The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Yobs’ rampage leaves Kirkcaldy Rugby Club counting the cost
Club officials considering installing CCTV to cover their stand
Mindless vandals have caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage at Kirkcaldy Rugby Club’s home ground just hours before the start of the new season.
Youngsters are understood to have broken into the back of the club’s stand in Beveridge Park on Thursday before going on to break flag poles, steal rugby balls and hurl them and brand new tackle bags into the nearby pond.
With this understood to be the latest in a long line of incidents involving troublesome youths in the area, senior figures at the club have called for local teenage tearaways to stop once and for all and respect private property.
Club officials have been left angered by what has happened and are now considering the installation of CCTV to cover the stand, complementing the cameras set up at the clubhouse just yards away, with a local firm offering to fit the equipment for free.
However, the damage
They’ve also been smashing glass and actually sticking it in the grass, so we’re having to walk the pitch before every training session or game to make sure it’s safe to play on. JIMMY BONNER
done has prompted calls for tougher action those causing anti-social behaviour.
“It’s been a long-standing problem but I’m very disappointed this has happened,” said club president Jimmy Bonner.
“It’s an ongoing issue with the stand because it’s basically open to everybody in a public park, but people have to realise it’s ours and it’s private property.
“Friday and Saturday nights it’s being used as a public convenience, it’s being used as a drinking den, some people have been using it to take drugs, and someone tried to set fire to some of the wooden seats not that long ago.
“They’ve also been smashing glass and actually sticking it in the grass, so we’re having to walk the pitch before every training session or game to make sure it’s safe to play on.
“There can be 20 or 30 of them gathering and all you get is dog’s abuse.”
Fortunately the first fixture for Kirkcaldy’s first XV is in a national cup competition away to Howe of Fife, although the National League Division Two side’s first league game on September 2 is at home – again against Howe of Fife.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Inquiries into the full circumstances are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting incident number 3953 of August 24.”