Players set for town's first 2026 mass football game
The traditional mass football game, which dates back hundreds of years, returns on Good Friday.
The 2026 series of Uppies and Downies starts on Good Friday [BBC] Players are all set to go head to head in a traditional mass football game with no rules. Hundreds are expected to turn out for the Good Friday game of Uppies and Downies in Workington, Cumbria, the first of three matches in the 2026 series. The game has been played for hundreds of years and sees people with roots in the upper side of the town, the Uppies, clash with those traditionally from families in the lower side - the Downies.
"It's all for bragging rights," explained Uppie Richard Hodgson. "It's one of the best things ever for me - it's my Christmas. " Last year, the Uppies managed to secure victory on all three games, meaning the Downies are expected to turn out in force.
"We absolutely tanked them," Hodgson said. Downie Pat Carr said the Uppies outnumber his team by about 10 to one, but this does not intimidate them. "They got lucky last year, they won't this year," Carr said.
Downie Pat Carr said the Uppies "got lucky" in last year's series [BBC] "I think it's the closest thing in this day and age to being a samurai - you go to war on that day," he joked. He said there is good camaraderie among players, even though the game is very physical. Carr said: "It's all good banter and we're all friends in the pub.