A FOOTBALL club which was formed almost 70 years ago has had to launch an appeal for help from its community after vandals caused more than £1,500 worth of damage on its playing fields.

Cross Hills FC, near Keighley, is asking for villagers and local businesses to step in after the ground in Sutton Fields was targeted several times over the summer.

The community club runs two teams in the Craven League.

In the most recent incident, which happened sometime before October 26, goalposts were broken and closed circuit television cameras were ripped out.

The vandals also broke into the clubhouse to destroy the CCTV recording unit - then threw all the damaged items into the nearby beck.

Club treasurer Steve Birch said: “We’ve had a whole summer of vandalism, with our training goalposts also thrown into the beck.We have also had kit stolen and storage facilities have been broken into.”

He said that there were rumours flying around about the possible identities of the culprits, but at the moment it was difficult to prove for certain who they were. He added: “We are absolutely determined not to let the behaviour of these individuals stop the role we play in our local community.

“The club has been going since 1949, and we owe it to our older, former players to keep it going.”

In its inaugural season the club joined the Second Division of the Craven League and played on a field near Sunny Bank Road.

A ‘Go Fund Me’ page has been set up to help the club replace the items at: https://www.gofundme.com/cross-hills-fc-vandalism. Any donations are welcome.

Local businesses who feel they can help the club are asked to contact Crosshillsfc@hotmail.com