MELKSHAM Town Football Club’s new ground will give it something it has never in its history had before, says joint president Mike Perrin.

With the completion date for Woolmore Farm Stadium set for this summer Melksham Town will next season be playing in the new £7 million ground after having its final game at The Conigre last Saturday (May 7).

The state-of-the-art stadium, to be shared with Melksham Rugby Club, will offer improved training facilities and a greatly enhanced club house, which will be more than double the capacity of The Conigre's.

However, despite the potential of their new stadium Mr Perrin, 69, admits that the memories and history left behind at its old ground will be sorely missed and difficult to replicate.

He said: “From my point of view I played there when I was only 16 so it will always be a touch sad for me to say goodbye to the stadium.

“To me it is a proper none-league ground and it is a great atmosphere. You only need about 150 people in there and you get a hell of an atmosphere.

“But what we are going to get now will be fabulous for all the youngsters from under 7s upwards and really The Conigre will not mean anything for them.”

Mr Perrin, of Hazelwood Road, started playing for Melksham Town back in 1962 and has had several roles throughout his involvement with the side.

The team played its last ever home game at The Conigre losing 2-1 against Hengrove Athletic in the semi-finals of the Les Phillips Cup on Saturday (May 7).

“My only real regret about moving to the new stadium is that I will no longer be able to just get out of bed and go over there as I live so close,” he added.

“We are maybe a little lucky to have a stadium like this and it is a big thank you to the council and FA for going ahead with it.

“We missed out on promotion last year and that was a real shame as you never really know when an opportunity like that will come about again.

“With this new stadium, however, that is not going to happen. At The Conigre there were some great times and those times certainly outweigh all of the bad.”