A GROUP of Notts footballers have been involved in a five-a-side-football feud so strong that they have played out their grudge match over 1,000 times.
The men have been contesting a weekly Reds v Whites match for 25 years.
The game, which takes place at the John Carroll Leisure Centre, in Radford, started in 1988 and, despite participants coming and going, the regular fixture has remained.
Organiser and Reds captain Nick Clark, from Carlton, is the only one left of the original ten players, but many of the current participants have been around for a lot of that time.
"We're all getting a bit long in the tooth," he said. "But none of us want to give up.
"At 49 I'm the youngest on our team, but age has its advantages. If we miss a week, our children can come in and take our places."
Nick added: "When we first started it was a works thing – we all worked at the Notts Archives just off Canal Street and the opposition was made up of people we knew.
"It's intensely competitive. The older we've got, the more competitive it's got – it hasn't slowed down."
The group don't mind whether those replacements are boys or girls.
Reds player, Russ Bradley brought his daughter Sophie along – although she had to stop playing as she now represents England.
Nick's own daughter Hazel is also well-known in the women's game as the Notts County Ladies' goalkeeper.
"We had women in the game from the very start," Nick said. "Long before the ladies game was popular in this country the Reds were fielding Sheila Ferguson, whose support for Manchester United gave our team the shirt colour we still play in."
But how long can the veterans carry on?
Nick said: "We may be pushing it to do another 25, but I think there's a few years left in the old legs yet. We'll keep going for as long as we can."
Matt Pickles plays for the white team and has been involved in the game since 1995.
He said: "I got involved through mutual friends – it's a good balance between being competitive and having a good spirit."
Matt, who is originally from Sheffield but now lives in Sherwood, added: "It's not the same players. It's evolved over time, it's carried on because we're having a good time.
"It's a good way to start the weekend."
