YARDBALL

 Meet Ollie and Scott. The mad men behind Yard Ball. 

Imagine if you were given a warehouse when you were 10, and were told to turn it into a football paradise that you and all your mates could just while away the hours in. That picture in your head right now, probably isn’t too far off what these lads have concocted on the outskirts of the steel city.

Both Sheffield born and bred, they’ve not cut any corners in recreating the places and spaces that spawned their love of the beautiful game. As their slogan says, it’s “a place to love the game again”. People of a certain age remember all too well when anywhere and everywhere was a pitch. It’s a cliche, the old rolled up socks and jumpers for goalposts, but it is true that they are the stadiums that some of our fondest memories in football are born from. 

The attention to detail with which Ollie and Scott have gone to cannot be underestimated. There’s of course the big statement pieces. The old flats to which you’ve got to chip the ball into the front room, or the reconstructed garage block which was a fixture for so many. But it’s the little things that keep your eye wandering in between trying to curl one into the top corner. The names graffitied onto the pipes and cables that run throughout. A Maradona Boca mural here, a Zizou Match Attax sticker there. The old yellow grit bins that keep the balls in for each challenge. We could write a thousand captions trying to list off every little thing we noticed.  We could also fanboy all day. So we’ll leave it to the chaps to sum up the sentiment behind Yard Ball themselves.

“And when you visit, and if you happen to ping it through the door window, or into the car boot, or unexpectedly place it straight in the bin by the bus stop. You’ll get that magic little moment again, and maybe even share it with the younger version of yourself.”

If you’re in or around Sheffield, we urge you to go along and check it out. And even if you’re not, we couldn’t think of many better excuses to use a tank of petrol.