Hundreds take part in charity real football match

A game of real football will take place in a Kent village on Good Friday to raise money for two charities.

The match, in Chiddingstone, will have 300 players on each side, all trying to score in goals 1.5 miles (2.4km) apart.

There are only two rules for the match - the ball has to stay within the boundary, which about 5 sq miles (13 sq km), and players can't use a motorised vehicle or a horse to carry the ball.

The match rules are inspired from a match which takes place in Derbyshire and has links back to the reign of King Henry II.

Nik Edser, the match's referee, says the game mainly regulates itself with so many players on either side, but he doesn't have VAR to assist him.

He said: "Every year, there's about 10 miles of running involved during the game, backwards and forwards.

"There hasn't actually been a goal for three years, so we're hoping for one this year," he said.

"The game has grown a lot in the last few years - we had 500 players last year and now 600 this year.

"The game sells out when the shirts sell out but I think it could continue to grow - if we had 1,000 shirts, I think it would sell out."

The game has been adapted from the version that takes place in Derbyshire between two pubs in the village.

In the build up to the match, Edser says people get "very territorial" about their pubs and it becomes a "very tribal" event, but he is "stuck in the middle".

It started out by being a fundraiser so the village could get a new village hall, but was so popular that the game is now used to raise funds for local charities - the Hospice in the Weald and the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Air Ambulance Service.

Matt Weston, who won two gold medals in the skeleton at the 2026 Winter Olympics for Team GB, will be the official starter for the match.

Edser added: "He's a local boy, before the Winter Olympics he was at Chiddingstone Castle.

"I sent him a message asking him to be the official starter and he agreed - but he definitely won't be playing."

To start the game, Weston will stand on the back of a pick-up truck and throw the ball into the crowds.

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