A rugby club came close to collapse after its treasurer stole more than £30,000.

Staff and players at Shoreham Rugby Club trusted financial adviser Benjamin Geralds to look after the club’s books.

But he betrayed them and plundered the accounts, putting its future in doubt.

Geralds, a former first team captain, left the club with just £527 in the bank and debts of more than £20,000.

He diverted the club’s money into his own account and even pocketed cash paid by members to buy tickets for England rugby internationals at Twickenham.

The club, which has more than 160 members, faces an uncertain future and is still nearly £9,000 out of pocket.

Geralds, 30, a father-of-two from Lyndhurst Road, Worthing, narrowly escaped being sent to prison.

He was given a 24-week jail sentence suspended for two years and must do 300 hours of unpaid community work after admitting fraud and false accounting.

Geralds was also ordered to repay £8,918 club, which is based at Buckingham Park, Shoreham.

Gary Ansell, the club chairman, said: “There was a real chance we would have had to fold, and the committee held personally liable for the debts.

“I lost count of the number of sleepless nights I had, and it is only through the hard work of the committee and others that we have got the club back on an even keel again.

“Because of this, we have not yet signed the lease on the ground and we may yet not get the park in time for the start of next season.”

“We thought he was a friend and a team-mate.

“In reality, he was in it for the money.”

Geralds was club treasurer between September 2007 and July 2010, but officials only became suspicious when a major supplier told the club it had not been paid.

Geralds had doctored the accounts to make it appear the club had £18,000, but later admitted he had been stealing.

Geralds told police he had been threatened by drug dealers.

Chris Chatterton, defending, said: “It is not the case that he acted out of sheer greed.

“This was an act of sheer desperation because he was so fearful of what could happen to his family if he had not done what he did.”

Presiding magistrate, Alan Richardson, told Gerald: “Ultimately, this was a betrayal which moved the club to the very brink of collapse.