North Albury fire crews were called to the Melrose Park blaze, on the corner of Douglas Road and Webb Street, about 3am Saturday.

Flames had breached the eaves and spanned the ceiling of the clubrooms, which took eight firefighters and two fire trucks 30 minutes to extinguish.

The blaze started in bins next to the building.

About a third of the ceiling was burnt and there was light smoke damage throughout the building.

Albury police Inspector Anthony Moodie said firefighters also found a gas leak and had to call gas and electricity companies to secure the area.

“The situation could have been much worse with some damage to the gas meter — it could have exploded,” he said.

Insp Moodie said a woman told police she heard yelling and saw large flames coming from the clubhouse.

“We would like to speak to those who were in the park leading up to the fire,” he said.

“We are asking these people to come forward.”

Police took a number of items from the scene for further testing.

Melrose club president David Pye received a call early Saturday morning notifying him of the blaze.

Mr Pye said the club was lucky the season finished last week and finals were being played at other venues.

North Albury station commander captain Andrew Schneider said the fire had the potential to bring down the entire building.

“We noticed the fire had damaged the gas meter, creating a leak and causing it to fail,” he said.

“Luckily the gas didn’t ignite because of the actions of firefighters suppressing the fire.

“The leak could have made the fire a lot more intense and difficult to manage.”

Police are appealing for people who may have seen anything suspicious in the area to phone (02) 6023 9299.