The game has almost no rules and the boarded up streets soon become a battle ground. The two teams, one from the north side of town and the other from the south, try to muscle the ball to their respective goal marker. But these are 3 miles apart and a game can go on for 8 hours. Getting caught in the scrum or "hug" can be brute. Peter Rowbotham, Shrovetide Committee member and former player, "Beware anytime that it breaks or the hug turns, there’s danger because there's 100s of people running one way." Oliver Mathews, player, "It's sort of like a big squeeze, you can lose your breath sometimes and it's easy to trip up when you're treading on other people's feet and you're trying to push." No surprise that injuries are common.