Abbeydale Sports Club sits on Abbeydale Road South in Dore, at the south-western edge of Sheffield, with the Abbeydale Park grounds around it. It's a working sports club rather than a purpose-built function venue: cricket, hockey, squash and rugby all play there, Sheffield RUFC share the ground, and Sheffield Collegiate Cricket Club has been playing there since it formed in 1881. There's a gym and a coffee bar on site, and The Dale sports bar is open to non-members, with real ales behind the bar and stone-baked pizza on the food menu. Dore & Totley station is a five-minute walk, and there's parking for around 100 cars.
The rooms
The Abbey Function Suite is the main one: 135 seated or 160 standing, its own private bar, a DJ booth and a balcony over the pitches, with room hire from £100. The Legends Room takes up to 50 and opens onto a patio above the cricket pitch, from £50. The Hargreaves Room seats 30 around a 70-inch TV, which suits a match screening or a committee meeting. The club does its own catering as well, from buffets at £8 a head up to banqueting menus, so food and entertainment can be sorted in the same round of emails.
Private functions are nothing new at Abbeydale: the Google reviews describe Christmas dinner dances, anniversary meals, club concerts, private-hire parties and wakes, and the staff and the buffet come in for more praise than anything else. Great room and the food and staff were brilliant, one private-party guest wrote.
What we set up indoors
Children's birthday parties in the suite usually mean bouncy castles, a disco dome or soft play sets in princess, pirate and jungle themes. For teenagers and adults there are photo booths like the AI photo booth and the Magic Selfie Mirror, plus arcade games and the Batak Pro reaction wall. Not sure what fits in the function suite? Tell us the guest numbers and we'll say what works indoors and what needs the grass.
Out on the grounds
The grass pitches and lawns are where the bigger kit goes. Rodeo bulls, the Penalty Shootout and other sport inflatables set up outside, hot tubs are an option in the warmer months, and funfair rides are a regular choice for summer club days and fundraisers. The floodlit all-weather pitch is a London 2012 legacy surface, re-laid at Abbeydale after the games, and there's open grass for children to play on while the adults get on with the party. For weddings and bigger functions we can put up marquees on the lawns, with staging, PA and music, festoon lighting and generators arriving on the same van.
Booking and practicalities
Every hire includes delivery, setup and collection. We email the club a risk assessment and insurance certificate before the event - committees tend to ask for these early. We carry £5 million public liability insurance with indemnity to principal cover, and 95% of the kit is owned in-house and maintained at our warehouse in Rotherham, about 20 minutes from Dore. We've been going since 1999 and hold a 5/5 Google rating from more than 200 reviews. If you'd rather not run the equipment yourself, we can supply trained attendants who operate it for you.
One thing worth passing on to guests: when rugby and hockey are both at home on a Saturday, and the club hosts county representative fixtures as well as its own junior matches, the car park fills early, so arriving before the first match or car-sharing saves a lap of the pitches looking for a space.
We deliver to Abbeydale regularly, so we know what fits where, and we're out across Sheffield, Worksop, Chesterfield, Barnsley and Doncaster every week, with nationwide delivery for the bigger bookings. If the function suite is already taken on your date, we also deliver to Double Six Youth Club in Woodseats, a refurbished hall that takes private party bookings at weekends.
Browse the range, add what you need to your quote, and we'll get back to you the same day.