Middlewood Rovers JFC: Billy Sharp's former club in Sheffield faced with £650 bill to clear fly-tipping

Middlewood Rovers JFC, based at Waverley Lane, in Handsworth, is a thriving club which boasts 23 teams and has helped mould several professional players, including Sheffield United striker Billy Sharp.

But chairman Chris Dennison and his fellow volunteers are growing increasingly frustated at the thoughtless and criminal actions of fly-tippers who keep dumping rubbish there.

He said waste is tipped on Waverley Lane most weeks and has to be reported for Sheffield Council to remove.

But in recent months, it has been dumped increasingly frequently in the club’s overspill car park – most recently over the weekend just gone, when rubbish ranging from old oil cars to what appears to be the fittings from a bar appeared overnight.

Because it’s private land, the council charges £650 to remove the waste, which Mr Dennison said could pay for a team’s kit.

He is not blaming the council because he recognises the cost of clearing the waste, especially since there is no knowing what dangers could be lurking within, but he wants those responsible to realise the impact of their actions.

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“This is about the fourth or fifth time in the last few months they’ve dumped waste in our overspill car park,” he said.

“It’s so frustrating because we’re a junior football club and we can’t afford to pay to have it cleared. That money should be going on new kits and equipment, not clearing other people’s rubbish.

“The new season starts this weekend and at some point this week we’re going to have to clear that mess ourselves.

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“It’s been going on for three or four years but it’s happening more and more often now. I assume in the current climate it’s people trying to save money but it’s costing a junior football team time and money which we don’t have to clean up.”

Mr Dennison added that the club, which recently unveiled a new £700,000 clubhouse, largely funded by the Premier League, had tried putting up warning signs and a chain but these had failed to deter fly-tippers.