Woodchurch Goal Running Club banner. Believed hand-made by village residents during the first World War period.
What was Goal Running?
‘Goal Running’ was a summer game or sport, and the only area in the country it was played was in the eastern half of Kent. It was around in the late 1600’s and seems to have died out in the 1950’s.
The sport was a team game of two equally numbered sides, often around 20 each, normally all men but occasionally there were ladies or ‘maids’ teams. It was played on any suitable field, and in later years local football pitches proved ideal venues.
Always played in bare feet, it was basically a form of team tag, but with many tactics to fool the opposition. The object was to score a ‘stroke’ by touching a member of the other side, but this was more difficult than it seems as each team runner had a following covering team member to deter an opposing chaser.
Sometimes there were ‘point flags’ which if rounded by a team member scored points which were added to the score. Games could last from 40 minutes to over two hours, and it was not unknown for disputed strokes to end in a punch-up. No wonder the game needed up to six linesmen, two umpires and a referee.