THE chairman of a local football club - whose aim is to improve mental health - has set up a petition to get its pitch locked to stop the site being ‘plagued with vandalism’.
Richard Robinson is the chairman of Mind Over Matter FC in Brampton who play their games on Pontefract Road.
The club’s director is Chorley player Billy Whitehouse and they’re sponsored by world-renowned band Bring Me The Horizon.
The pitch belongs to Brampton Parish Council, but Richard has set up a petition to get the site locked due to a number of problems - including locals using it to take drugs.
He told the Chronicle: “We’re not the first football club to have this issue.
“Mind Over Matter FC are the latest football club to pay to use the facilities.
“They have been plagued with vandalism, dog muck and abuse.
“I’m having to clean up needles and tin foil on a an almost daily basis.
“With the grounds being open, it provides a place for drugs and vandalism to go about unseen, including digging up the posts, using metal detectors and digging up the pitch.
“Dog walkers let their animals desecrate the pitch despite there being a larger open field to the side.
“Since the gates were allowed to be locked momentarily, these problems have ceased.
“The closed path is being used by people climbing the barrier instead of vandalising the pitch.
“This is about more than football - it’s about having a community space.”
