"It’s heartbreaking. We do this for the kids" - Football club's pitches 'ruined' as thieves steal £20k of equipment

A football club in Bury has been left 'gutted' after all five of its pitches were ‘'ruined' and around £20,000 worth of equipment stolen.

Hundreds of children have been left unable to play football for the 'foreseeable future' after Seedfield Sports Juniors FC was broken into and its pitches trashed, according to the club’s members.

Chairman Les Edwards was horrified to discover the destroyed pitches on Thursday (October 12) which have been left covered in tyre marks and completely “dug up”. The club’s two containers were also targeted and equipment including two sit on lawn mowers and a line marking machine are now missing.

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The 67-year-old, who has been the club’s chairman for 15 years, told the Manchester Evening News, he has been left “gutted” by the devastation wrought on the club that has been run by volunteers for 33 years and has 13 teams for children aged five to 16.

He said: “When I was working I used to go up every other night to cut the grass and put marks on the pitches and since I’ve retired I’ve been doing it through the day. I do it for the good of it.”

Mark Hamilton, who has been the under 11s coach at the club for five years, shared a photo on social media of Les sitting on one of the wrecked pitches with his head in his hands on Thursday.

Mark wrote that the club’s grounds had been broken into with all five pitches “ruined” and the containers “emptied”, adding: “Hundreds of kids unable to play football for the foreseeable future, absolutely gutted”.

In a bid to get the club back up and running as soon as