Sheffield junior grassroots football club could shut down as youths continue to wreck pitch on off-road bikes

Lack of action taken by authorities has seen a junior football club continue to suffer at the hands of off-road bikers riding onto the pitch during games.

In October last year, Earl Marshall Junior Football Club spoke to The Star about the need for fencing around their home ground at Arbourthorne Recreation Ground after children had been left “shaking and crying” during training as nuisance youths rode onto the pitch on bikes.

But six months on, despite meetings with MP Louise Haigh, and South Yorkshire Police stating it is working with Sheffield City Council to find a way to deter bikers, the problems have persisted.

Shaun Pask, manager of the grassroots junior football club, said: “We just can't continue like this. I can’t give the kids 110% because I’m always looking over my shoulder for a motorbike flying across the field.

“The MP and Sheffield council said they were going to sort something out temporarily, and nowt's been done, and that was months ago.

“The trouble is we had money saved up for next year’s fees, we’ve had to use it to pay for 3G [artificial] pitches for games because our pitch has been unplayable because of the bikes on it.

“We’re scraping the barrel now, we’ve got nowt left, so we don’t even know if we’re going to be here next year.

“Fencing around the perimeter of the field and a cabin to store equipment and we'd be happy as Larry. It’s not just for us, it’s for the whole community.”

Get the latest headlines, straight to your inbox, with The Star’s free emails

Shaun, aged 50, set up the Under 11 team in 2022, and later launched a community development school to encourage children aged between six and 12 to get outside, and to give their parents a way to meet each other. 

But he has now found himself spending his free time cleaning up the pitch, off Northern Avenue, and any plans to set up an Under 7 team have been scrapped until it is safe.

“My weekends, where I should be spending time with my grandkids, are spent picking dog poo up and glass bottles on the pitch, and making sure it’s safe for the kids to go on. All of this could be avoided if they put things in place," he said.

“It only takes one motorbike to cause an accident. The risk is always going to be high until it gets fenced off. We should be preventing anything from happening, not waiting till it happens.

“You just can't concentrate. Every two minutes you’re thinking is somebody going to come on with a bike. Sometimes they'll drive at the top of the field and they'll be revving it, trying to intimidate you. It's just like, why? Come and get involved. Park your bike up and come and help.”

Ms Haigh has said she is working closely with the police and council to secure the site and to tackle anti-social behaviour.

The police force said its county-wide off-road bike team in conjunction with patrols has seen “some good results” in tackling the number of off-road bikes in the area.

Inspector Katie Rowland-Wilson, of Sheffield South East Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We are constantly monitoring the situation and acting on community intelligence, but there have been no further reports of off-road bikes on those specific playing fields in Arbourthorne which are used as football pitches over the past two weeks.

"We are working with Sheffield council to look at ways we can redesign access with regards to how off-road bikes get into the playing fields, and local neighbourhood policing teams will continue to monitor the area this weekend.

"I would urge members of the community, however, to continue to report off-road bikes to us. We need the public to contact us when these incidents are happening so we can identify where and when it is happening and particularly problematic areas."

To report off-road bikes or similar nuisance in your area, get in touch with us online via the live chat facility or by calling 101. You can access South Yorkshire Police's online portal here.