Vandals broke into Radstock Town Football Club, ahead of their Western League clash with Bristol Telephones last Saturday, 7th April, driving a car across the pitch and causing significant damage. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers, the Miners’ game still went ahead, with the team winning 5–1 (see Journal sports pages).

Acts of vandalism like this are nothing new at Southfields Recreation Ground, the home of Radstock Town, with the Clubhouse and main stand regularly targeted.

Indeed, Radstock are not alone in having their pitch attacked in this way, with similar incidents occurring across the Western League this season at Portishead and Cribbs. Historically Timsbury also had its grounds churned up by what was thought to be a 4x4, making their pitch unplayable, and whilst normally competing against one another, local clubs are standing united in their support.

Miners’ Chairman, Simon Wilkinson, said: “This Club has been part of the Radstock community since 1895 and it is heartbreaking for those of us who give our time to see our facilities attacked in this way.”

Like many Clubs in the Toolstation Western League, Radstock has suffered a number of postponements this season, due to the adverse weather conditions. Simon said: “It’s bad enough we’ve lost matches and match day revenue because of the rain, but to spend hours working to make the pitch playable for Saturday, only to find that someone has driven their car across it, deliberately to damage the surface, well, words can’t describe how it makes me feel.

“We’ve had lots of support from other clubs – and to the person that did this, we now have video footage and a numberplate.

“Perhaps the Town Council could provide us with a gate to at least stop cars coming in after hours. It would solve all of our problems if the entrance could be secured.

“The League has been extended by a week due to bad weather – had they tried this a couple of weeks ago, we’d still have the car!

“We all work for a living and give our time for nothing – when I got there on Saturday morning I was devastated; we put in so much time and effort, but we got the game on, and the pitch is almost back to brand new.”

This week’s Toolstation Western League podcast has highlighted the incident at Radstock and the others that have taken place across the League’s Clubs this season.

Podcast presenter, Ian Nockolds, said: “This isn’t a victimless crime, it’s an insult to the volunteers who give their time for local football and the Clubs that have represented their communities for so many years.

“Since the start of the season, I’ve been worried about the problem of criminal damage in grassroots football, because it is all too common. Anyone involved in grassroots sport should feel sympathy for Radstock, because frankly, your Club could be next.”

This week’s podcast can be heard at http://toolstation league.com/ or by searching for Western Football League on iTunes.