HUNDREDS of people flocked to the new football and rugby grounds in Melksham to watch the inaugural fixtures for the home teams.

The new grounds, based at Woolmore Farm, opened its gates for the first Melksham Town matches on Saturday, with crowds eager to settle in to the new facilities. The first rugby match saw Melksham RC face off against Bradford on Avon whilst over on the new football pitch, Melksham Town went head to head against Bristol Manor Farm in the FA Vase replay.

Despite both teams losing, everyone was upbeat about the new sporting centre.

Pat Holtom, chairman of Melksham Rugby Club, said: "It was absolutely fantastic. We had lots of interest from the public who all came up to see the matches and the new grounds. It is a great thing for the town. We may not have got the result we wanted but it was a great way to start. People were watching bits of the rugby then going over to the football so it works really well. It was worth every second of the wait."

Due to the large crowd, of about 1,200 people, cars lined up on the verge outside of the football grounds as well as packing the new car park to capacity.

Dave Wiltshire, chairman of Melksham Town FC, said: "It was amazing, we didn't quite expect it to go that well. Usually we would be expecting 300-500 people for home games. I know there were issues with parking but we had people out in the car park and a community shuttle to the grounds. There were people parking outside the grounds which we didn't encourage, but it's not a terrible problem to have. The centre is for the community, after all of the games on Saturday we also had a party in the evening and a christening on the Sunday. So it will be used well after all the money the council paid to have it up and running."

Members of the public echoed the opinions of Mr Holtom, adding that the new site is a vast improvement on what was being used before at the Conigre.

Charlie Robinson, 23, of Snowberry Lane, Melksham, said: “The new grounds are brilliant, it is a huge improvement to the former club. We watched the rugby at the old grounds because my boyfriend Nick plays for Melksham. He was very excited to be playing the first match at Oakfields.”

Long-term fans of Melksham Town stood along the sidelines of the new pitch, preparing to watch their home team take on Bristol for a shot at playing at Wembley. The new club, which cost £7.3million out of the Melksham Campus budget, is home to 16 football and rugby pitches and a 1,773 square metre building.

Sue Kearns, 69, of Bowerhill, said: “We go to every home match, the new ground is very impressive. It is over a year since the team were supposed to be playing here but it seems to have been worth the wait.”

People from outside of Melksham were impressed with the new site, saying that it has been needed for a long time.

Mike Lamplough, of Cockhill, Trowbridge, said: “The new ground is good. The town really needed a rugby and football pitch all in one place. One sports centre is ideal for the town, and other places could benefit from having a similar set-up. I hope that it proves to be very successful for Melksham.”

Melksham Town lost out 5-3 to Bristol and Melksham RC went down 33-19 to Bradford on Avon.