Shrewsbury football mum starts swap shop for outgrown boots

Sarah Hopper, who runs Ferndell B&B in Underdale Road, Shrewsbury, has been running a football boot swap initiative for the last year.

She started it after her son Charlie kept growing out of boots that were still in good condition.

She has amassed an enormous selection of boots to rival a sports shop, and she’s encouraging budding players and their parents to pop round to see if they can find their perfect scoring boots.

The soccer swap shop become an immediate success when it started last summer as parents coped with the expense of a new school year – buying uniform, stationery and sportswear.

Ms Hopper said: “I started it last summer and it’s built up over the year. When it started off I only had about 12 pairs but now there are more than 100 here.

Expensive

“It’s free so it helps parents save a bit of money. Football boots are expensive, so it’s something to help people in this time. My lad has been playing for a few years.

"He’s 13 now and their feet grow so quickly. You can’t always swap boots with members of your team. We were lucky as we had some passed down to us and we in turn passed ours on among friends. But I wanted to do something more organised.”

The idea is for parents whose sons and daughters have outgrown their football boots to take them along to Ferndale and hopefully exchange them for a bigger size.

“We have a huge selection of sizes,” Ms Hopper added. “I’ve tried to get involved with local football clubs as well. It would be good if we could get Shrewsbury Town on board. It would be nice to be associated with them.

"Anyone who wants to get some boots just needs to get in contact and bring a pair along to swap. I’m here most of the time so just phone me and we’ll arrange a time.”

“I wanted to provide a central point where it was easy to come along, drop boots off and select a bigger size.

To bag a pair of boots, call Ms Hopper on 07854 492874 or pop to Ferndell B&B.