Ronaldinho was following a venerable tradition when he broke a window in Santiago de Compostela’s cathedral while attempting a fancy kick for a TV spot. Bryan Griffiths tells us that back in 1330 the priest of Winkfield, William Pagula, wrote a Latin poem proposing an end to churchyard games:

Bat & bares and suche play
Out of chyrche-yarde put away.

No one took much notice, because it seems that a window at Boxgrove deanery was broken in 1622 during evensong. However, I don’t know of any instances of cricket or football matches having been played inside churches, choirlofts aside.

Categories: Ball-playing, God, the angels and the orders of the faithful, Splog

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1. martin
   March 4th 2004 22:23

   Blimey Trevor. You come up with some real weird shi*t. But please, do carry on. Pub signs with a cricketing and ecclesiastical theme have long been an interest of mine.

   I might book one of those minimal knee damage walks very soon.

   You have been warned!