Three-sided Football

All over the world people are getting together to play a game that seems quite baffling.

It's a version of football in which three sides take part at the same time on one pitch.

The invention of the Danish artist Asger Jorn, a member of the 1960's Situationist group, the game now has its own monthly league matches in London.

Ian McMillan is tempted to become a fan - but can he get his head round it?

Three-sided football was initially a metaphor for a better version of society. Nobody tried playing it for real until the 1990's. Now the game has given rise to the most philosophical, least corporate football league in the UK - and it has staged its first World Cup.

In this action packed programme, Ian meets some of Britain's best teams, including Philosophy Football FC, the Deptford Three-Sided Football Club , the Strategic Optimists FC, Aesthetico Athletico, the New Cross Irregulars and the London-based Polish side, Hussaria.

From a distance, Ian thinks it looks like a normal kickabout in the park. But when he gets closer and tries to work out what on earth is going on, he discovers a bewildering twist on the beautiful game.

Imagine a hexagonal pitch, with three goal-mouths, around which three teams of five players are not deliberately attempting to score, but trying to avoid conceding goals by forming temporary defensive alliances with one or other opposing team.

Producer: Bob Dickinson

A Pennine production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2016.

Ian McMillan presents the story of a baffling game with three sides and only three rules.