A DELIBERATLEY damaged playing surface at Redlands United Football Club has left officials frustrated, with thousands of dollars in recent investment potentially undone.
The club says a motorbike is believed to have been ridden across Field 4, tearing into the surface just weeks after an extensive upgrade program.
Club President Mark Thiganoff said the damage was discovered by grounds staff.
“It’s just a damn shame to be honest,” he said.
The incident comes after more than two weeks of work to improve the playing surface, including a significant outlay on new rye grass.
“We’ve just completed two weeks of sowing rye, which has been a big improvement year on year,” Mr Thiganoff said.
“We did just spend about $12,000 on the rye … how much this will cost to fix, I don’t know.
“And in some sense, it just won’t be back to the original state.”
Mr Thiganoff said the fields were widely regarded as among the best in the region, a key point of pride for the club.
“We are known in football circles as having one of the best pitches in the state … everyone who comes out says how good the pitches are. It’s our feature, it really is,” he said.
“The soil out here is good … it breeds a great brand of football.
“Andrew the groundsman has spent a lot of time nurturing the fields along.”
The damage has hit a critical area of the ground and is expected to disrupt upcoming fixtures.
“It will affect games on that field … it’s in a pretty critical area,” he said.
The full cost of repairs and timeframe for recovery are still being assessed, with the club consulting grounds staff and its facilities team.
The incident is the latest in a string of vandalism issues at the venue, including attempts to break in and damage to infrastructure.
“We’ve had people climbing on the roof, trying to break in … recently burning the seats in the dugouts,” Mr Thiganoff said.
Despite the setback, the club is now considering further security measures, including expanded fencing and surveillance.
“Fencing would work to a point. Fencing the rest would mitigate it to a significant degree. Cameras help, but people know how to get around them,” he said.
Any upgrades, however, would likely require additional funding support.
“You’ve just got to do a number of things to improve it, but then you need funding from the council, and that’s always a challenge.”
The damage has also taken an emotional toll on volunteers who maintain the grounds.
“For our club, more so than most … we’ve got that beautiful Redlands soil that produces such a great playing surface.
That’s what we’re known for,” he said.
The club is preparing to report the incident to police and is urging anyone with information to come forward.
When asked whether he had a message for those responsible, Mr Thiganoff said: “I’d just ask them – what value are you actually getting out of doing it?” he said.
“Could you have chosen something else to do other than making life more difficult for others?”
