Swindon Town announce new chairman after lengthy ownership battle
The new owner and chairman of Swindon Town football club has been announced.
Multi-millionaire plumber Clem Morfuni said he was 'excited, relieved and proud' with the new position and hoped by the end of it he would be able to leave the club in a better position than he found it.
The news brings to an end a lengthy ownership battle with former chairman Lee Power. Morfuni has been involved in a High Court legal challenge with Power over the club.
But Power recently transferred his club shares allowing the Australian, who had a minority stake, to complete the takeover.
It comes as the club has been struggling with financial problems. The local council, who own the club's stadium, have taken legal action against it for not paying rent since April 2020.
And with the start of the new season, less than three weeks away town has just nine contracted senior players following their relegation from League One last season.
In a statement released today, Morfuni said: "I will not take any money out of this club. I will invest my money and my time; I will be over as often as I can (or as much as my family will let me); I don’t want to be an aloof owner on the other side of the world; I want to go on this journey with you, I want to be in the town end with you."
Clem Morfuni's aims for Swindon include:
To build a sustainable Championship club
To have an even 50/50 split ownership of the County Ground with the fans;
To very significantly improve and fully modernise the County Ground
To find and fully develop the club's own training ground
Alex Pollock from the supporter's trust told ITV News: "It's been a rollercoaster for all Town fans out there, and I'm just so pleased we now have an owner who is willing to put the fans and community at the heart of all he does."
"Whilst I know many will be celebrating - and right so - it's important to stress there is a lot of work to be done over the coming weeks and months, and it's the perfect time for us all to unite behind the club once again.
"The Trust had been calling for a boycott for some time now, but with Clem and Axis in control of the Club, we'll be reversing that and encouraging supporters and sponsors to get back down to The County Ground in August!"
You can read Clem Morfuni's full statement here