Vandalised changing rooms could mean Dartford Heath lose its football ground status

Dartford Heath is on the verge of losing its football ground status as the changing rooms are vandalised in yet another incident that argues the safety of the pitches.

Even though there are no problems with the football pitches on Dartford Heath, there will be no football being played there for the rest of the season as the changing rooms have been severely damaged to such a state that they are deemed 'unsafe'.

Dartford Heath homes over 20 different football clubs and has done for over 15 years, however, work is now underway to try and save the grounds footballing status at it was severely vandalised. Football clubs who usually play on the Heath have been told to look for a new place to play they home fixtures up until the end of the season regardless of how good the state of the pitches are.


Joe Daly is the player/manager for Ridgeway Darts FC who are one of a number of teams that play they home matches on the Heath and he is 'very annoyed' about the situation. 


"We've missed a few home games because of the vandalism which is never good when you want to play week in - week out. The pitches here aren't half bad and the rates are pretty good but because of the inconvenience of some individuals, it has ruined it for the rest of the team. 


"The fact is we are just outside London and readily pitches aren't always available and most of us work full time so it was quite hard to find a new pitch."

However, this is not the first time that Dartford Heath has come under fire from critics regarding the safety of the pitches. The wooded area surrounding the pitches has been a notorious home for a number of sexual incidents in recent times, causing continual problems for the police.

The Heath is known as a meeting place of sexual deviants, most noticeably being the scene where 44 year old, married father of two, Colin Birch, committed suicide in a sex game involving two prostitutes.

However, Chris Dalton, head grounds man of Dartford Heath pitches, believes that what happens away from the pitches should have no affect on football being played on the heath.

He said: “The current situation we are in is causing us a lot of problems and unfortunately there will be no football being played on the Heath for the rest of the season. It’s typical that a small bunch of idiots can cause so much disappointment.

“I don’t think that these stories of what happens around these parts should affect the football going ahead here, why should it? Even though we are all aware of what happens round the corner it has never made my job any tougher.”

Yet despite the positive words from Chris Dalton, this latest act of vandalism on the Heath does operate as another strike against the suitability Dartford Heath maintains as a footballing home.