Arson yobs leave club devastated
FOOTBALL CHANGING ROOMS, KIT AND EQUIPMENT LOST IN BLAZE
ONE of the oldest surviving amateur football clubs in the country is counting the cost of a devastating fire which saw its changing rooms burnt to the ground.
Bosses at 137-year-old Heywood St James FC say vandals struck at the club’s home ground in the early hours of Wednesday.
Kit and equipment worth thousands of pounds was destroyed in the blaze.
Chairman Danny Dyson said it will cost thousands of pounds to rebuild the changing rooms and replace the lost equipment.
He said: “I got a call about 12.30am and got down here about 10 minutes later.
“The flames were coming out of the changing windows – they were about 15ft high.
“There were about 20 firefighters here. They said we’ve been actually been lucky because the wind was blowing the flames towards the clubhouse.
“If they had got here a few minutes later we might have lost that as well.
“The changing rooms have just been destroyed. There’s nothing left.
“There was training kit in there, balls, nets, the stuff we use for the pitch. It’s all gone.”
Mr Dyson said the club will now seek special dispensation from the league to allow games to go ahead without changing rooms.
It means the players will have to get changed in the clubhouse.
The first team’s next home game is a Manchester Challenge Trophy tie against South Manchester tomorrow.
Mr Dyson, 62, who has been involved with the club for more than 55 years, is hopeful it will go ahead.
He added: “Hopefully the league see sense and allow us to get changed elsewhere.
“We could do with everyone rallying round to help us. Maybe some local businesses could take out some advertising signs round the pitch – anything would help.
“It’s going to take a while for us get back on our feet.”
The club tweeted: “Devastating news as our changing rooms were destroyed by vandals in the middle of the night.
“All equipment such as footballs, spare kit, cones, bibs and netting were destroyed in the blaze which has also left us with a £2.5k bill to remove the waste.”
A Gofundme page has also been set up to raise the £2,500 needed to clear up the mess.
A message on the page says: “Raising money to help support Heywood St James to recover from an arson attack which resulted in changing rooms being destroyed.”