Footballs over our fence

[thekingfisher]

This may very well out me - but well I'm feeling so irritated I don't really care!

Our house sides onto a village football pitch. When we bought the house circa 5 yrs ago the vendors told us there was a match maybe once per month. The reality was that at least one football match is held most sundays for the entire football season. This was fine until 18 months ago we bought a further piece of land at the back of our house which we incorporated into our garden. This means our garden and house plot now runs the entire length of the pitch.

There is a gate right at the very end of the piece of land which we bought which historically was used by the football team and unlocked by the farmer each sunday morning for them to retrieve their balls. The land was unused agricultural land (i.e. old orchard and asparagus field not farmed anymore and mostly weeds) so this didn't really have a bearing on us - plus we had a large boundary hedge which separated us from this piece of land.

Since we bought it we have spent considerable sums of money( i.e. many thousands) opening it into our garden, taking down and replanting hedging, cultivating the lawn, revitalising the orchard etc etc. so it is now very clearly part of our plot.

However we now have footballs coming over into this field often 5 or 6 times every sunday morning. As our entire ground floor is most glass and open plan this means anyone coming into the garden or the land at the back has an open view into our house.

I asked the football manager to knock before coming over - this morning he knocked and asked me to get the balls ( 3 had been kicked over) I said i can but not yet as I was still in my PJ's and it was peeing down. He asked if he could and I said yes. 20 monists later a spectator ( young lad who I know) came round and asked to get a ball - again I said yes. However it then transpired he let himself out of the top gate ( which should have been locked) and then let himself back in two more times to fetch other balls - meantime I'm pottering around in my kitchen when I just see someone wandering around the garden.

Would IBU to basically say that they can only come and get balls at end of the match ( or half time if they're a bit crap and kick too many over)? The Manager said they only had 3 balls - so would I be additionally unreasonable to tell him to buy more so they don't need to come around every 2 mins or just let themselves in ( or worse still climb over the wire fence which incenses me as it bends and its about 6 ft tall. ).

It feels like every sunday morning we are invaded and I have been caught wandering around in my underwear which again I don't think is fair.

Our village has an under 8s playground AND two proper football pitches and a skate park a short walk away for older kids. So it would be nice if the teenagers and their balls (!) stayed away from the small kids park.

Wait so until you got this new bit of land there wasn't the football issue.

So the footballs are down the back of your garden.

In which there is an orchard.

And people can see down a football pitch length garden, through an orchard, into your house and thus see you in a moment of nudity, during the five min they take retrieving a football?

Are you a giant?
Is your house entirely made of glass?

I have to say that to see me naked through a window would be a sure-fire way of deterring anyone from coming back twice.

I think the football club and the OP need to come to some arrangement to get fencing installed that stops this problem altogether. Can they apply for a grant to get this work completed?
I live near a football pitch and the balls used to come over into the field next to our garden. The sports club have invested heavily in fencing to stop this problem - which for the most part it does. Only occasionally does a ball come over - which is just as well as the field has now been sold and 5 houses built on it. The back gardens are now adjacent to the football pitch and there will be no access to collect the balls other than knocking on the homeowners doors.
The previous arrangement was fine when it was an agricultral field but its use has now changed to domestic garden, which means that balls may be damaging apart from the privacy/nuisance issue. You did apply for change of use didn't you OP - we had to when we bought a strip of land off the field at the side of our house.

The OP has suggested a compromise - them collecting them at half time and end of game only. Seems reasonable to me.

Clam

I think the OPs compromise is reasonable too. Netting sounds like an idea for the football pitch too. If someone else had brought the land they may not have been so accommodating at all, they could intended to build on it then they'd not be allowed on a building site to remove balls due to H&S or just been a general git and popped all the balls.

And we had a hated neighbour too. He didn't just pop balls, he tried to hit cats in his garden and those in the street and would scream at you if you played in front of his house. Once we was skating up and down and he came out and tried to trip one of the other kids up.

Personally I would just leave the gate open for a few hours on a Sunday morning and let them get the balls while I avoided walking around in my underwear. shrugs

What happens if you're out when the games on? How do they retrieve their balls then?

But when OP 'just leaves the gate open' her property is being stolen, the dog is escaping as they aren't closing the gate and folk are wandering around the garden close to the house.

OP you need to keep the gate locked, and get in touch with the football club about the damage being done to your fence by people climbing over it.

There is no legal requirement for 'something which has being going on for ages on adjacent land' to be accommodated by a private land owner in this way.

TBH i would have been investigating ways of solving the problem of balls coming over long before actually purchasing the extra bit of land. For me high fencing on that boundary to stop the balls, either payed for by me, or with a bit of negotiating, payed for jointly between me and football club would be the only tolerable solution.

What happens if there's a match and you're out OP? Do they all just climb over the boundary fence to get the balls?

So many questions.....

Hopefully Op is at the village pub with football manager sorting it all out amicably.

Sorry folks didn't mean to post and then abandon the thread as thats very irritating - but being in the country an all we have shite internet and this weekend its not playing very well ( a bit like the footballers) and as a member of the church fete committee (!) had to go and discuss raffle prizes scintillating life

So to address a few points:

• I am trying to find a solution - not ban them from sending balls over - that is inevitable - solution being collect them at one or 2 points on a sunday.

• The balls come over right down the length of our plot - in both the new and old bit of garden - if its the original plot then it is 5/10 ft away from our windows - if its on the new added but then it can be a long distance away but it can also be say 20ft from our windows.

• My issue is the fact that they waltz in and out of MY property - my some sort of nod to asking but more likely than not just wander in and out.

• if we are not here (and often when we are + back back gate is locked) they climb over the fence or come in through our house back gate - which isn't locked and help themselves.

• 1 visiting team member - 40 mins before the start of the game came over our fence walked in and picked up all of my sons sports balls ( footie, beach, cricket etc) and put them in his backpack until I challenged him....

• dog has been let out once before

• This is an adult team not a kids team. Kids do do football training and i always chuck the balls back over - however they use a smaller bit of pitch and this isn't often.

• balls used to come over when we didn't own the land however the owner would unlock gate and they went in and helped themselves. At this point the area was knee high in weeds had about 500 apple trees un tended and an ancient asparagus patch. We have cleared about 4/5ths of the apple trees ( as there are only so many you can use) redone the grass through clearing about 2 tonnes of stones and re seeding as well as planting a load of fruit trees and putting a shed in. this area is now used by us actively.

• Yes we are very lucky to have such a lovely piece of land and we saved and sacrificed things to have the opportunity to buy it.

• no we haven't applied for change of use although its on the list

• i don't want to have to watch myself every sunday from 9 -12.30 in case i am caught in my own house, relaxing in PJ's, gimp suit or whatever as people 'trespass' to get balls.

I want to find a happy medium and I thought it would be reasonable to say get a few more balls and only come knocking max 2 x per match. ( half time and full time)

Can you buy some balls?

YANBU - it's hard to imagine so many balls coming into your garden? I don't think that's normal! I actually think this is a health and safety issue and that the football club need to be more proactive.

It's not the same as kids footballs - if you get knocked on the head with a high kicked proper football it could hurt.

All the comments saying that you haveno right to complain because you knew the footbals club were there are misding the point - it doesn't give the club the right to do what they want.

How high is the hedge/wall - do you think, say, 10" net fence would help? I'd contact the council and ask their health and safety bods for advice (environmental health deal with thus I think..).

In the meantime I would only let them collect the balls at the end of their games. I don't think having only three balls is normal either.