A BOYS’ football club has been thrown into turmoil after thieves stole the crossbars from its new goalposts.

Littlemore Youth FC has been forced to cancel pre-season friendlies and now faces a £400 bill following the theft of the posts, which the club bought only last month.

Manager Kameron Abbassi said the young players were devastated and made a plea for donations to help the club buy new crossbars.

He said: “It is just so mindless.

“We’re a small club and those posts cost a lot of money. It is going to be a challenge to find the funds to replace them.

“You have to question why anybody would do this. What are they being used for?”

The club has three teams – under-10s, 11s and 12s – comprising more than 50 players. It is based in Herschel Crescent.

The crossbars were stolen from a locked storage container between 1pm on Saturday, August 28 and 10.20am the following Saturday.

Mr Abbassi, 26, said the theft has thrown his pre-season plans into disarray.

He said: “We were hoping to get a few games under our belts before the new season but we’ve had to cancel them.

“The lads are devastated. Those goals had been a long-time coming and now someone has taken them away from us.”

Mr Abbassi urged whoever is responsible to return the posts.

He said: “It would be nice if, after reading about the problems they have caused, whoever is responsible would return the bars.

“But because that is so unlikely, if there was anyone in the city who wanted to make a donation and help us out, we would be extremely grateful.”

The teams play in the Oxford Mail Boys’ League and need to get them replaced before the new season starts later this month.

Club treasurer Martin Dickman said: “The goals had been securely stored at our ground at Herschel Crescent ready for the start of the new season, but some time over a week they were stolen.

“These goals were critical to replace the existing unsafe goals and would have allowed two of our teams to play their 11-a-side games at our ground.

“This is a real disaster for a club of our size and limited budget.

“It now means that we will have to try and raise further funds to not just get some new crossbars, but also to pay for further security measures.”

Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the theft or who has information about it to contact Sgt Joanne Hutchings on 08458 505505.