STAFF at an Atherton football club are 'absolutely thrilled' following an anonymous donation of £2,000 to pay for repairs after yobs broke into their ground.

Vandals damaged a perimeter fence to get into Atherton Laburnum Rovers FC's Crilly Park home before smashing holes in the clubhouse, bathrooms walls and ceilings on June 18.

The damage was discovered the following day and a crowdfunding page was set up by the club, with the mystery £2,000 donation being made within 24 hours.

Club spokesman Ben Reuven, 28, who set up the GoFundMe page, said: “We were absolutely thrilled when we saw the donation.

"Of course the person is welcome to join us at Crilly Park for free any time and we will make sure we look after him or her.

“We would also like to thank everyone else who donated and shared our appeal, helping us to get the money needed for the repairs so quickly.”

The club are now addressing security at the stadium on Spa Road and are looking into the possibility of having CCTV cameras installed to prevent further break-ins.

Ben said: “When we saw the damage we were very disheartened with the whole situation.

“We could not believe someone would do this to our club.

“We are only a small club and it is difficult to pay for things like electricity and water bills, so it would have been hard to find the money to repair the damage without the donations."

To make a donation to the club visit gofundme.com/atherton-lr-rebuilding-fund.

Anyone with information about the break-in should contact Greater Manchester Police on 101.