A FOOTBALL team fed-up of clearing its pitch of dog mess before games has asked pet owners to be more responsible.

Eynsham Youth FC under-11s spend 15 minutes before each match filling up carrier bags with excrement found on its pitch.

And after one player got covered in faeces after sliding through mess not spotted, the club has also called on council wardens to show more presence as a deterrent and add more dog bins.

Manager Robbie Watson, a dog owner, said: “It’s come to a head now because it’s got so bad on the field.

Our top stories

“It’s the minority just being a bit lazy. I have a dog and walk through the field so it’s giving us a bad name.

“Some people have three or four dogs and let them off the lead so they can run about but have no control over where their dogs are going.

“It’s very frustrating because we have to spend so long making sure the field is clear of dog fouling.

“We want to see dog owners being more responsible and I would like to see more enforcement and bins.”

The team has played at the Oxford Road Playing Fields in Eynsham since it was set up last season.

Mr Watson said players, coaches and parents picked up two full bags before a game earlier this year and the problem has continued this season.

Players help inspect the three-quarter length pitch for 15 minutes before every match and adults pick up any dog mess they find.

But a game had to be halted in October, after a 10-year-old boy slid through some faeces that hadn’t been seen picked up. His hands and kit were covered in mess and had to be cleaned up before he could continue playing.

Mr Watson said: “It was all over his top and hands and we had to spray him.

“The poor lad was devastated that he had landed in this dog mess.

“You can tell that it’s often quite fresh so it’s people who have been down there on a Saturday morning and not picked it up. We haven’t played there for two weeks so I hate to think how bad it’s going to be when we play the next game.”

Assistant manager Russell Burton wrote a letter to Eynsham Parish Council, saying: “I would like to present you all with these lovely, smelly, intoxicating, germ-infested bags of dog mess.

“However, I won’t because we have bagged it and binned them in the dog mess bins provided. If we can find the bins, why can’t others?”

He also asked for dogs to be kept on leads during matches Parish council chairman Gordon Beach said it had spoken to police and West Oxfordshire District Council about the ongoing issue.

He added: “We’re extremely disappointed about the inconsiderate attitude of the dog walkers.

“I don’t think it’s anything to do with the availability of dog bins.”

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.

 

Â