Attack on club was wildly inaccurate

3:21pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

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WE at Sale Sports Club were both amazed and appalled to read Mr Trainer's letter (Rowdy revellers damage image) published on May 8.

You should be aware that the letter is riddled with factual inaccuracies and we are therefore surprised that, as a responsible local newspaper. you saw fit to publish such a scurrilous attack on the club without any check on the accuracy of the contents.

Mr Trainer quite unjustly and erroneously vilifies the club and particularly the alleged behaviour of its members. During the cricket season (all of two weeks old at the Bank Holiday) the bars were not full of lager-swilling louts' as he would find out if he came here. Players do enjoy a few beers in the evening after matches, but never to the detriment of the local community. We are only too well aware that it is not in our own interests to jeopardise relations with our neighbours and we have a strict Code of Conduct by which our members have to abide.

On the Bank Holiday Saturday, the vandalism to the electrical control box on the Clarendon Crescent field (out of sight of the club premises), as described by Mr Trainer, was attributable to local hooligans, not club members. from his letter it appears that Mr Trainer saw the criminal damage taking place. Perhaps he could have alerted the police?

The mindless morons found it highly satisfying to annoy local residents by continually switching on the floodlights. The club was notified of this a number of times, with both the steward and club members repeatedly going to the field to turn off the lights throughout the evening. The lights were off when the club closed at about midnight.

Sadly, vandalism in the area is something we also have to contend with, from broken signs, smashed windows in the cricket pavilion and vehicles joy-riding in the car park and on the cricket field. It is costly to us both in terms of repairs (we shall have to bear the cost of replacing the electrical control box) and time which club offiials - all volunteers - would rather spend organising sporting activities.

A lot of money has been invested in recent years in developing the sporting facilities at the club. Our members appreciate this and are not the sort of people who commit acts of vandalism against club property. They are justifiably outraged by the wildly inaccurate accusations that were contained in Mr Trainer's letter.

We would be happy to meet with Mr Trainer to discuss his points but we do wish that he, and the Messenger, had checked on the facts before rushing into print.

Glyn Roberts President, Sale Sports Club