We live in the real Full Monty town but it’s nothing like the 90s hit… now new Disney+ show could save area
LOCALS who live where The Full Monty was filmed say the area is nothing like the 90s hit movie and hope a new Disney+ show could stop the rot.
The Shiregreen Club in Sheffield featured in the iconic final scene in the film but now is a target for vandals and arsonists after it was left derelict almost five years ago.
The working men’s club – which was the setting for jobless Robert Carlyle and his pals to strip off – went up in flames last month after yobs broke in.
It now faces being demolished despite a residents’ campaign to save it from the wrecking ball.
Ron Clow, 72, dialled 999 after spotting smoke billowing from the social club on April 14.
It took firefighters an hour to get the blaze under control.
Ron, who lives opposite the former venue, said: “I saw about 10 youths climb in and then a few minutes later black smoke started coming out of the vents.
“I haven’t seen inside but I doubt there’s much left. It’s a huge shame to see what’s happened to the place.
“It used to be the hub of the community and now look at it.
“It should have been better preserved because of its history. Even now we get Full Monty fans turn up hoping to have a drink. They get here and it’s derelict.
“There was a guy from Japan who came here not so long ago. It shows you how popular the film was.”
It’s a huge shame to see what’s happened to the place
Ron Clow, who lives opposite the former club
Police and ambulances were also sent to the Shiregreen amid fears the youths were still inside.
The venue, which provided the concert room where they bared all closed in 2018 with developers refused permission to knock it down.
Currently its windows are boarded and the venue is screened off by metal railings.
Anita Richardson, 62, who ran the Shiregreen when it was closed, hopes an eight-part Full Monty follow-up series announced by Disney+ could see the club saved.
Now landlady at the Hill Top Hotel, in Kimberworth, near Rotherham, she said: “Hopefully it will put the club in the limelight once again and we can stop it being knocked down or turned into flats.
“We were running a successful business before the place was suddenly shut down. It was an important part of the community, and it’s an important part of Sheffield’s history.”
It was an important part of the community, and it’s an important part of Sheffield’s history
Former landlady of the Shiregreen Anita Richardson
Shiregreen neighbour Lorraine Taylor, 77, said: “It would be brilliant to see it brought back to life for the community.
“There’s been talk of it becoming apartments, and then a shop – there have been lots of false dawns.
“We would like it to be a nice restaurant or pub with food. Something for the community to use because we really don’t have anything like that.
“But we would like something done with it because at the moment it is an eyesore.”
The original Full Monty was nominated for a best picture Oscar and became a hit Broadway musical.
It followed characters Gaz, Dave, Gerald and Lomper as they choreographed a striptease act after losing their jobs at the steelworks.
Ron told how locals were paid £40 to sit in the crowd for filming and encouraged to drink.
He said: “There was a queue down the road of women wanting to get in to watch Robert Carlyle get his kit off.
“When the filming was done, they were all stumbling out. They’d obviously had a good time!”
The Full Monty put Sheffield on the international map upon its release but locals have mixed views on the new television series.
Lawrence Kelly, 57, said: “The Full Monty was an epitaph for the death of the city’s industrial past.
“It was great at the time but I’m not sure there’s a willingness to look back at the Full Monty now.
“Let’s let it go now and see if we can regenerate this city in a different way – a more modern and contemporary way.”
Even now people come and take pictures of the club, even though it’s not in the best condition
James Rawson
But James Rawson, 45, said: “I think it is brilliant for Sheffield.
“The Full Monty showed how Sheffield people don’t take themselves too seriously and how we are up for a laugh – even when things are tough.
“Even now people come and take pictures of the club, even though it’s not in the best condition.
“I think the new Full Monty series can only be a good thing for the city.”