“No Ball Games” alludes to a liberation of childhood and children’s exemption from life’s rules and expectations. The children are in an area not zoned for fun and play, but do so in defiance, going so far as to toss the sign as if it were a toy. 

“No Ball Games” was sprayed in the same year on a shop wall at the junction between Tottenham High Road and Philip Lane, North London, but has since been removed and sold by the Sincura group in 2013, at an estimated £500,000, with the profits going to help disadvantaged children. 

It was taken down by the group as part of their controversial Stealing Banksy project. Many argued the work’s meaning would be lost by its removal, but also that a piece of the area’s heritage would also be taken. Banksy condemned the group’s removal of the work, saying in a statement: “The show has nothing to do with me and I think it’s disgusting people are allowed to go display art on walls without getting permission.”

This piece first appeared on canvas in 2006 at Banksy’s Barely Legal exhibition in Los Angeles. Later in 2009, Banksy released a signed edition of 250 No Ball Games prints on both green and grey block backgrounds.