FOOTBALLERS proved that you have to play to the final whistle even after travellers have unlawfully invaded your pitch.

The Worcester Raiders were able to play a long-planned tournament thanks to the generous loan of the grounds at RGS The Grange school, at Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, at the weekend.

The team share the nearby Porcelain ground, off Droitwich Road, Perdiswell, with Droitwich Eagles Football Club.

We previously reported how dozens of travellers left that ground covered in rubbish, broken glass and rubble and trashed the changing rooms during their unwelcome stay earlier this month.

Steve Sparkes, Spa Eagles manager and groundsman, said a trench had now been dug around the site and a steel height limiter put up at the entrance to stop more invasions. The measures have already stopped travellers getting on the pitch.

“The day we put up the anti-caravan bar, they turned up and tried to pull in,” he said.

The travellers were told to go away and residents are now part of an informal system of lookouts keeping an eye out for unwelcome visitors.

Mr Sparkes said the pitch itself would soon be surrounded by a new inner fence, soil bund and a gate to create two barriers between the field and the road. Meanwhile, the grass is growing back and should be ready for the first friendlies in August.

Mr Sparkes met senior police officers following the problems. “We got an assurance that if something happens again they’ll stop them,” he said.

About 100 youngsters were in action on Sunday at The Grange for their football tournament.

Gareth Hughes, school headteacher, said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to host this tournament at the school. With the ordeal the club have had to cope with in recent weeks, this is the least we could do to support them.

“It was a wonderfully organised tournament for the football community of Worcester.”