Swindon Town face court action over unpaid rent on County Ground

Swindon Town have played their home games at the County Ground since 1896

Swindon Town are facing legal action over unpaid rent for the County Ground.

Swindon Borough Council, which owns the League Two club's home, have not been paid rent in more than a year.

The club, who are embroiled in a court case over the club's ownership, failed to pay the players' June wages on time.

Last week, manager John McGreal, his assistant Rene Gilmartin and chief executive Steve Anderson left the club, while it is understood that director of football Paul Jewell has also left.

Swindon Borough Council said in a statement that it had made "every effort to resolve the issue, providing plenty of opportunities for the club to work with us on structuring a repayment plan".

"We set the club a final deadline to respond with an offer to clear the arrears but, when this was missed, we had no choice but to start the necessary legal action for payment of the debt," it added.

BBC Radio Wiltshire understands the club has not paid rent since April 2020, with chairman Lee Power saying the club has financial issues.

In February, he said the Robins were "on the brink" of bankruptcy, having warned in May 2020 that they could go into administration after he failed to overturn an injunction to prevent him selling the club to an American company.

Pre-season training, which was scheduled to start this week, has been put back until Monday. The Robins had nine players under contract following the end of last season and had signed two more - goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott and defender Pierce Sweeney.

However, Sweeney, 26, left the club by mutual consent on Friday, less than a month after joining.

"We fully appreciate that the coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on the finances of lower league football clubs, including Swindon Town, but as with any tenant, the council will take the necessary action if rent is not paid," Swindon Borough Council said.

"We remain committed to working with the football club to find a way forward on this issue."

Lee Power took control at Swindon in December 2013 and had a brief spell as interim manager in 2015-16 after the sacking of Mark Cooper

Power is facing two separate cases against the club over Swindon's ownership - one in the courts and one from the Football Association.

Minority shareholder Clem Morfuni has been trying to buy Swindon and has been backed by the club's supporters' trust. But a court injunction is in place to stop Power from putting the Robins into administration amid a legal case over who is able to buy the club.

Power is also facing FA charges regarding the ownership and funding of the club.

In April, Power, along with sports agency First Touch Pro Management and its company director Michael Standing, were charged with breaching FA rules on ownership.

Standing, a former Aston Villa trainee who had spells at Bradford City and Walsall, had previously stated he acquired 50% of Swindon's holding company when Power bought the Robins in 2013.

However, under FA regulations, agents are not allowed to own clubs because of potential conflicts of interest.

Analysis

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire on BBC Radio Wiltshire

The club has been losing about £30,000 a week for the past two to three years, so that has had to be plugged.

Some of that has come through player trading, some of that appears to have come from Lee Power himself.

If he's looking for an exit route, he might be saying: "Why do I need to put in this £30,000 a month to cover those losses?"

It could be a good sign in the sense that he's decided he's no longer willing to fund the losses and is looking to pass it on to somebody else.

Or it could be a gigantic game of blink poker between him and Clem Morfuni, or potentially some other parties, trying to say, 'I'm going to let the club gently slide away and whoever's going to buy either has to do it very quickly or they're going to inherit next to nothing'.