Football team misery after arson attack

Published on 25th October 2007 in News

Young footballers in the area have been left devastated after their equipment, which was locked in a container in South Park in Old Goole, was set ablaze in the early hours of Monday.

News slowly filtered through to the managers and coaches of Goole Town Tigers JFC on Tuesday that the container holding their equipment, including football nets, training bibs, poles, line markers and dummies had been completely gutted in the blaze.

The value of the equipment is said to total between £2,000 and £3,000.

Police are investigating and are treated the incident as arson. Suspects were seen approaching the container and allegedly started a fire before leaving the scene. Humberside Fire and Rescue were called to the scene at 6am and cut a hole in the container to tackle the blaze.

Andy Ward, chairman of Goole Town Tigers, said: "It has taken seven years of graft to get this far, raising money through weekly subs and tireless work and effort from the managers.

"There was some expensive equipment in there, including four dummies worth £75 each and three sets of nets worth £70 each. There was also a lot of things for the annual tournament we do, including fencing for the carpark etc."

Freddie Buck, who is coach to the under 8s and works at Waltons, which is near South Park arrived at work at 4.50am on Monday morning and he thought he saw a small fire in the park, which seemed to go out. A colleague later told him that he thought he could smell burning much earlier on at 4am.

He said: "We are not insured because it is a public park, so it is just classed as a shed. Everything we had, from tea cups to footballs, is gone. We are just going to have to regroup and start again.

"The main thing is getting another container but the price of scrap has gone up so people aren't giving them away like they used to do.

"You just try to get a bit of enjoyment out of something and people just go and spoil it."

Andy added: "This is not the first time we have had a fire here. This is a constant problem. We just have to carry on."

Anybody who would like to make any donations to Goole Town Tigers, either financially or by way of equipment, can do so by calling Andy on 07730000143 or Mark Robertson, vice-chairman and manager to the under 12s, on 01405 752425.

Humberside Police are appealing for anyone with any information about the incident to contact them on 0845 60 60 222, quoting log number 161 of October 23, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.