Firhill sports complex faces £ 3000 repair bill
Pitch damaged after ‘ mindless’ vandalism
AGLASGOW spor t s complex has been left with a huge bill after its ground was targeted by “mindless” vandalism. Staff at Firhill Complex, in Woodside, noticed on Monday that their pitch had been damaged over the weekend.
Gavin Duncan, director of the facility, said: “We came in and we did our usual checks. That is when we noticed, in the middle of the park, there was debris lying and black scorch marks.
“When we came closer, we saw that somebody set roughly a meterand- a- half by a meter- and- ahalf area of the centre circle on fire and it had melted the turf.”
As a result of the vandalism, the organisation will now have to fork out a hefty bill to fix the surface of the astroturf pitch.
The 49- year- old said: “They must have known exactly what they were doing. They purposely walked into the middle of the pitch to do it and did it with drain cleaner and deodorant bottles.
“I think most people know that if you set fire to astroturf, it is go
ing to melt the plastic.”
The boss is devastated by the act and said that this is not the first time they had issues with antisocial behaviour.
He added: “For a number of years, we have allowed the local kids to come in and use the facility when it is available.
“However, over the last six months, we really have seen
quite a bit of vandalism, including damage to the fences, the five- a- side pitches and now this.
“But we don’t want to stop that, we want to continue to work with them and not punish them for a few folks’ mindless vandalism.
“Damage like this also has an effect on our paying customers who would like to use the facilities, because we now have to have the repair carried out, which likely won’t happen until the end of the month.
“This is not ideal at all.
“The repair will cost about £ 3000 and given the current costofliving crisis and the effects of Covid, and us being a non- profit charitable trust, this is a lot of money.
“Also, it takes away from development funds and things that we were hoping to do.
“It is already difficult to get funding and now. We are having to divert money away for this.”
Despite the vandalism, the Newton Mearns resident, who has worked at the facility for 26 years, said they will continue to work with kids and provide them access to the pitches.
It is not known if children were involved in the incident.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “On Monday, November 7, 2022, police received a report of damage to a pitch in the Hopehill Road area of Glasgow, which is believed to have taken place during the previous days.
“Inquiries into the incident are ongoing.”