Grantham Town FC's football pitch ripped to shreds by hungry crows

A Lincolnshire football club has been forced to move their FA Cup tie after their pitch was destroyed in a crow attack.

Grantham Town FC has been left without a home ground after a swarm of crows ripped the pitch apart on Tuesday, August 30 to get to the grub infestation underneath.

The club had no choice but to cancel their local derby against Worksop Town FC and now their FA Cup tie on Saturday has been moved to Rugby Town.

Ground staff think it will take around six weeks to restore the Meres, but the league has only given them four - leaving the club in a "race against time".

The crew got straight to work, delivering more than 60 tonnes of sand to lay on top of the soil as it is too late in the season to dig up the turf.

However, Matt Chatfield, the first team manager, said the club might have to look into ground-sharing for the last two weeks as there is just too much work to be done in such a short time-frame.

Mr Chatfield said: "If you told me a month ago that crows would come and rip up the pitch, I'd have laughed it off. But we can't help it so we've just got to get on with it."

After the work is done, pesticide will be sprayed on the grass to prevent the crows from returning.

The Gingerbreads have set up a GoFundMe to raise £20,000 to repay the cost of the works, which has already raised more than £7,600 in just three days.

You can donate to their fundraiser here to help the club get back up and running again.