Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Express & Star - Walsall.

A blaze today gutted the social club of Walsall’s only Asian football team, destroying all of its trophies from the last 12 years.

Fire crews were called to the Mossley-based social club of Sporting Khalsa at the Abbey Park Stadium, which lies off Glastonbury Crescent, at 4am.

They had managed to douse the flames on the steel and timber structure by about 6am, but hours later the floor was still smouldering.

Fire investigation crews are still probing the cause of the blaze.

The club was used as a social area for functions and entertainment.

Sporting Khalsa club secretary Manj Gill said today that everyone was still in shock over the incident.

He said: “We are really upset. We only bought the club a couple of seasons ago and the worst part is that all our trophies were in there.”

A home match was held at the site last night and it is believed club members had been also using the bar area.

Bloxwich fire crew commander Martin Davis said: “The building was well alight when we got there, but soon after it began to collapse.

“Because it was empty I couldn’t risk sending any crew members in there.

“We used two main jets to douse the flames and it was dealt with quite quickly but we still had to locate hotspots in the wooden flooring.

“But it was apparent as soon as we got there we wouldn’t be able to save it.”

The club was established in 1991 and is Walsall’s only Asian football team.

In 2005 it became the first Asian semi-professional football club in the country to own its own ground, which was previously home to Bloxwich Town.