Football in the garden

[AliceR1]

My kids, 8 and 11, are into football. Neighbour always used to throw balls back over the fence but recently started hogging them so I went round to collect - he got really stroppy - I deliberately have the goal away from the fence to stop the ball hitting the fence (my fence, merely to stop the noise) so any ball flying over the fence from now on is a complete no-no… I came up with a plan to erect a frame with a net which I’m planning on building up to 3 metres which should stop anything going over… I know the regs stipulate fence being no more 2 metres tall. It’s all going to be neat, uniform colour, black… where do I stand if he kicks off about that? Just so I’m prepared lol

How many balls did you collect and in what time frame?

Does anyone else read these threads and feel grateful for their neighbours? One side of us has arrogant parking king but I’ll take that over constant footballs in the garden.

Normally it’s one, absolute max two a week. Three this week because they’ve been out there more because of half term

Yeah, that’s too many.

Because once my dog has a ball there is no way I am getting if ifc him.

Once he has relinquished it at home I could lock the house, set off with my crutch and walk the 10 minutes back to where he found it and Chuck it over a random wall.

Or ….

Precisely why I’m trying to do something about it. Normally they have clubs three times a week.

Im amazed at some of these parents who think it’s ok to have their kids kicking footballs into other peoples gardens and damaging things. Not to mention the noise, or the constant hammering on the door for their ball back right now.

I wonder how long this would have gone on for op, if it had been your responsibility to fetch these balls back every time they went over.

It would drive me mad as a neighbour. Could they save the football for the park and maybe do something like swingball instead?

@UrsulaPandress Or .... control your dog & don't let them get the ball in the 1st place?.

@meatballsoup I’m baffled someone like @UrsulaPandress would come on here and announce how badly trained her dog is like it’s the football owner’s fault. Train your dog to drop! What if it was a baby your dog picked up? Just let it carry it around until the dog gets bored? Train or muzzle!

Sorry for your recent loss.

While it wouldnt personally bother me returning balls, I respect those that want to enjoy their own home and garden in peace and don't want to be answering their door and returning balls. Your ndn was gracious when the kids were younger, now it is time be a bit more considerate.

Once kids are that old they are old enough to be taught to reign it in in the garden and make sure balls stay low or they dont get to play. We considered ball stop nets for ds at that age but were worried about having to remove, possibly injured, birds from them.

Instead we got portable goals and sent him to the park with friends instead.

We have a neighbour who built his garden up so it sits 3 feet higher than ours (using our wall to retain the soil), complains about the football but also doesn’t want us to grow the hedge because it will ruin his view. We’ve told him tough, we are growing the hedge.

@TeenLifeMum

A baby 😂😂😂

@UrsulaPandress er yes, do you read the news? If your dog can grab a football and is so poorly trained you’re unable to get it off him/her then why would a baby be any different? Train your dog! (I say that as a dog owner so yes I do know about training dogs.)

@TeenLifeMum oh you really made me laugh with your joke! A baby and a ball are sooo similar after all 🤣

Well do you think its fair on neighbour if their plants are destroyed by the balls coming over?

Do you utjink its fair if they are enjoying their time in the garden or inside doing whatever to be disturbed to go fetch your kids ball?

If that happened to me that ball would stay their until I have time to return not drop whatever I'm doing to answer the door.

Funny how its okay for kids to be in the garden making noise but if i was to play my music on low it would be seen as being out of order.

My DF's last couple of years where made a misery by balls flying over the fence from next door. He had mild dementia at that point and was scared after he was hit by a flying ball. He wouldn't go into the garden. It was heartbreaking.

What a grumpy load of responses you had @AliceR1. And I'm so sorry you have lost your DH and doing it singlehanded.

I am always happy to chuck back balls and prefer to see children playing outside rather than stuck indoors on electronic devices!

Erm, that’s what they’ve done up till now, wait till the ball is returned… to my knowledge they haven’t damaged any plants and having had picked up the balls from their garden, I now know it’s a plain lawn with a hedge along the fence. I’m not looking to pick up a fight with anyone, the question was whether erecting a net that exceeds the maximum permissible height of a fence is acceptable. Given that what I’m planning to do is what others suggested - links above, thanks to those contributed, and seeing they’re sold commercially, answered my question. I’m just trying not to upset a ratty neighbour any more with anything I can do to keep my kids footballs in their garden.

We bought some netting from Amazon and fitted it over the top of our garden using bungee cords and hooks. Works ok.
I was pissed off though when my neighbour got stroppy about balls kicked over into their garden. They chose to move to a terraced house with a relatively small garden next to a family so should have realised that they were going to get the odd ball into their garden!

Erecting anything should follow locla council rules. Just like u cannot put up a fence over 2m High.

I live in an area of victorian semis/terraced houses

the back gardens don't line up exactly so two gardens back on to mine.

I have just picked 8 balls from my garden.
Not footballs but smaller ones.
I find it infuriating.
They bash plants and I feel like if that many are coming over-regularly-that you might adjust your game?
We are 5 mins walk from a huge open green space...

I do throw them back but am annoyed.
I think consideration should go both ways

Why don’t you talk to your neighbour about it to see if he’s happy? I think he’d be delighted!

Your kids do have the right to do whatever they want in your own garden and if they kick balls over the neighbour technically has to give them back and can’t destroy them.

However no, most people wouldn’t rather your kids were doing this than getting fat playing computer games.

Most people don’t care about your kids they just want to enjoy their own garden and be able to sit out without listening to a football, having their fence broken or weakened by a football, having their plants or trees damaged by a football, having their furniture or kids hit by s football or having annoying kids and their sometimes chavy/mouthy parents coming round asking for footballs back all the time. Yes I do speak from experience.

This is why I don’t let my dc play football in the garden.

Its antisocial and they should wait to play until you take them to the park if they aren’t able to avoid kicking the ball over the wall / fence!

I am sorry for your loss.

However, I can understand why your neighbour is upset.

There's three boys next to me (semi, small gardens) and I can't enjoy my garden in the summer due to the balls of various kinds.

I think so tbh. Football is a really antisocial activity in small gardens. It is a park activity in my mind. The noise if a ball bashing off things, the irritation of it hitting laundry, the total destruction of flowers when balls hit, the total eyesore of those netted gardens, which never actually sto balls bartering fences.

I have a DC6, he lives to play football but he never does it in my garden, because we have neighbours.