‘Mindless criminal damage’: Eccles rugby pitch put out of action by vandals

Eccles Rugby Club were left devastated after vandals destroyed their 3G pitch goals, and multiple plywood panels were kicked in on Saturday night.

The club, which is run by volunteers, estimates the vandalism will cost thousands of pounds to repair – money it doesn’t have.

The damage also meant the pitch could not be used on Sunday.

The club have passed CCTV footage of the incident to the police in the hope of catching the culprits.

Club chair Christopher Gaffey said: “It’s just mindless vandalism, mindless criminal damage.

“I don’t know whether they’re doing it for entertainment, what they think is fun, whether they think it’s amusing, whether they’ve got an issue with the club.

“On Sunday morning when the volunteers turn up to provide support for children, the first thing they’ve got to do is deal with vandalism, not deal with children, they’ve got to clean up mess.”

Last night plywood panels on our 3G pitch were kicked in and the goals destroyed. This mindless criminal damage prevents our club from providing sport for children in our community.
The CCTV footage will be passed on to the Police. pic.twitter.com/qedNyZOHPi

— Eccles RFC (@EcclesRugby) November 17, 2024

The pitch is used for training during the winter but is also available for community use, with junior football teams often training or playing matches there.

Mr Gaffey said: “What takes a few minutes of violent fun for a few individuals, becomes hours and hours of work for volunteers who have other things to do in their lives. It costs money, we’re an organisation that does not have pots of money to throw around.”

This isn’t the first time the club has seen equipment damaged, with rugby posts bent back three separate times last year, as well as motorbikes being ridden on the turf and an attempt to set the pitch on fire.

CCTV footage of the attempted arson led to the culprit being found and the damage paid for but this attack was in the dark.

Mr Gaffey said: “We appear to have an issue at the moment in our community with individuals damaging sports equipment for unknown reasons and causing chaos”

Anyone with information regarding the incident should contact the police.