By EMMA SUN
A SMALL football club that struggles to raise money to keep it running has been the target of numerous thefts recently, and the club has had enough.
On 11 May, the canteen roller door at Silvan Football Club was broken down and chocolates worth more than $300 were stolen.
The perpetrator allegedly tried again, prying open the roller doors a second time a week later, but went home empty handed as no chocolate was kept on the premises.
In the most recent incident, the club’s social rooms were broken into and the roller door to the bar destroyed to steal a jar containing $200 worth of cash, collected through players’ fines.
President Chris Maclagen said while they were concerned about the items stolen, the biggest problem for the club was the damage done to the property.
“It’s extremely annoying because it’s always on Saturday mornings, when we need to get games off the ground,” he said.
“So instead we need to get people up there to make the place secure again, ring police, email council, go around in circles and it’s very, very frustrating.”
Mr Maclagen said the incidents this year weren’t the first time the club had been targeted, but he suspected it was the same people doing it.
The club is facing damage bills of thousands of dollars, money, he said, the club struggled to get.
“It’s very expensive because the roller doors are all custom made,” he said.
“Everyone’s working so hard to keep the club going and raise money for the club so that everything gets paid for and we don’t need this extra drama Saturday mornings.”
He said the club has had enough and was looking to install extra security measures to deter the thieves.
“We just can’t cope with it, they’re not really taking that much, but it’s the damage, it’s like vandalism,” he said.
“We’re looking at fitting an alarm system, more security, which will hopefully deter them.
“It’s such an inconvenience they’ve caused to the volunteers, that’s where it’s very frustrating and disappointing.”
Senior Constable Ken Tromp from Monbulk police station said investigations were still pending to find the people who did it.
“It’s a lot of damage and it’s inconvenient too – it’s hard enough for these clubs to operate without having to worry about when they’re being broken into or not,” he said.
“It seems like it’s a local, you got to wonder whether it’s a local involved, with the frequency. Anyone with information is urged to contact Sen Const Tromp on 9756 6266.
