Catching a glimpse of the 'football' would've been rare for one of the players but to keep occupied, a player would literally kick it out of his opposition. Far away from a modern 7.32m x 2.44m goalposts we see in the current Premier League. But the objective of the match was for one village to get the blown-up pig's bladder through the opposing gates of it's rival community.
So what was the 'game' like? The answer.carnage. The use of a pig's bladder for the ball being a particular source of interest. I only have to look back around 10 years to remember my year 5 teacher mentioning football in Tudor times and being struck dumb in awe that the game was played centuries before the formation of the Football Association 150 years ago in 1863.
The hit series and frankly hilarious children's show ' Horrible Histories' recently exemplified what a football match in Tudor times (1485-1603) would be like. Of course the writers had portrayed the sport in their usual eccentric way with the players coming up against bantering striker Jermain Defoe, who apparently plays for two teams 'Tott and Ham'.