Telford football club warns others after 'low-lives' break-in

Lee Mitchell, operations manager at Wellington Amateurs, said volunteers at the club had been left furious after finding that thieves had broken in to the clubhouse, raiding it for what they could – including sweets for children attending games, and material being used in a major ground refurbishment.

The club, at School Grove in Wellington, has two adult teams and five youth teams, involving more than 100 people.

Mr Mitchell, 50, said the thieves had broken the clubhouse door, taken the TV, all of the refreshments and snacks worth hundreds of pounds, and a bag of iron work being used as part of upgrade work vital for the club's application to join the North West Counties League.

The break in took place on the evening of Thursday, April 2.

Mr Mitchell said: "We are a community family club. In the last two years we have turned the club around and we are pushing forward. We have been getting a reputation for what we've been doing and we are getting more and more people coming along and then these people come along and do this. I'm disgusted.

"I hope people who have businesses, or schools and clubs, make sure they clear it out if they are closed because these low lives are getting worse and worse."

Mr Mitchell said they would have to look at some kind of fundraising events to try and replace what was taken, and to repair the damage caused.

He said: "We have invested most of the club's money to get promoted, now this, it could not have come as a worse time.

"We are all volunteers here, no one gets paid.We have got some great sponsors, that is how we work and that is how we survive."

Mr Mitchell said they had cleared out the clubhouse and would now consider whether they needed to add extra grills to protect the windows.