Pritch Quits Pitch Duties After Lies From Lonsdale

Bulls groundsman Ian Pritchard has quit the club after a series of broken promises over payment.

Pritchard, a lifelong Bulls fans, began looking after the pitch three years ago but he told Bulls News he had to walk away due to the repeated promises of payment that went unanswered.

"I stuck up a lot for David Keyte, he promised me at the end of the season new people would come in and sort it out and I believed him. I spent two grand on seed and bits and pieces to keep the pitches up to scratch because of that. Then this new lot came in and they didn't want to know.

"I was owed £20,000. I'm not a football creditor as I'm a contractor, not staff, and the new lot got a fan in to cut the grass at Victoria Park. I've got no problem with him, he's apologised since and he wouldn't have done it if he knew what was going on, but I wasn't happy being owed so much, so I locked the gates there until they paid me.

"Within two hours of locking the gates they paid me £3,500 - and promised another £3,500 each month until the debt was paid off. And they agreed a weekly fee to keep up the work at Victoria Park and Edgar Street.

"That was a month ago. I've not had a penny since."

"I met with Andy Lonsdale and Mark Ellis. They swore blind the football creditors had been paid. Lonsdale assured me I'd get my money, agreed a deal with me. It was all lies."

Pritchard is now taking the club to Court to claim his losses: "I don't want to do it. It's the club I love. The club I've supported for 40 years. But I've got a family to look after like everyone else. I can't ignore £20,000."

"I've got my solicitor putting the paperwork together now. It doesn't feel like the same club anymore. It's not the one I've poured my heart and soul into."

It is understood that a mower, on hire, arrived at the ground earlier today.

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