Ashbourne is a small picturesque market town in the Derbyshire Dales, England. It has a population of just over 7,000. Ashbourne is known for its annual two day Royal Shrovetide Football Match in which one half of the town plays the other at football, using the town as the pitch and with the goals three miles apart. As many as several thousand players compete for two days with a hand-painted, cork-filled ball. The game is played over two eight-hour periods, the goals are three miles apart and there are only a few rules. There are just two teams - the Up'ards and the Down'ards. Shrovetide football has been played for centuries and possibly for over 1,000 years. It is a moving brawl which continues through the roads of the town, across fields and even along the bed of the local river. There have been intermittent attempts to ban the game but it has been played here for hundreds of years and, fortunately, still continues.