NEARLY £1,000 worth of damage has been caused to a football ground just days before it hosts a charity football match.

Vandals have jumped on the roof of the dug out at Hay St Mary’s Football Club, causing it to split, while parts of the stand have also been kicked through and the club’s ’Saints’ nickname, that has been painted on the back of the stand, has been scrapped off in places.

The photographs show the damage caused to the home of the club known as the Saints.

The Hay-on-Wye club says it now fears further vandalism as it due to erect a new £30,000 stand at its ground off Brecon Road ahead of its Spar Mid Wales League campaign.

Club chairman Martin Tong said he was disappointed the club had been targeted with it holding a charity football match this Sunday, July 17 to support an appeal to buy a specialist brain scanner for Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where one of its players has undergone treatment.

Mr Tong said: "There is a charity game to raise funds for the hospital which has been treating one of our local players who has a brain tumour, Jack Keylock.

"I was hoping the ground would look its best for this occasion unfortunately due to such thoughtless behaviour this will now not be the case."

He said there is also concern about security at the ground: "We are having a new £30,000 stand erected at the end of next month which the club are now worried could also be damaged."

Mr Tong said to have the club’s name painted on the back of the stand in bold green had cost £200 and its dug outs had cost £700 when purchased.

Vice chairman Nathan Heighway said he estimates more than 400 people are involved in the club which runs three adults sides, a number of junior teams and a ladies team.

He said the club, which has received grants from the Football Association of Wales, has had to hold fund-raising events to pay for ground improvements and meet other running costs.

"As a community club we have to raise money through fund-raising. It gets to me when I and other people have been fundraising, like the ladies team did a charity bike ride, and these sort of things happen. It really gets me down.

"We watt to put a new stand up there but I don’t know what will happen, we will have to put barbed wire fencing up."

Dyfed-Powys Police is investigating the damage and has asked anyone with information to contact it on 101.