Thieves ransack Midhurst FC's grounds stealing more than £35,000 worth of equipment

Thieves drove into the club’s grounds at 11.20pm on Wednesday, April 5, ransacking the storage facilities and making off with more than £35,000 worth of ground-keeping equipment ranging from ride-on lawnmowers to chainsaws.

The community club has been left devastated by the incident, according to the club’s chairman, Mark Broughton, who told Sussex World: “We’ve got footage of the van going in and coming out later with all our stuff. They had broken into our storage container and taken a ride-on mower, petrol strimmers, petrol hedge cutters, petrol brush cutters, chainsaws and more. To replace it all will cost us over £35,000.

“I was devastated. I know full well that we aren’t going to get paid out by the insurance company. It’s shaken the whole club really. We can’t maintain the pitch at the moment.”

To recoup some of the club’s losses, Mark has set up a fundraiser with the aim of generating £10,000 from the community to help get the club back on its feet. The money would be enough to purchase some second hand equipment.

Just more than £250 has been raised, but support has been coming from elsewhere with Roffey FC and Midhurst Cricket Club offering what they can.

Sussex Police arrived at the scene 24 hours later and took samples of muddy fingerprints left at the scene, as well as a vape pen, believed to have been dropped by on of the thieves.

You can donate here.

The appeal for donations from the club reads: “We are calling on the football community, fans and locals to help us try to recover from this awful situation. We need obviously to not only urgently replace the equipment but also to upgrade our security at the ground to ensure we never suffer such an event again.

“Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated to help us get back on our feet.”

Support came flooding in from other teams across West Sussex, Arundel FC said: “We are so sorry to read this, times are hard enough financially for clubs without a major theft of expensive equipment.”