Olive Grove: Famous Sheffield sports club issues message after man in his 20s is stabbed

Olive Grove Sports Club, off Heeley Bank Road, is facing a licensing review after a man in his 20s was found with stab wounds when emergency services were called there at around midnight on the night of Saturday, December 3. He was taken to hospital but police said his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

South Yorkshire Police applied for a summary review of the premises licence, on the grounds of serious crime and serious disorder. The application was received by Sheffield Council on Wednesday, December 7, and people have until December 21 to make any representations in writing.

Following the stabbing, Olive Grove Sports Club issued a statement wishing the victim a speedy recovery and calling for people to show their support. It said: “Unfortunately some things are out of our control and incidents happen but with the help support and guidance from South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield City Council we will continue to give our community the club that they deserve and one that they can be proud of.

“We are all volunteers and we work extremely hard to give you a special place to be and we will continue to do so going forward. We wish a very speedy recovery to the victim. All we ask for now is the continued support from the very people that have made it the fantastic place that it has been for the last 18 months.

“We are in the process of renewing memberships for next year and this will get you 30p off per pint in the red & yellow bar and priority tickets to the big events we have planned for the new year. We can’t let these people win and we definitely can’t let these people ruin our fantastic community club that we have all worked so hard to build and one that we are continually improving as we are going along.

“Thank you to everyone for your support and messages we have received it means a lot and we know you love your club and you can rest assured that we will do everything we can to ensure we continue to thrive and that we give you and our community the best club possible.”

The licensing review comes as a blow to the club, which is based close to the site of Sheffield Wednesday’s first permanent home ground, and is where the world’s oldest football club Sheffield FC had previously planned to build a new stadium close to where it began life before switching its sights to Meadowhead.

Olive Grove Sports Club only recently celebrated being granted planning permission to build a new sports pavilion. It said at the time that it hoped to have the pavilion ready ‘as soon as we possibly can’. It added: “We will need our community’s help with this project and we are looking out for any local businesses that would like to help us achieve our dream and get involved with us and help us create something special.”