Dunipace FC left 'heartbroken' after vandals cause £300,000 worth of damage after setting fire to pitch

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An amateur community football club were left gutted this week after cold-hearted vandals torched their pitch – causing £300,000 worth of damage.Dunipace FC were “heartbroken” to discover that their Westfield Park home, located in Townhouse Street in Denny, was set ablaze in a shocking vandal attack.The East of Scotland league side’s Facebook page posted a photo of the badly burned 4G pitch on Saturday morning, just hours before it was due to host a match.Emergency services were called to the pitch at around 8am on Saturday and the fire was extinguished.There were no reports of any injuries but the cost of the damage caused is estimated to be around £300,000.Police are treating the fire as wilful and enquiries are ongoing.Club secretary Stephen Tait told the Stirling Observer: “To find the pitch vandalised by fire on Saturday morning prior to our youth matches commencing was heartbreaking for everyone involved at the club.“The time and work put in by the committee and wider community to upgrade Westfield Park to a facility we could all be proud of took years to achieve and for the surface to be vandalised in this manner is so disappointing.“It has caused the dispersion of our youth section, girls section, senior ladies and senior male sections.

As well as this, we support our amateur section, over-35s, and numerous other local clubs, who all now will need to find new venues at least in the short term.“AVA FC are also based at Westfield Park, who are a club formed to assist males who are suffering from mental health concerns.

They also now have to source alternative playing and training venues.” Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.