KEVIN Keegan has sent a message of support to a County Durham football club which has suffered repeated vandalism attacks.

The former Newcastle United and England manager has pledged to make a donation for an auction to raise money for a new clubhouse roof at Annfield Plain AFC.

The Wearside League club has suffered vandalism problems for a number of years, but attacks on the tea room and dressing room complex have increased in the past six months.

Club secretary Marshall Lawson said: "They've holed the roof right through in three or four places.

"We went up after one weekend and found that it had rained and flooded the complex. We had to pull carpets up in the tea room and dry the whole place up."

The club is planning to hold a series of fundrasing events to try and generate the £5,000 it will cost to replace the roof.

Keegan brought Newcastle United to the club for a charity match in 1993. The game raised £6,000 towards a memorial for a mining disaster in Stanley, in which Keegan's grandfather was involved.

Now manager of Manchester City, Keegan has offered to donate merchandise from his new club to an auction to be held for the Stanley club.

In a letter to the club he wrote: "I was shocked to hear of Annfield Plain's plight and it is a great shame for those people who just want to watch a game of football."