Devastated officials at the McMaster Centre revealed to The Gazette hundreds of adults and children will be affected by the destruction caused to a playing surface, which has been left unplayable as a result of massive ruts and tyre tracks left on the pitch.

It is understood yobs ripped up the playing surface late last Tuesday, skidding across the turf and leaving behind what appears to be tyre tracks from a quad bike or motorcycle.

Mark McGee, treasurer at the McMaster Centre and secretary of Thorn Athletic who use the centre, said it follows over £2,000 worth of improvement works that were made on the surface during the summer, as well as countless hours of voluntary work from those who hold the centre close to their hearts.

The McMaster Centre caters for numerous football clubs from Johnstone such as Thorn and the youth section of Johnstone Burgh — but McGee concedes tenants at the Greenend Avenue pitches will be forced to play elsewhere whilst the surface recovers.

He told The Gazette: “Hours of hard work and fund-raising has just went to the wall as a result of these mindless vandals.

“We spent over £2,000 during the summer to get the playing surface up to a fantastic standard and it was at its best since we took over the centre a couple of years ago.

“Everybody worked hard to raise the money and we had the pitch verti-drained for the very first time, had it seeded, fertilised, cut and rolled — not only did that cost thousands of pounds but many hours of work went into making it the best it can be.

“With winter now approaching it couldn’t have come at a worse time as the grass is about to stop growing and the pitch looks like it is going to be out of action for at least two or three months.” Thorn Athletic were forced to move their weekend fixture with St Joseph’s away from their home pitch as a result of the damage done to the park.

The rates to rent a astro-turf pitch are at least double those of the grass surface at the McMaster Centre, and McGee explained maintenance works to get the park back to his high standards are only just the beginning.

He continued: “On average it costs £50 to hire a grass park, however we have had to relocate our home ties to an artificial surface which will cost us at least £100.

“That will double our outlay for the foreseeable future until Thorn can resume playing their home games at home.

“Obviously money is tight at all clubs right now and it is really something we could do without and is really bad news.” But, McGee admitted it is the first time that the park has been targeted — and hopes it’s the last.

He added: “The first concern is obviously that the attack is malicious.

“Hopefully it is just an isolated incident, we have reported the matter to the police but their is only so much that ourselves and they can do.

“We have never had a problem with the surrounding community and have usually received the backing of the locals so hopefully this never happens again.”