A MAN whose Lego model of Barnsley Football Club’s Oakwell ground went viral a few years ago has recreated the feat – with a few improvements.

Cardiff fan Jules Richards admits the hobby got out of hand after his first attempt at making a stadium out of Lego, which led to him building all 92 Football League teams’ homes.

He’s since made several Oakwells, and says the stadium has proved to be one of his most popular.

The latest model was built for a competition, with the prize a model of the winner’s choosing – it just so happens that the winner was a Barnsley fan.

“I’m a bit more practised now, and I’ve been able to make them a bit more detailed as I’ve got better,” said the 47-year-old, who lives in Luton.

“I first built Cardiff’s ground and it got into their programme, and then the local paper.

“A Sheffield Wednesday fan got me to do Hillsborough, and I posted it up to him – but it wasn’t glued, so it obviously broke on the way.

“I travelled up to fix it and ended up having a beer with him.

“And then I realised there might be something more in it.

“A few years later I’d done all 92 Football League stadiums. I’ve sold a few Oakwells – I can probably do it blindfolded now.

“I remember doing a round trip of Yorkshire and dropping three of them off – it’s been really popular with the fans.

“I heard they had one in the boardroom at one time.”

Jules has only made the trip to Oakwell once, a ‘boring nil-nil’ with the Bluebirds, and bases the models on pictures he finds online.

He said most builds take thousands of pieces, put together over four or five hours – but bigger stadiums like Oakwell he’ll finish in ten to 12 hours across multiple sittings.