A football team has its first permanent home for over 30 years after they were leased newly developed pitches.

Swindon Robins FC, a youth team founded in 1991, is “in charge of its own destiny” having played its first games at its new permanent home last Friday, September 6.

Six new pitches have opened in Buckhurst Field in Walcot, as part of an ongoing £600,000 regeneration by South Swindon Parish Council.

Teresa Trueman, Robins club secretary, said: “We’ve finally got somewhere we can call home.

“Pitches in Swindon are hard to come by and for the last year since 1991, we've been hiring pitches and they've become scarcer and scarcer each year.

She added: “I think everybody is quite pleased that Buckhurst is actually going to be used instead of being a glorified dog walking facility.”

The pitch sizes are two seven vs seven, two nine vs nine, and two eleven vs eleven - one larger and one smaller - giving space for the whole squad from under-7s up to under-18s.

All the funding for the pitches came from the Football Foundation.(Image: Robins FC)

As well as the pitches an old changing block is being converted into a clubhouse and kitchen for the team, providing space for refreshments, events and storage.

READ MORE: Buckhurst Field in Swindon to be revamped under new plans

Work on this will start, and hopefully be finished, by the end of 2024, according to Matthew Leather, South Swindon Parish Council’s deputy chief executive officer.

He said: “Robins FC are a bit more in charge of their own destiny. They've got the flexibility now to kind of make more additional income and utilize the space as they best see fit.

“This is a project that's been going on for the last two to three years and it’s fantastic to see projects actually coming into completion.”

READ MORE: Buckhust Field play park refurbished as part of £600k revamp

He expressed enthusiasm that the pitches will also be used by Swindon Spitfires, “one of the earliest women’s teams in the country”, existent since the sixties.

Further elements of the development include a new play area, resurfaced car park, skate park, cycle path and landscaping. The play area opened in June.

Councillor Abdul Amin previously explained: “This development is important because Walcot is a more deprived area and health often suffers in deprived places.

"We have found that many year six students are overweight and we are trying to bridge that gap between deprived areas and non-deprived areas.”