If you’re a long term reader of Sick Chirpse, then you’ll know that we’re big fans of the quite frankly ridiculous Atherstone Ball Game that goes down every Pancake Cay in the small town of Atherstone in between Leicester and Birmingham.

Featured Image VIA

In case you’re unfamiliar with the rules of the game, every Shrove Tuesday the crowd descends upon Atherstone city centre before a ball is thrown out. Everyone then proceeds to beat the absolute crap out of each other in order to be in possession of the ball when the two hour time limit runs out.

Things start off sort of friendly, but it soon descends into absolute carnage with many local shops forced to board up their windows to prevent their storefronts getting smashed up as everyone desperately maims each other in order to have control of the ball at the end of the game. This footage from the last few minutes shows one team cramming into an alcove in front of a William Hill and desperately trying to fend off their attackers and protect the ball before the buzzer sounds.

Brutal end to Atherstone Ball Game 2023. The last half an hour of the Pancake Day tradition saw punches thrown & a betting shop damaged as teams battled to gain control of an oversized ball. pic.twitter.com/LPMtAUaA1f

— Urban Pictures (@Urban_Pictures) February 21, 2023

Wow that was awesome. Especially loved that guy at the end trying to climb down from a window above them and breaking the pipe? Where the hell did he come from?

Pretty good tactic by the winning team to get stuck in that little alcove though. If you’re hard enough – which that guy in the orange trousers definitely was – then there ain’t nobody getting in there and grabbing the ball.

Congratulations to this year’s winners Scott Wright, Lewis Cooper and Kieran Marshall. Can’t wait for next year.

For more of the same, check out some more carnage from the 2019 edition of the game. It’s always such a hoot.