Eton Priest ( English Eton wall game ) - a traditional ball game, held at Eton College , is similar to rugby and football .
| Eton Priest | |
|---|---|
 The fight for the ball in Eton's wall, Prince Harry also took part in this match | |
| Characteristic | |
| Category | ball games |
| Practicing in the world | about 200 |
| Athletes in a team | ten |
| Inventory | ball |
The game is played on an area 5 meters wide and 110 meters long near a slightly curved wall built in 1717 . The official match is held once a year on St. Andrew’s Day on November 30th . On this day, the game is held between two traditional Eton student groups - "Collegers" and "Oppidans". The Collegers group includes 70 royal students who receive a royal scholarship. The number 70 is due to the traditional number of students since the founding of the college in the time of Henry VI . In the various lists of the college, members of the group “Collegers” have a prefix to the name “KS” ( English King's Scholar ) and live separately from the “Oppidans” in the old college premises. “Collegers” is a more privileged group of students, it has always had a number of advantages over “Oppidans”, however, over time, the differences are narrowing and now have a more traditional, rather than social character. In the group "Oppidans" are all the other students of Eaton, that is, about 1,200 people. Some students who are not members of the Collegers group also receive a scholarship. In college lists, they have a prefix to the name "OS" ( eng. Oppidan's Scholar )). By tradition, the Collegers are the guardians of the wall, near which the game is played, and also have the right to play all 5 years of study, unlike the Oppidans, who have access to the game only in the last year of study. In practice, the “Oppidans” group is allowed to use the playground when they wish.
Content
Rules
At the time of the game, a judge is appointed to resolve disputed issues, the judge is prohibited from directly interfering with the game, except in cases of dangerous play or injury to players. The game consists of two periods of 30 minutes. Two teams of 10 people are usually involved in the game, one substitution is allowed when a player is injured; tactical replacements are not allowed. The rules of the game allow non-hazardous power techniques such as hand and body shoving; punches are prohibited. The punishment for breaking the rules is moving the team against which the rules are broken, a few yards closer to the goal.
None of the teams' players has the right to touch the ball with a part of the arm below the elbow, with the exception of the chalk zone while touching.
According to the rules of the game, teams must move the ball along the wall to the opponent’s area, called “ chalk ” ( eng. Calx ), in the opponent’s area one of the attacking team’s players must kick the ball along the wall, the other players of the team must touch the ball and say ! ”( English. Got it! ). This action is not considered a goal and roughly corresponds to the rugby “attempt”. For this action, the team is given one point, and it gets the right to break the ball for a special purpose, serving as a kind of gate: at one end of the wall is the door to the garden, in the other you need to get between the trees. In case of a hit, the team earns another 9 points. If the goal is scored from the game, the team gets 5 points.
Game Progress
The process of getting the ball to the team and moving it along the wall is very difficult and takes place in the framework of a tough fight. According to the common tactics of the game, the ball is pressed against the wall, the team is grouped near it and moves along with it along the wall, often getting abrasions about it. Another tactic is the formation of one of the teams of the phalanxes along the wall with the creation of a kind of "tunnel" of squatting players, with the result that the ball is pushed through the attacker's knees.
Goals in the Eton sidewalk are rare and occur about once every ten years; As a rule, matches end with a score of 0: 0. The last time in the official match on St. Andrew's Day, the goal was scored on November 30, 1909 ; In an unofficial match, the last time a goal was scored in October 2005 .
Players
Such famous people as Eric Blair , Harold Macmillan , Prince Harry [1] , as well as many other British people who later became famous people, played Etona as students during the stay.
The Eton Priest is a fairly well-known game in the UK, and after constant participation in the game while training at Eton, Prince Harry gained even more popularity thanks to the press. But despite this, no more than 200 Eaton students participate in the game on an ongoing basis.
The Eton Priest is a traditionally male game, but occasionally there are matches between women's teams.
Spectators, as a rule, watch the game, sitting on the wall, near which the game is played.