Aylestone Athletic Shirts Stolen
A thankyou for Leicester Mercury for featuring our plight
A rugby club has had to struggle to find new shirts for its players after more than £2,000 worth of kit was stolen.
Teams at Aylestone Athletic Rugby club had to borrow shirts to fulfil their fixtures after the theft of three sets of kit from its storage facilities at the Old Horse pub, in London Road, opposite Victoria Park.
Club secretary Neil Weston said the team had been left more than £2,000 out of pocket after the theft.
Neil said: "We used to change at the pub and it is the club's spiritual home but we now change at the pavilion in Victoria Park.
"We still stored the shirts at the pub and left them in bins ready to be picked up for washing.
"There is no way anyone would have known where the shirts were stored unless they had been hanging around the pub or knew about the rugby team."
Neil, 35, who plays inside centre, said the three sets of shirts – for the first team, the second team and an away strip – cost £700 each.
One of the sets of shirts was brand new so we are very upset about this. We managed to get sponsorship for others but it is not easy.
"We used club money for one of the sets and that has left us with not a lot in the coffers. It is very disappointing."
Keith Shepherdson, manager at The Old Horse, said: "The shirts were kept locked away in a compartment at the back of the pub waiting for the laundry people to pick them up.
"It is a pretty nasty thing to do. It would be great if they could get them back."
Kyle Sargeant, first team captain, said he hoped the police could recover the shirts, which were stolen three weeks ago. "It is pretty low for someone to take all these shirts."
Neil said: "If anyone wanted to sponsor us for a new sets of shirts that would be much appreciated."