A thief has devastated a local sports team after a truck containing thousands of pounds worth of jerseys was stolen from their coach's home.
The blue Ford Ranger truck was stolen from the Whiteinch home of Andrew McGowan, head coach of the East Kilbride Pirates, on Saturday night around 11.30pm.
The truck contained nearly 100 jerseys worth up to £5500 belonging to the amateur American football club's senior team.
A police investigation has been launched into the incident.
The first game of the season is only weeks away on Sunday, April 16, sparking an urgent plea from the club for anyone with any knowledge of the incident to come forward.
There were approximately 70 black jerseys and around 30 white jerseys in the stolen truck.
Andrew claims the jerseys may have been dumped somewhere and is urging anyone who may know something to come forward.
He said: "The loss of our jerseys is a huge blow so close to the start of our season – and our first season back in the Premiership.
"As a community club, we try to remove as many barriers to taking part in sport as possible including keeping costs low.
"This means we don’t have big reserves to fall back on for replacements.
"The jerseys will be of no value to the thieves, so we’re appealing for their return.
"They may also have been dumped somewhere. If anyone has any information, please get in touch with the police.”
The senior team is made up of players aged 18 and over and currently has a squad of more than 50 players.
They won the Division 1 National Championship in London last year and were promoted to the premiership division.
The Pirates are one of only two teams in Scotland to play American football at such a level.
The amateur team, which is run entirely by volunteers, have launched a fundraiser to replace their stolen jerseys before the start of the season as they are not covered under the vehicle's content insurance.
For more information or to donate, click here.
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: "Around 11.35pm on Saturday, 25 March, police received a report of a vehicle stolen from [Whiteinch] Glasgow and inquiries are ongoing."
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