Celtic Football Club step in after joyriders destroy Torrance village pitch

Celtic FC have stepped in after joyriders left young football enthusiasts in Torrance devastated after destroying their pitch in the village.

The field has been left unplayable after vandals churned it up on Saturday night (February 16) with a vehicle.

Last night (Wednesday), Torrance FC Chairman David Gibson said the young club was delighted to announce that Allgrass turf care and Celtic Football Club have come forward to help.

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He added: “We can’t thank both of them enough for offering to help us out. Not only have they offered to help but have kindly offered to partner up and complete the repairs for us.

“Celtic are going to provide all the materials and Allgrass are going to complete the repairs and supply man power to do so.

“That for us as a small club is absolutely amazing and this has given the club a real lift and sense of believe again.

“We at Torrance football club would like to offer a massive thank you to Celtic Football Club and Allgrass turf care for this amazing offer of generosity and we will be forever grateful to them for helping us out at such a difficult time.

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Special mention to Jock at Allgrass and John and David at Celtic Football club for taking time to come down and meet me to assess the damage today”.

Earlier in the week, Mr Gibson told the Herald: “The pitch has been absolutely destroyed by these mindless vandals.

“They careered with a car round and round the pitch, leaving figures of eight and trenches six inches deep.

“The pitch is used by Torrance Boys’ Club for young boys to enjoy football.

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“Devastated is an understatement. We are only a small club and running on a small budget. If it’s going to cost thousands to fix it there is no way we will be able to afford this from the funds we have.”

Mr Gibson was alerted to the damage by a local resident walking her dog.

He said: “When I went down to see it, it was far worse than I thought. Gutted for the club. The police have been informed.”

The pitch is used by four youth teams, mostly of primary school age, and local children also have the use of the pitch to play football, 
particularly during the summer.

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Dozens of local residents rallied round the club on its social media page.

One woman posted: “This is absolutely criminal. The poor kids and club now left with no park to play on. Absolutely shocking, so sorry to see this.”

Another posted: “Some clowns have been travelling at speed in early hours of the morning these past few nights coming from the Bishopbriggs roundabout at the road end down towards Torrance roundabout. Screeching around that and then back up the hill again.”

Another said the same thing had happened to a club not that far away and added: “These people don’t understand the impact it has not just on the club but the community as well.”

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Others asked how they could help and that they would be happy to contribute to a crowdfunding page to raise money to repair the pitch.

David said he would like to thank the local community for their encouragement and support.

He added: “I have had a few people coming forward asking how they can help and we are looking at doing some sort of fundraising to try to get the cash together.”

A police spokesperson at Kirkintilloch said that they were investigating the incident.