Looking forward to the 2026 series of Uppies and Downies?
The first game of traditional mass no rules football will start at the town’s Cloffocks on Friday April 3 at 6.30pm.
To get you in the spirit – last year, we asked videographer Miles Edwards, 23, of Egremont, to capture the Easter Tuesday game in its entirety.
Neither side budged an inch for around three-and-a-half hours during the game, but the ball was eventually hailed by Stefan Scott.
The recap video captures the whole game from start to finish – from both inside the scrum and outside of it – and it also captures the Uppies post-game joy in all its glory.
For those who don’t know, Uppies and Downies is a mass no-rules game of traditional football.
It’s one of around 25 traditional football games that are still played across Britain, the origins of which trace back to the 12th century.
Games that have been reported on can be traced back to 1775 and they are mostly played on holy days like Easter, Christmas, New Year’s Day or Shrove Tuesday.
Workington is thought to be the biggest town where the mass football game still goes ahead and it also plays the game more often than anywhere else in the UK.
Thousands of people play in the three games that take place over Easter on Good Friday, Easter Tuesday and Easter Saturday.
Read on here to find out more about the history of Uppies and Downies.
We’ll be bringing you all the action from this year’s games and doing live updates online from 6pm on Friday.
You can check out last year’s live blog below! Please wait a few minutes for it to load.
