The game ball is covered in blood as players take part in the Atherstone Ball Game in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Photo / Getty Images
The game ball is covered in blood as players take part in the Atherstone Ball Game in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Photo / Getty Images
Sometimes a casual kick of the footy in the park with 900 blokes just isn't enough to whet your competitive appetite and quiet bloodlust.
Enter the Atherstone Ball Game.
Combining all the best aspects of the UFC, volleyball and Gloucester's famous cheese wheel chase, the Atherstone Ball game is abrutal event pitting hundreds of Warwickshire locals against each other to fight over a ball for two hours.
The game honours a match played between Leicestershire and Warwickshire in 1199, when teams used a bag of gold as a ball. Photo / Getty Images
The game honours a match played between Leicestershire and Warwickshire in 1199, when teams used a bag of gold as a ball, and which was won by Warwickshire.
If only rugby union were as simple — and less congested.
Reports from The Mirror claimed a man's ear was "ripped off" in last week's match, which saw bulky British men throw punches, headbutts and trap each other headlocks.
Take a look at some of the craziest images from the recent Atherstone Ball game below.
This year's victor, 39-year-old Jonathan Slesser, says his triumph "means everything to me".
"This is the Ball Game, it is what we are here for," the four-time victor told UK Metro. "I am nothing without my team, I owe it all to them. I wasn't that confident in winning at the start, tactics are a spur of the moment thing. I think it is somebody else's turn to win it next year now."
The game ball is covered in blood as players take part in the Atherstone Ball Game in Atherstone, Warwickshire. Photo / Getty Images
While organisers denied anyone's ear was "ripped off", the amount of blood in one image is a clear indication that at least a few people left Long Street that afternoon with a bit less skin.
Reports from The Mirror claimed a man's ear was "ripped off" in last week's match, but officials deny the incident occurred. Photo / Getty Images
Players grapple with one another. Photo / Getty Images
Don't worry, we're thinking it too. This is possibly the greatest sport to ever grace planet Earth.
