Vandals target Glenavon Football Club

The ground is being prepared for Glenavon’s Europa League tie so to have something like this happen is a very disappointing development.

Sheeting had been placed over the reseeded goalmouth areas but one of those, at the Glenavon Crescent end was ripped apart and huge divots were scattered around the pitch. Stones were also thrown onto the playing surface and the crossbar was damaged and left with a dent in it.

“I was working up to 6.15pm on Sunday and everything was ok when I left,” said the groundsman. “Then when I arrived this morning I found all this damage.

“The club has spent a lot of money, the most ever this season, to try and make Mourneview Park one of the best grounds in the league. So this is something we could do without. It is not unusual for young people to come in and play on the pitch, that has been going on for some time, but when they come in and destroy the pitch and cost the club money by damaging equipment then it is very serious.”

It is hard to understand why the club would be the focal point of such an attack of this manner.

The club are going to study CCTV footage to see how many people were involved in this incident.