Thieves stole from children

December 1984

THERE are plenty of miserable crimes, but in the thieving line, stealing from young children must be among the lowest you can get.

Last Saturday, Greystones schoolby soccer team went to their pitch at Darcy’s field on the north beach and found their goalposts gone.

These were no pair of old trees. They were made from gunmetal, hollow steel and worth £200.

It was not young lads who pulled them up either.

Club member John Mooney, who handles publicity for the club, says they were firmly embedded in the earth and that they would need digging up.

He thinks they disappeared on Friday night or the early hours of Saturday morning.

He wants to appeal to people with football connections anywhere in the county who are offered goalposts at a bargain rate to stall and contact the Greystones club.

The club caters for players from eight to 14 years, none of whom are earning or in a position to make financial contribution towards their club.

The men who run this club and all the other clubs give generously of their spare time to coach the lads and organise league and friendly games for them.

Their cars are on the road each week ferrying boys to away games and there is little in the way of reward for them.

The club, which uses old car cases for changing rooms, also suffered misfortune during the summer when the itinerants who were encamped on the north beach used the shelters and managed to set fire to the interior.