One of Northumberland's most bizarre traditions is set to return to the streets after a two-year hiatus due to coronavirus.
The much-loved annual Shorvetide Football match in Alnwick has taken place between the rival parishes of St Michael and St Paul for hundreds of years.
However, the tradition has been cancelled by organisers in both of the last two years due to fears over the spread of Covid-19.
Read more: Go here for more Northumberland news and updates from Northumberland Live
Thankfully, the event - known as Scoring the Hales - will return this year on March 1 from 2pm to 5pm.
A spokesman for the organising committee said: "After sadly missing last year we hope to have a bumper crowd this year either playing or cheering on your side."
According to historians at Alnwick's Bailiffgate museum, Shrovetide ball games have been played in England since at least the 12th century and Alnwick is one of five such events which still take place in the country on Shrove Tuesday.
The match has been played in the pastures since 1828, when it was moved out of the town centre due to concern about "damage and mayhem" in the streets.
Played with "enthusiasm, vigour and few rules", the Alnwick game has no set time or marked pitch but instead ends when one of the teams scores two ‘Hales’, hence the game's alternate name, 'scoring the hales'. The action is started when the ball is hurled down to the players from the walls of Alnwick Castle.
At the end of the game, the ball is thrown into the freezing waters of the Aln and hardy players leap in to claim the match ball by getting it to the far bank.
Also set to return is a similar tradition in Sedgefield, County Durham - although it is said the Shrove Tuesday ball game there dates back 900 years!
As reported by Teesside Live, the practice brings a touch of madness to the usually tranquil town and is celebrated on Shrove Tuesday every year.
The game will kick off at 1pm tomorrow, Tuesday March 1, when a leather ball is passed three times through a bull ring in the centre of Sedgefield.
Participants are largely groups of young men intent on claiming possession of the little ball and the rules, such as they are, dictate the ball must be passed back through the same ring three times before sundown.
Much like the Alnwick event, the Sedgefield ball game was cancelled last year due to coronavirus.
For the latest local news in your area direct to your inbox every day, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
