A WOMEN'S football team has been left 'heartbroken' after vandals destroyed one of its goals. 

Members of Mudeford Phoenix Girls and Ladies Football Club have been left devastated after it discovered their equipment had been trashed on August 6. 

Ian Roff, 44, said that this is the second time in just over a year a goal has been broken. 

He said: "The club treasurer sent me a message yesterday at 4pm.

"When it happened last year, you couldn't tell they had vandalised it until you walked up to them.

"This time you can see the bars at the top broken and the interlocking mechanisms on them were completely smashed off. They're unrepairable."

Ian told the Echo he is disappointed that the club has become the victim of an act of vandalism again and worried it might mean a postponement of matches if they cannot buy a replacement, which would cost between £1,500 to £2,000.

Given a grant annually by the FA to buy new goals, the club has created a JustGiving page to help buy a new goal.

Ian said: "We can't weld them or anything because of insurance purposes. As soon as they break, you have to buy a new set straight away. 

"There's rules within the FA that you have to use a certain size goal and our season starts in three to four weeks.

"There are two or three age groups that will struggle until we get a new goal."

One of the few all-women's clubs in the BCP conurbation, the club provides 10 squads ranging from under-nines to its ladies squad for women of all ages.

Founded in 2003, Ian stated it has grown in recent years following the increase in popularity of women's football, especially after the 2022 Euros.

He said: "Since the Euros, we definitely have seen a spike in people wanting to take up football but it was a spike not only in younger girls but also older ones too.

"We are self-reliant on the girls in the local area and the club is about giving them something to do and something to get them off the sofa."

Anyone with information on the incident can call police on 101.

To visit the GoFundMe page search for the page titled 'Mudeford Phoenix Fundraising for new Football Goals'.