘Men in Black’ films - it’s not perfect though- it leaves you with a splitting headache.
😬
When ever I watch people react to what ‘sports’ we do, I just think there’s a reason we had the biggest empire. It’s an island that’s been invaded and settled so many times it’s just full of nutters at this point.
Spencer your Mic wasn't on or turned up enough. This game is very much like Black Friday in your country. 🤣
Flaming Tar Barrels of Ottery St. now this an English mad sport.
I was literally just about to say that. I went for the first time 2 years ago. It's really odd why they do it and very bizarre. You can feel the heat from those barrels from 50 feet away and they're running it through the town. Mad!!!
@@atiminthailand4531 i agree these guys will not believe we can go one step further than Atherton! lol
Love the Tar barrels!
Kirkwall in Orkney has the Uppies (Up the Gates) and the Doonies(Down the Gates) ba game as well. Think it is linked to Vikings.
Is that the one where the men walk around the town swinging wicker balls, on fire, around their heads? Ive always wanted to see it.
@@historiesforgottenheroes5938 that is Up Helly Aa in Shetland. You find the history of it on Google.
I live near the town of Chester le Street which dates back to Roman times. Theres a plaque on the high Street which remembers the Shrove Tuesday football match played in the high Street which is on a steep hill! It was described as a battle & in 1932 the Police banned it!
We have the Sedgefield ball game unarl kidda, been a few times, PVLs eh, (pit village lads), Chilton and Windlestone.
Ashbourne still play
Try banger racing, van bangers, caravan bangers, ramp roll overs. The drivers are a special breed !
Haha this don't get all the bad blood out mate there's punch ups every Friday and Saturday nights all over the UK mate we don't let things build up here fights happen over nothing 😅😅
Shit like this is why I am always a bit baffled by the reputation we have for genteel politeness
Cricket
@@rosekay5031? Cricket is one of the most brutal sport out there. Genteel comes from the upper classes like downtown Abbey and such.
@@dib000 I know, it’s worse than union
you should check out the field gun race.. one of the craziest races i have seen
The shin kicking tournament is pretty funny to watch. Got to love these traditional sports
Hilarious watching your reactions to our crazy antics 🤣
Pretty much every pastime in GB is a preparation for resistance to pain and the pursuance of war, with a pinch of humour thrown in. Great to see you enjoying the culture. Have you seen any of the Lewes Bonfire Night videos?, an annual night of anarchy, political incorrectness, noise and mayhem, celebrating the failed gunpowder plot of Guido Fawkes....amongst other things. Little taster video. czcams.com/video/iYtjhsVxFt4/video.html
Cliff bonfire lass 🙋🏽♀️
Lewis bonfire parades take fireworks night to a whole different level and are a Sussex institution. We have burnt effigies of various word leaders including our own prime minsters and many American presidents including Trump over the years 🔥🔥🔥
@@berrycreative7196 thankyou, you say it so much better than me, thanks for all the efforts you make.
1973 , I have just gone to a new secondary school in Manchester.
School puts on a bonfire for the kids and parents. When we got there a huge banner across the entrance that the teachers had put up.
“Guy fawkes was right !”.
No one complained !!😬
I'm from Atherstone and its all true what you're seeing
I know Slessor, he sits in the pub drinking for the first hour and half then goes out and gets himself on top of the ball when the klaxon goes. He’s won it a few times
The brits make a sport out of anything.
They play this at Ashbourne in Derbyshire too. In the middle ages "Football" (There was no standard set of rules) was so popular that the peasants stopped practising archery (a Marshall hobby that was popular for several hundred years) and this meant there were not enough skilled bowmen to go to war when required. So in came... The Archery Laws
The first English Archery Law was passed in 1252. In 1252 the 'Assize of Arms' ensured that all Englishmen were ordered, by law, that every man between the age of 15 to 60 years old should equip themselves with a bow and arrows.
The Plantagenet King Edward III took this further and decreed the Archery Law in 1363 which commanded the obligatory practice of archery on Sundays and holidays! The Archery Law "forbade, on pain of death, all sport that took up time better spent on war training especially archery practise".
King Henry I later proclaimed that an archer would be absolved of murder, if he killed a man during archery practise!
In 1542 another Act established that the minimum target distance for anyone over the age of 24 years was 220 yards.
So glad you found this. There are still a handful of these games played at Shrovetide across Britain. This is where all forms of football came from. Interestingly, football was banned by many kings, Edward III being first to do so. He wanted men to only practice archery to prepare for war, but he allowed football at Shrovetide. A whole load of other sports were banned alongside it and they pretty much all died out - not football though. People just carried on. Many kings after Ed3 tried to ban it but it didn’t have any effect.
Absolutely loved your reaction , I laughed my ass off . 🇬🇧
Murder Ball was a common game in most schools when I grew up. Played with a Medicine ball(Large and very heavy) and the only rule being no kicking or punching players. I was 10 when I first played. It was how most Rugby coaches chose their players for school teams.
Great video guys!
Another bizarre game that also features people from Leicestershire, is the “Halliton bottle kicking contest”. Quite similar to this one but instead of a ball, they use a beer keg. Also features a Hare pie, which is never a bad thing.
Enjoy!
CALICO STORICO IN FLORENCE ITALY.. 50min game 27aside MMA meets football.. ✌☘☘☘
Now this is a proper game
British bulldog next.
We like to fight, it's what we do best lol.
There is another 'game' apart from 'Black Friday' (which we also have) but the other game is just as brutal and is called The January Sales. People even camp out for this event.
My home county. Leicestershire. Atherstone isn't far from me and I've been thrice. It can be rough, even as a 6'2" 14.5st ex rugby player.
Our sports typically originate from fighting.
We got together to fight, and on occasion a sporting event would break out, then we go drink together. And who knows, we might get another chance to fight.
Makes you proud to be British. !!!!
🏴 🇬🇧 and people wonder how we ruled ¾ of the world - this is how we play a game imagine how we fight a war.
We went to the fight and a football match broke out!! is in old adage in the UK
Welcome to the only lawful version of the PURGE
I LOVE THE UK
Any one as a kid play a game what we called POLO , the game was one person would be on and the others would have a letter from a word youse have picked , the person who was on would have to catch the people who had a letter and beat sh*t out off them until they gave up their letter ???? I use to loved this game… bruises all down your arms and legs from all the punches and slide tackles
There's a good Italian game that's also very violent called the Calcio Storico,try that one out. Great content thanks. 👍
Italian version eh mate lol 👍👍
Yeah Calcio Fiorentino, it's pretty brutal
Even as an Englishman, that quote "its the ball game, 'innit", made me laugh.
You could also look at “calcio fiorentino”, an early form of football from Florence.
Saw it , brutal but good to watch.
There is an interesting thing that we tend to have dangerous sports, pastimes, traditions and hobbies and for several thousand years we have spent a fair amount of time at war, which we are fairly good at; the knock on is that we have a fairly peaceful society and people can walkaround in the middle of the night without fear.
Other societies have made safety into a legal requirement but they have internal violence and fear.
Never played yet,me and my brothers will be taking part 2023 after contesting for the cheese this year 2022
Fun fact most of your constitution was written in 1255
(the magna carta)
When you written your constitution you more or less copied the current version Magna carta for that time from the UK and to simplify added a bit about owning guns ect
But most of the key points that wasn't added by the USA are the foundations of the original Magna Carta
which was originally not too legal as it was signed under duress however it was later ratified with no coercion or lack of choice otherwise human rights worldwide would look alot different today
Its also the foundation of land and object ownership
Our history is your history - you speak English for a reason ;-)
Iiiii shooooot theeee sheriff, but I did not do slaveryyyyyy
@@octopus8420 Really? Oh I think you did you naughty troll ;-) So pleased we stopped that slave trade. Not happy about North Africa's slaving of us white Brits however, especially on Sundays when so many were in church enabling easier picking from our villages. Hence forth, the song Rule Britannia was born, as a backlash against the African slave pirates.
11:46 Can we just take note that some guy won a mass brawl 4 times? If there is one dude whose pint you better not spill...
He spends 90% of the game in the pub, at 1 minute to the claxon, he makes his move. Brains then bruan.
A good simple fight is a great release 😊
Lol I think as we get older we find interest in sports we can still participate in at our age and curling is one of just a few left we can do lmao. I think it's awesome you guys across the pond find our crazy extreme sports entertaining because that's exactly what they are, fun and exciting. Please do more! Take care guys. Great vid
Americans: Why don't British police have guns ?
Brits: They don't need guns, they have their truncheons.
Raised in atherstone and see this every year I love it tradition at its best
We learnt at school about these medieval precursors to football for want of a better word haha, being played out between villages etc. Was completely unaware that they carried this on anywhere to this day though! 👏👏
I was in a pub last weekend that's older than America. It opened in 1630 apparently :)
As other commenters have pointed out, a few other small British towns have similar games. The event takes place on Shrove Tuesday ( the day before Lent) (Mardi Gras).
nice one chaps...(yeh,ive seen the other one...good call)....Ottery St Mary Tar Barrels next then :)
Aw bro devastated your mic wasn't on!!!
We could still hear you only just so don't worry haha
We are British and we fight for fun
Nearly all of Europe has similar games. One of Cornwall's National Sports called Cornish Hurling is exactly the same but not so violent. Us Cornish had the saying Gwary wheg yu Gwary Teg, meaning fair play is good play. We play hard but fair these days. However in one Game between Camborne and Redruth in 1705 one of the Camborne players died, a Man named William Trevarthen. There were two types Town and Country and Hurl to Goal. Town and Country is still played every year in St Columb. We play with a Ball made of Applewood covered in Silver. It was once played all over Cornwall and we are trying to revive hurl to Goal
Our local war castle or whatever you want to call it is believed to be built in the 700s. But nobody actually knows when it was built. Some say 700s and updated and so on. But it can be from 300bc and destroyed and rebuilt and on and on.
there are more of these mass ball games around Britain one of which is "uppies and downies", played in the northwest town of Workington. it's played over a mile or so "pitch" from the upper end of town to the down end of town with a small hard leather ball. much more of a battle than the brawl of the Atherstone game
Jonny slesser is my dads best mate lol called him uncle at one point
AND NOBODY GETS SUED!!!
This looks a lot like the West Cumbrian "game" called Uppies and Downies which doesn't have a time limit and has 3 "matches" played over Easter
Remember guys, you _are_ us and _we_ are you. That war in 1776 was mostly fought by the people that had left Britain to escape the control and taxes of the British government.
By the time the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, slavery had already been outlawed in Britain for 673 years.
Actually people went for a whole variety of reasons, mostly for the prospect of owning land and the 'potential' of a more prosperous existence. A lot also went for religious reasons. Especially in the early years. Taxes, for most people in Britain, were either non-existent or pretty low. Most taxes were temporary, usually levied in times of war. Don't forget, there was no welfare state, no public education, no public healthcare, no public transport, no public police force or fire service etc. Things like income tax, VAT (sales tax), corporation tax etc just didn't exist. As for 'control', don't forget that, for the time, Britain was probably the freest country in the World. If we forget the Cromwell decade, that is. Though, ironically, most of the puritan pilgrims that went to America, would have loved the severe control that existed in Cromwell's 'Commonwealth'. :)
The original purge! Lol
I have never been more proud of my people
The UK is home to all sorts of weird and wonderful " sports. There's the wife carrying obstacle race, the toe wrestling contest. The cheese rolling, Even in the far reaches of Orkney in the shetlands a life sized stuffed effigy is wrestled, kicked, pulled from one end of town to the other and every one takes part. Not forgetting the must watch shin kicking contest, contestants stuff their trousers with straw and one on one try to kick the shims of their opponent, there are even a referee's known as sticklers. Each one as quirky as Britain gets, often 100s of years old from the mists of time in some cases. They are enthusiastically celebrated on an annual basis and long may they continue.
I live a couple of miles from here and worked in the town. It's a crazy day 😂
Loved that reaction