ABOUT THE CONKER CUP
The Conker Cup is the premier annual invitational competition and online home of competitive nut sports.
Held once a year, the competition brings together a small group of invited players to compete for the Conker Cup and the unofficial title of the world’s most formidable conker combatant. It is fiercely contested, occasionally controversial, and taken far more seriously than anyone outside the sport would consider reasonable.
Alongside the competition itself, this website exists as a home for the wider world of conkers. Here you’ll find the rules of the game, training techniques, the occasional piece of questionable nut technology, and stories from the strange and surprisingly deep culture surrounding one of Britain’s most traditional sports.
The Conker Cup began life as a small family competition. Over time, however, interest grew and participation expanded beyond its original setting. As the competition grew in size and intensity, the organisers eventually introduced an invitational format to keep the event competitive, manageable, and suitably prestigious.
Keen to support the wider growth of the sport, the Conker Cup has since dedicated much of its time and energy to encouraging grassroots nut sports, supporting local competitions and developing the culture around the game.
Over the years this has led to the creation of conker leagues, traditions, governing bodies, and even a podcast dedicated to the finer points of conker strategy. For reasons that remain unclear, it has also attracted attention from national and international media, including The Times and The Wall Street Journal.
The competition itself remains strictly invitational. There are no qualifying rounds, no ranking points, and no formal pathway to entry. Invitations are extended at the discretion of the organisers and, occasionally, through acts of diplomacy or persuasion.
The Conker Cup website now serves as the digital home of the sport — a place to document the rules, the players, and the evolving mythology of competitive conkers.
CONKER CUP BOARD
The Conker Cup is overseen by a small but dedicated board responsible for safeguarding the traditions, governance and future development of competitive nut sports.
James Atkins — Founder
James founded the Conker Cup after spending an unreasonable amount of time thinking about the finer points of competitive conkers. What began as an annual family competition gradually evolved into the Conker Cup — an invitational tournament dedicated to preserving and celebrating the traditional game of conkers. Despite these advantages, he has only won the Conker Cup once.
Chad Slammer — Non-Executive Director
Known widely as the Bad Boy of Conkers, Chad Slammer is a renegade of the sport and one of the pioneers of the street conkers movement. With a large social media following and a reputation for pushing the boundaries of traditional play, Chad brings a modern edge to the board and plays a key role in introducing competitive nut sports to a new generation of players.
Colin Bucket — Non-Executive Director
Colin Bucket is an enthusiastic botanist and passionate defender of the humble horse chestnut tree. His work focuses on promoting the natural heritage behind the sport and ensuring that the game of conkers remains closely connected to the landscapes and traditions from which it emerged. Colin advises the board on environmental stewardship, tree preservation and responsible nut sourcing.
