Chairman stole £22k from junior football club to fund cocaine habit

Karl Morecroft lied to fellow club members as he took payments amounting to £22,491 over the course of more than a year

A former junior football club chairman stole £22,491 from accounts and faked HMRC documents to feed his cocaine habit.

Karl Morecroft, 45, lied to club members at RTB Ebbw Vale while taking home the payments over the course of 15 months.

The club in Blaenau Gwent supported 330 children and relied on the goodwill of fundraisers, parents and volunteers to raise the money to keep going after the fraud.

Morecroft was given a 20-month jail term suspended for two years at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday, and must complete 180 hours of unpaid work and 50 rehabilitation days.

He was also ordered to pay £21,259 within three years and a default order of 12 months in prison if he failed to do so was imposed.

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Morecroft, of Alexandra Street in Blaina, coached the under-eights and under-nines before becoming chairman in 2023.

He pretended the money was for "football equipment, council liabilities, Companies House fees, charity registration costs and business penalties".

Prosecutor Denise Osei said Morecroft repeatedly lied about making "out of pocket" payments for which he had requested "reimbursements" from treasurer Joshua Holvey.

At times Morecroft would himself transfer money from the club's account to his own.

Eventually Holvey became suspicious as spending had "exponentially grown" and the club was not seeing any of the goods supposedly ordered.

When the losses were raised with Morecroft in early 2025 he claimed to be innocent and continued to give false excuses.

Only after a report was made to police did Morecroft admit the fraud, saying he would pay back the £22,491.

On Monday's sentencing it was heard he had failed to do so apart from a single payment of £1,232 in May 2025.

In a victim impact statement, Holvey said the fraud had affected his mental health.

"I never questioned his intentions. I was naive and assumed someone in his position would act with integrity, so I would send money whenever I was asked," he said.

"Looking back I feel a deep sense of guilt and shame for not recognising the warning signs," he said.

"Thousands of pounds have been lost leaving the club struggling to recover and its future uncertain.

"I have lost confidence in my own judgement and feel responsible for allowing the situation to escalate. I joined the club to contribute positively, but instead I feel I have enabled wrongdoing."

Rachel Edwards, the club's secretary, said its f