A YOUTH football club left almost bankrupt after its treasurer plundered its bank account is back on an even footing.

Earlier this year Natalie Ross, 40, was jailed for 18 months for stealing more than £60,000 from Highfield Juniors FC and the Ministry of Defence.

The mother-of-one, of Reedmace Road, Bicester, drained the bank account and thousands in cash paid in subs by youngsters.

For months club managers put their hands in their own pockets to pay for equipment and kit to keep the teams going.

Then chairman Tony Cowles decided to send a letter to local businesses appealing for sponsorship.

And that was when food market Roots of Hardwick stepped in and agreed to buy new kit for the team.

Mr Cowles said: “Roots have been brilliant. They came to us because we’re a local team and they are a local company and obviously there were children involved.”

Nick Jones, of Roots Food Markets, said: “Whilst we get numerous requests for donations and sponsorship, the Highfield Boys FC team’s story really rung true with us, because the original Roots mantra was about taking a small, independent, local business and turning it around to better serve the local community.

“We’re all about being a small fish in a big pond, so giving a helping hand to this local team was a good fit for a great cause.”

Mr Cowles said the Ross case took several years to go to court and team managers were left subsidising equipment and kit.

Mr Cowles said: “We had about £9,000 in the bank and it all went.

“She was our secretary, we took £2.50 each off the kids for training and everything – there were 12 teams – and over a couple of years she took £100 here and £80 there.

“She was paying her mortgage from Highfield Juniors FC cheques.”

In February, Ross was convicted by a jury at Oxford Crown Court of 17 charges of theft, obtained by deception and false accounting. The charges related to her time as treasurer of Highfield Juniors FC and as a bookkeeper at Bicester Garrison between 2004 and 2007.

Ross stole a total of £63,451.17, but was only ordered to pay a nominal fee of £10 within 28 days under the Proceeds of Crime Act as the court agreed she had no assets.