Matches Abandoned After Boar Draw

[JoeyB]

A football club has had to suspend home games for several months after a pitch invasion - by angry wild boar. Skip related content

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The animals squeezed through a gap in the fence at Soudley Recreation Ground in the Forest of Dean.

They then set about destroying the turf by digging up giant mounds with their snouts, and leaving the field covered in massive potholes.

Gutted players had to call off their match against Charfield at the weekend and have been told it could take months to get the pitch back to a decent playing standard.

And club secretary Louise Stephens has told how members and players are "absolutely devastated" by the carnage.

Speaking to the Western Daily Press, she added: "A resident saw the pitch at 8.30am and phoned my husband to say we had to get down straight away. There is no way of playing on the pitch now."

The news was all the more galling for the club because the field had only been returfed in April following a string of fund-raising events to pay for the work.

The animals normally live in nearby woodland, and it is not known what made them come out of the forest and set their sights on the football pitch.

Experts believe there are over 1,000 boars roaming the UK and they are rapidly breeding, with little fear of humans because they have no natural predators.

Earlier this year, a wild boar broke into Ruardean Primary School, seven miles away from the Soudley pitch, and was shot dead in the playground after it became aggressive.

And there have been several reports of horse riders getting chased by charging boars, boars trashing private gardens and farms, and of boars tearing dogs apart.

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[Sparky]

Fooking animals !!