York Rugby Union Club's players have been the first to sample the new £1m dressing rooms and social club at their Clifton Park home.

The facilities, to be shared with the cricket club, took four years to build from conception and were used for the first time on Saturday.

Development committee member Nick Elliot told BBC Radio York: "It will be a great selling point for the club.

"The (old) facilities were becoming unmanageable," he added.

"We couldn't keep putting sticking plasters on, it was leaking money and obviously well past its sell-by date.

Watching cricket from up here, (it) will be one of the great venues. There are county grounds that don't have views like this Nick Elliot

"There were issues with health and safety and there was only one solution for it, and that was to knock it down and rebuild it.

"The (new) facilities have been well designed, with each of the governing bodies' codes of practice in mind, so they tick all the boxes.

"The squash and tennis (players) will benefit from the club room upstairs and from the catering facilities."

The quality and scale of the facilities were built with a view to generating income for the sports complex.

"We've had to scrounge and save and borrow money from all over the place, we've been very keen not to put the club into too large amounts of debt," Elliot added.

"This facility is going to be publicly rentable. It seats about 120 people and there are very few facilities in the area that can do that."

The new balcony overlooks the first team cricket ground, a welcome asset for the summer months.

"Watching cricket from up here, (it) will be one of the great venues. There are county grounds that don't have views like this," he added.

Sadly the rugby club were not able to celebrate the day with a win - they were thrashed 58-10 by Wheatley Hills in Yorkshire One.

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