Swindon Town Football Club plan to buy County Ground for £2.3m

Swindon Borough Council's cabinet is set to make a decision on the sale on 16 March

Swindon Town Football Club is planning to purchase its County Ground home for £2.3m in a joint venture with a supporters group.

The ground is currently owned by Swindon Borough Council and the authority's cabinet will meet on 16 March to make decision on the sale.

The County Ground Stadium Custodians Trust aims to carry out a number of improvements if it is successful.

It plans to redevelop the stadium and add a conference centre and hotel.

Council officers have recommended councillors approve the sale with the final decision resting with the authority's cabinet.

A similar deal was approved by the council in March 2019 but never went through due to a legal dispute over ownership of the club.

However, new chairman Clem Morfuni took over last year and the club advised the council that it wanted to resurrect the plans to purchase the County Ground.

There are plans to extensively redevelop the League Two club's County Ground if the bid is successful

The purchase would be a joint venture, with the County Ground Stadium Custodians Trust made up equally between the football club and a fans group, each having a 50% stake.

The application states that it will be funded by trustees of the late Nigel Eady, a lifelong Swindon Town supporter, who left a trust fund to benefit the club.

If the bid is successful, the new owners plan to invest millions into upgrading the stadium, starting with a £1m redevelopment of the Stratton Bank stand in 2024.

It also plans to spend around £20m on a new Town End stand, conference centre and hotel, and a further £1.5m on adding corporate boxes in the Don Rogers stand, by 2027.

Mr Morfuni bought the shares of former chairman Lee Power last July, ending a lengthy and complex legal battle over the club's ownership.

Before that, the club had been facing legal action over unpaid rent for the County Ground, with the council having not been paid for more than a year.