Before the rise of modern team sports, handball was a fast and exciting folk sport played extensively throughout Wales. The game was a national obsession drawing huge crowds to watch and gamble upon thrilling matches between sporting heroes of the day.
Handball player and former miner Kevin Dicks tells the story of this sport from its origins in myth and folklore and the devil's game of the churchyard, through its glory years and its 20th century decline to its reboot in the present day. He questions the origins of grammar school fives and shatters the myth of an Irish origin to the last remaining Welsh ball court at Nelson.
A refreshing look at a sport devoid of modern commercialism, this is a lively story full of colourful characters, and is a revealing glimpse into social history and the passions of the working man, as well as a fascinating insight into what can fairly be claimed as Wales' first national sport.
