BURGLARS stole about £1,500 worth of valuables from a Gwent football team's changing room.

Govilon AFC players returned to the changing rooms at Bailey Park, Abergavenny, after their 3-1 defeat to Usk Town to discover valuables and even clothes were missing.

"We noticed as soon as we got back," said Govilon team manager Steven Morgan.

"They had smashed the plastic window at the back of the changing rooms and jumped through it, taking mobile phones, money, wallets, credit cards, keys and even pairs of jeans."

Mr Morgan added: "Because we had lost our keys we had to get our work vans towed back and change all the locks on the vehicles as well as our homes."

Last year the Usk Town players had been the victims of a similar crime during one of their games.

"Thankfully we lost very little this time," said club secretary Colin Jones. "When the same thing happened last year we lost thousands of thousands of pounds.

"But now we lock everything in a box, and all we lost this time was £20 and one mobile."

Ray Griffiths, the secretary of the Knauf Insulation Gwent Central League, in which the teams play, recommended that teams locked their valuables in a box.

He added: "There are metal fences surrounding the pitch and premises at Bailey Park. This helped shield the burglars from any passers-by.

"These burglars target matches where the changing rooms are a distance from the field and it doesn't only apply to soccer. It can happen in any sport."

Bailey Park is owned and run by Monmouthshire county council. A spokesman said the council employed no security staff at the ground. Police confirmed the theft and are investigating it. Anyone with information should call 01633 838999.