National League South club Welling United have seen their pitch vandalised with ‘racist symbolism’ and are searching for the culprit(s).
An appeal has been published for information following an act of vandalism at Park View Road which took place on Wednesday the 12th of October.
A statement has been issued along with a photo of the symbol and the person they are looking for in connection with the crime.
Welling United are appealing for information following an act of vandalism at Park View Road which occurred at around 6pm on Wednesday, October 12th.
— Welling United FC (@wellingunited) October 13, 2022
CLUB STATEMENT:
Welling United are appealing for information following an act of vandalism at Park View Road which occurred at around 6pm on Wednesday, October 12th.
Two youths broke into the stadium and used club equipment to paint an offensive slogan onto the pitch which also included racist symbolism.
Police were called to Park View Road on Thursday morning with evidence collected, including CCTV footage and an investigation is under way to find the individuals responsible.
Welling United wholly condemn the acts of those involved and condemn all forms of racism and discrimination.
A reward is being offered for any information that leads to a successful prosecution. If anyone has any information, they can contact secretary@wellingunited.com with the assurance that their identity will remain protected.
This is how Twitter users reacted as the National League South club have their pitch vandalised with ‘racist symbolism’…
@ssnlive1999: Cunt
@_jakewright_05: wow… just wow disgraceful
@BL10CBL: Heard some pathetic kids (or Ultras as they think they are) went on the rampage through Welling after a game there so wouldnt be surprised if they were at the game earlier
@Rotorque: I hope the perps are caught – needless vandalism!!
@charmz08: Scum is to nice of a word for these individuals and from the photo no gloves worn so hopefully fingerprints can be lifted from what ever they used or touched
@paulmartinlfc: Hope you catch them, wtf is wrong with people 🤬🤬🤬
@JoshuaCampopia3: Absolute scumbags 😡🤬
@TibbzBig: What a waste of time and effort to actually achieve nothing
@RussWWFC: Bunch of degenerates, hope they are caught.
@Alexs1056: What do the scum achieve from this?
@sam_itsmee: Disgusting. And incredibly close to the anniversary of when anti-fascists marched on the BNP book store in the area- instrumental in kicking out the fascists.
@CusackRitchie: Unacceptable. I hope they are caught and incarcerated. Scumbags.
@urbancop: Really sad that someone would even consider doing something like this!!
@davidcooke11: It’s unbelievable what has happened. Please come forward if you know the people. We work so hard @wellingunited and people like this think this is acceptable!
@LouisMend: FFS, second time in about 18 months someone has broken into PVR and sprayed anti-Semitic symbols on the pitch
@Snuffles83: Why do that?!! Bloody morons. I hope they are caught.
@LewisH92: Seriously, what is wrong with people?
This comes over a year after Erith & Belvedere uploaded a video onto their social media turned up to their ground only to see a number of Nazi symbols placed around by some disgusting vandals.
They gave a short tour of the damage the culprits had done, and it’s fair to say their have been left shocked and saddened by what has happened.
The wrote on their Twitter profile: “🚨 VANDALISM 🚨 why? So it seems we had a break in last night and someone has vandalised the club. Smile 😀 though you are on CCTV we will take it to the local police. No place in the world for this. 😢
They added: “It’s not the vandalism that concerns us, that’s not here nor there. It’s the message, when will we ever move away from this! 😢”
🚨VANDALISM🚨 why? So it seems we had a break in last night and someone has vandalised the club. Smile 😀 though you are on CCTV we will take it to the local police. No place in the world for this. 😢 pic.twitter.com/VRQZFucm2D
— Erith & Belvedere FC (@EBTheDeres) March 29, 2021
The club’s director, Paul Springett, said at the time he was not concerned about the damage, but is “deeply shocked” about the symbolic nature of the vandalism.
Mr Springett said: “You sometimes go into a pub toilet and someone’s written something childish on the wall, but this is more than that.
“Here, someone has actually gone out of their way to jump the gate, pick up a roller and paint a Nazi sign in the middle of the bloody football pitch.
“I am not bothered about the vandalism, it is the message and the symbol and what it’s all about, it is not nice to see.
“I thought we had moved on from these kinds of things, now that we live in a prosperous and peaceful world.
“I haven’t seen a nazi sign for years – it’s just awful, I can’t get my head around someone doing this.
“Someone said it could just be kids being kids, but then what kind of kids are we raising?”
Mr Springett said: “The roller and the paint was there as part of our major renovation works, we left it out and never expected anyone to come in and steal it and certainly not do what they have done.
“We lost a couple of benches which is going to cost us £20 to £30 to replace, it is what it is, it is just the message.
“You try and move so far away from these sorts of things happening and it is just disgusting really.”
Mr Springett said: “You do see some of these things happening in the news but when it happens to your club, or happens to you, it touches home a little bit more.
“We do so much on diversity at our club, we are big mental health champions, we try and help the NHS as much as we can, we have a multicultural team.
“We are meant to be playing an inter-team game there soon but I don’t want to until we can get rid of the swastika sign.
“It is not nice for players to see.
“We tweeted it to let people know that this kind of mindless stuff is going on.
“It seems to be a little bit more than just kids breaking in, that is the disturbing thing.
“Losing the money (to pay for the damage) is neither here or there, it is just that message, it is not very nice.”
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