jonnygoldstein.com

Curious as to the origin of Shrove Tuesday (AKA Anglo Saxon Mardi Gras), I looked up the holiday in Wikipedia, and found along with other interesting facts, that it was celebrated with mob football. From the Wikipedia article:

Mob football is the name given to some varieties of Mediæval football, which emerged in Europe during the Middle Ages. Mob football distinguished itself from other codes by typically having an unlimited number of players and fairly vague rules. By some accounts, any means could be used to move the ball to a goal, as long as it did not lead to manslaughter or murder.