The club house at Croydon Athletic Football Club was completely destroyed in a fire last night.

Five fire engines and 25 firefighters from Norbury, Croydon and Woodside fire stations were called to the blaze at the single storey building at the Keith Tuckey Stadium on Mayfield Road, Thornton Heath, at 11.30pm.

The 40m by 15m club house was 100 percent damaged in the fire and although the fire was brought under control within an hour, machines stayed at the scene until 6am.

A firefighter from Norbury said: "There was a lot of flame and lots of smoke. It was an old timber building and a lot of it had collapsed inwards when we had arrived.

"It was a big job and there were about 25 of us there, mainly because the water supply was a long way away."

Police were called to the scene at 11.55pm, and a spokesman confirmed they were conducting a joint investigation into the cause of the blaze with the London Fire Brigade.

Croydon Athletic was founded in 1986 and was initially a merger between Wandsworth FC and Norwood FC. Initially named Wandsworth and Norwood, the club's name changed in 1990.

The club folded and resigned from the Ryman League last January, after running out of money on December 3, 2011.

AFC Croydon athletic, which was formed by Croydon Athletic fans last year, play their home games at the Croydon Sports Arena in South Norwood.

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