A Yorkshire Water workman has been dubbed "Harry Drain" after footage of him scoring goals in a children's football net went viral. The unnamed worker is seen knee sliding in celebration after slotting a couple of tap-ins in Josh Seward's back yard in Chesterfield.
The footage, captured on Tuesday after Yorkshire Water operatives arrived at Josh's house to repair a damaged manhole, shows the man – dressed in his orange hi viz pants – doing keepy uppies on the artificial lawn before performing a "round the world" trick and finding the bottom corner of the net. He then repeats the feat and coolly finishes in the other corner.
Homeowner's reaction
Josh, 37, an IT worker, shared the joyous celebration online after capturing it on his Ring camera. He said: "Seeing him having a little kickabout was funny enough, but the goals and knee slides absolutely finished me."
The football nets belong to Josh's 10-year-old son. Josh said: "Me and my wife were both at work when it happened. She'd spotted what was going on through our Ring camera and text me laughing, saying 'the water people are playing football and doing knee slides.'"
"Obviously I had to have a look myself, so checked the footage and genuinely couldn't stop laughing. I stuck it on Twitter thinking a few people might find it funny. I certainly wasn't expecting millions of people to watch it!"
Viral fame
The footage has been seen almost three million times and attracted comments from wags who dubbed the worker "Harry Drain", "Kylian Mtappe" and "Danny Fixwater." Another quipped: "Fittingly, it was only a tap-in."
Even Yorkshire Water joined in the fun, replying to Josh's post: "An around the world AND a manhole repair? Some serious skills there."
Josh added: "The reaction has been absolutely mental. Most people have found it hilarious, but I've also had plenty of people calling me a grass, which I find ridiculous considering I've blurred his face and made it very clear I don't want him getting in any trouble."
"Thankfully Yorkshire Water have taken it in exactly the spirit it was intended and joined in with the joke themselves, which has been brilliant. Neither me nor my wife had any issue with what he was doing. Quite the opposite, we both thought it was hilarious!"
"As far as I'm concerned, if the work's been done properly and they've left everything as they found it, he can play in the garden whenever he likes."
Company response
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: "All of our colleagues are talented, but we didn't realise we had a potential football star in our ranks. It's brilliant that the video made Josh and other's smile, although we suspect he'll be hearing 'Harry Drain' from his colleagues for a while yet!"
