While the new Macclesfield FC documentary may've stole the sporting headlines at the weekend, a local tug-of-war team also made our town proud.

Bosley Tug of War Club took part at the AAA Indoor Tug of War Championships in Bakewell at the weekend – with competitions taking place on special tug of war matting. 

The male team made the 24-mile trip to the Derbyshire town to compete with teams from all over the country.

Bosley are competing on the winter indoor tug of war circuit with a squad of over 20 pullers after having a successful indoor tug of war season pre-pandemic where the team won national and AAA titles. 

The AAA Championships are held in two weight classes – catchweight (where there is no weight limit) and 640 kilos.

The AAA Championships is one of the oldest tug of war competitions in the country, with the first outdoor competitions taking place in 1910 and the first indoor championship taking place in 1978.

At this year's AAA Indoor Championships, Bosley competed in both weight categories finishing fourth in the catchweight competition.

However, the club fared better in the 640kg competition where Bosley reached the final where they met Uppertown from Derbyshire, who had earlier won the catchweight competition.

In a tough match, Bosley came away as 2 ends to 0 winners to win the gold medal, and prevent Uppertown from doing the double.

The original AAA Championships were organised by the Amateur Athletic Association before the Tug of War Association was founded in 1958. 

The club itself predates the championships, having been started just after the Second World War.

In 1978, the first AAA indoor championships took place with Bosley winning both weights at that time, and hadn't won this indoor championship again until 2019, and this year's gold medal meant that the club has retained a AAA indoor gold medal for the first time.

The event was not held in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, so the holders could stretch their success to a fourth year of retaining the gold in 2022.

The sport, which has attained global interest being featured in an episode of the hit Netflix show Squid Game, has been played competitively by the Macclesfield parish since 1947.

Tug of war training takes place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 8, currently at Platt's Limited in Sandbach.

There are men, ladies, juniors and young farmer teams.

One of Bosley's most famous records in the AAA tug of war championships was a 20 year unbeaten run on the outdoor AAA championships at catchweight. 

The club are delighted with their latest success.

"This was a great result for our club" commented Bosley spokesman Alan Knott.

"We have recruited a number of new members this year, including women, and the indoor circuit enables us to keep all of our team members fit read for next years outdoor tug of war season."

"We didn't really know what to expect going into this years indoor tug of war season, given that there has been a two year break from competition during the pandemic, so to come away with a gold at the AAA championships is a great achievement."

"In just under four weeks time we will be taking part in the Tug of War Association National Indoor Tug of War Championships, which will be another step up in competition and we look forward to seeing what we can achieve there."

"We are always looking for new members to join our club – as the sport is held in weight categories, the more members we have, the more competitions we can enter, so if anyone is interested in joining our club, then feel free to make contact with us†

Macclesfield: You can find out more about Bosley Tug of War Club and send them a message to join their team via Facebook, Instagram and [L]https://twitter.com/Bosleytugofwar[L+]Twitter.

Alternatively, you can contact Alan Knott on 07976 591222.

See also: AFC Liverpool sends up Macclesfield FC in documentary parody poster.

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