Container destroyed in alleged ‘fire’ – ‘It’s football for kids’

A Leicestershire football club’s equipment container has been destroyed by fire. Anstey Nomads believes its container at Ratby Sports Club, in Ratby, has been targeted by fire.

The container with equipment inside that is used for pitching, including corner flags, respect barriers and goal nets was burned. The club’s vice-chairman Conrad Logan said the damage from the fire could be in the region of £5,000.

He said the pitches and equipment are used by the club’s Under-7 to Under-12 teams and called the incident “disappointing”. Conrad said: “It’s children’s football, it was nothing of value to anyone other than the football club, this (container) has been burnt to the ground and needs to be cleaned off site and removed for next season.

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The club first became aware of the incident on Monday (June 25) morning, but it is believed the incident took place a day earlier. “We have over 50 teams in total now across the whole club, which has grown from 19 pre-Covid to over 700 kids,” Conrad said.

“It’s disappointing, we’re a growing club, it’s time and money that could have been spent elsewhere on other facilities.” According to Conrad, discussions have begun with the FA (Football Association) to eventually install 3G pitches on behalf of the club.

The project will cost around £1m and Conrad said the club and its various partners would have to fund around 30% of that cost. Leicestershire Police said no arrests have been made following the reported incident.

The force is asking anyone with information to contact them.

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