It’s exactly one month to go until this year’s series of Uppies and Downies officially kicks off.
Workington’s mass no-rules football game will return this year at the town’s Cloffocks at 6.30pm on Good Friday April 3, Easter Tuesday April 7 and the following Saturday, April 11.
It’s a tradition that has a long and winding history in the town, where it has taken place for over 250 years.
Last year saw another whitewash as the Uppies clinched all three games, with the Good Friday and Easter Tuesday games being hailed by Shane Roe and Stefan Scott and the final Saturday ball by Dan Park.
The Uppies have won the last three years in a row, so the Downies have it all to play for this year.
For those not familiar with the game – It sees the town split into two teams, the Uppies, who traditionally have roots in the upper part of the town, and the Downies, who come from the lower end of town.
The games begin with a leather ball – made by Mark Rawlinson – being thrown off at the Cloffocks, where each team must then get the ball to its hailing point.
To do this, teams clash together in a rugby scrum-like formation that moves in a giant mass back and forth until the ball breaks free, giving players a chance to make a run for it.
The Uppies have to get the ball to Workington Hall while the Downies have to get it to the harbourside. The ball must then be hailed by being thrown three times into the air for the team to win.
Games can last anything from just one hour to all night.
To get you in the mood, watch our video of last year’s Tuesday game created by videographer Miles Edwards below:
If you fancy watching a game but you’d rather do it from the comfort of your own home – here at Cumbria Crack, we’ll be following the action and bringing you live updates and commentary as it happens for each of the games.
If you’ve got any old pictures, stories or tales to tell us about Uppies and Downies, we’d love to hear from you.
Please email us via [email protected]
You can also see our hall of fame of Uppies and Downies players here – if we’re missing a hailer you know, please let us know.
You can read more about the history of Uppies and Downies here too.
