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.”
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He added: “What has been remarkable and such a comfort is the messages of support and offers of help received from so many football clubs, businesses, and individuals. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has sent a message, offered support, and even gifted to our Go Fund Me page, something the club set up after numerous suggestions from individuals who wanted to help.”
Stenhousemuir stepped in to offer Dunipace the use of Ochilview at the weekend. Stephen added: “A special thanks must go to Stenhousemuir Football Club, who provided their home ground for our senior male fixture played on Saturday, and Linlithgow Rose, who will host our cup quarter final versus Penicuik Athletic on Tuesday evening. Falkirk FC kindly hosted our senior ladies match yesterday (Sunday) and Bonnybridge FC have also offered to help with pitch space.
“In terms of repairs, we hope to have a better understanding later in the week with regards to cost and timescales, however the club and the community are determined to do all we can to allow everyone to enjoy Westfield Park again as soon as possible.”
Police are appealing for information in relation to the blaze. Police Inspector Alasdair Moreland said: “This fire caused a significant amount of damage and will have a substantial impact on the club and surrounding community.
“We are appealing for anyone who witnessed the fire, or anyone who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously to get in touch.”
The club has now set up an online fundraiser to raise enough cash to cover the loss of income as a result of the damage.
In their Go Fund Me page, they say: “While we are hopeful our insurance will cover the repairs to the pitch itself, the club will still lose a sizeable sum of money due to fixtures being moved away from Westfield and reducing our income from things like gate receipts, hospitality and pitch booking fees for other games (including cup finals) that we were due to host at Westfield.
“For small community clubs like ours, these funds are vital in allowing us to operate as we do and provide a top-class environment for kids and adults to play, Westfield also playing host to Dunipace Skills Academy, AVA FC, Central Rio FC, and Checkbar FC.”
At the time of print, more than £15,200 had been raised. To donate to the fundraiser, click here.
Anyone with information can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
