YOUNG Lochgelly footballers face having to play away from their home ground due to the reckless behaviour of local horse owners at the weekend.

Launcherhead Park is used by Lochgelly Albert Colts teams, who play in affiliated youth leagues in Fife.

These people allowed their animals to dig big gouges in the Launcherhead surface, which is going to cost the club a significant sum to repair.

Launcherhead Park, down Station Road, is used by Lochgelly Albert Colts football teams who play in affiliated youth leagues in Fife.

The pitch is maintained voluntarily by representatives of the teams who give up their own time to carry out repairs to the surfaces, but the damage caused on Sunday has left club officials very frustrated.

Recently there have been issues with hoof marks from horses digging up the pitch and making it unplayable.

Said Albert Colts' Kevin Kinnell: "The pitch has been repaired by the volunteers on occasions, sometimes at a cost to themselves.

"On Sunday two games had to be rescheduled, as the pitch was unplayable due to the recent inclement weather.

"Then during the afternoon it appears that horse owners were running their animals over the full area of the pitch, causing considerable damage, leaving imprints several inches deep, along with tearing the surface badly".

Added Kevin: "It is difficult enough to get games played at this time of year with the wet or freezing weather, and the teams will now have to suffer a financial hardship by having to pay for other venues, such as astro turf centres, etc, in order to fulfill fixtures.

"We would appeal to these people to please realise the damage they are causing and costs they are leaving the club to deal with for re-instatement of the problems they have caused."