AFC Fylde claim their Mill Farm pitch has been 'sabotaged' by lodged brick in drainage system

AFC Fylde agree loan extension for Bradford City goalkeeper

The surface has been noticeably poor this season by the National League side's normal standards, but the Coasters believe they have now identified why.

The club claims a brick, which has been wrapped in cloth, has been lodged in the draining system.

They go on to say only someone with a "working knowledge" of the surface would have been resposible.

In a statement released this lunchtime, Fylde said: "As you may have noticed, the Mill Farm pitch hasn’t been up to its usual standards recently with certain areas showing wear.

"After thorough investigations, it seems it’s actually been purposefully sabotaged – as a brick wrapped in a cloth has been found in the drainage system, causing damage.

"The club believe that only someone with a working knowledge of the pitch here at Mill Farm would have been able to do this.

"With a high fixture congestion, it was thought that the heavy usage may have caused this, but this was soon found not to be the case.

"It goes with our saying that we are really disappointed the individual has taken this action against the club, and we urge anyone with any information to come forward."

AFC Fylde's head groundsman Ian Forshaw explains his account of events and the uncovering of the brick wrapped in a cloth.

“Since being here it’s been the case that the pitch has been wet and it should have drained much better than it has been doing,” he said.

“We applied some wetters which would drag the water through but nothing was happening – so we investigated the drainage.

“On one side it was draining okay, but the pitch was still wet through – so we looked on the pitch side drain and that’s when we found a brick covered in a cloth lodged deep in the drainage pipe.

“Why this was in there, I don’t know. But since removing the brick we noticed it’s now draining better – but recovery at this stage of the year is going to be slow.”

If you have any information that could assist AFC Fylde, contact [email protected] or call 01772 598855.