A COMMUNITY has rallied round to help after a football club’s pitch was churned-up and left in an appalling state.

Those responsible for the damage to Wilsden Juniors AFC’s pitch in Harden Road have come under fire.

Deep tyre marks circle across a significant area of the pitch, which was in otherwise “immaculate” condition thanks to measures taken by the club – and used for the benefit of around 200 children.

Chairman Daniel Pell explained the club had been forking out to rent 4G facilities to protect the grass, but it now faces the challenge of having to repair the damage.

Mr Pell described the situation as “frustrating” and said: “It’s mindless as far as I’m concerned.

“They probably don’t realise the impact it has on so many kids.

“We had done everything we could to protect it, for that to happen is sickening.”

He urged those responsible to “think about what you are doing”.

It’s thought the damage was caused on the evening of December 29, going into December 30, and it has been reported to the police.

When images of the churned-up pitch were shared on social media, people stepped in to offer their help and a Go Fund Me page – gofundme.com/f/help-wilsden-juniors-repair-their-playing-fields – managed to raise more than £800 in less than a day.

It says: “We are trying to raise the money due to our football pitches being vandalised during the Christmas break. We have been protecting our playing surfaces used for junior football throughout the bad weather by using club funds to protect the pitches and paying to train on astro facilities.

“Then this has happened and put all our hard work as a community club to ruin. These pitches will take a while to repair with the funds we have.”

The club is also hoping to put a fence around the pitches.

The damage has met with anger from the local community. One person replied to the post of the images and said: “Hope they’re found and can be brought to a training session to show how many kids this has affected.”

Another person wrote: “Sickening that people think it’s OK to do this. Hope you get to the bottom of it.”

One poster slammed it as “disgraceful”.

It came just two weeks after the head of the charity that looks after Undercliffe Cemetery in Bradford described damage caused by a motorbike at the historic site as “soul destroying”.

There have been countless other similar incidents in the district in recent years.

The police Steerside Enforcement Team, which covers the Bradford district, aims to crack down on anti-social use of vehicles.