Memories of Full Monty club after latest fire

It is the social club that became famous for its appearance in the final scene of The Full Monty - but Shiregreen Working Men's Club has shaped memories for its patrons across the decades.

On Monday, residents of the Sheffield suburb are coming to terms with the news that the mothballed club, closed since 2019, had suffered another serious fire, believed to have been started deliberately.

It is another setback for former regulars' hopes that Shiregreen can reopen, and its future has been uncertain since an application to demolish the building was refused in 2020 and an arson incident in April 2025.

Sharing their recollections of its glory days are locals such as Teresa Hodges, whose mother and aunts were in the audience for the 1997 film's famous closing scene.

"We've had family parties there and it's where we all went on Friday and Saturday nights."

Hodges, 53, says she is "shocked" by the state of the club in the aftermath of the fire and that her late mother would be "devastated" by its fate.

"She was very excited, especially when the film came out, she looked for herself and her sisters in the crowd."

Susan Sheedy, 75, remembers being "flabbergasted" when the shoot was taking place back in the 1990s, but could not be an extra because she was on her way to work.

She says seeing the flames on Sunday was "very frightening".

A one-time regular at Shiregreen, she says strippers often performed on Sundays and that she enjoyed many events at the club over the years.

Neighbour Julia Myczko says: "It [the fire] was a frightening sight."

Myczko, 66, is also a past patron, and says the club was "brilliant" when it was run by Roy and Ann Bentley.

Ann Bentley has become a vocal campaigner for the club to be saved.

Recalling seeing the film crews 30 years ago, she says: "We didn't even know what they were filming. We always connect the club to the film."

She believes that fires and trespass incidents will continue unless the site is cleared.

Ann Bentley ran Shiregreen between 1987 and 2002 after meeting her husband at the venue and giving up her nursing career.

Bentley says she watched The Full Monty cast rehearse their strip routine, and that she would often judge their performances - including that of lead actor Robert Carlyle when he was out of sequence.

She says she was "absolutely devastated" by news of the latest fire and had fond memories of going to the club as a child.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that the fire is thought to have been started deliberately.

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