Swindon Town’s £2.3m deal to buy County Ground approved

Swindon Town has received final approval to take ownership of the County Ground in a £2.3million deal.

Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet voted unanimously in favour of the proposal last week but the last step in the process was for the council’s scrutiny committee to approve the deal.

That came at a meeting on Monday night (March 22), with the deal again receiving cross-party support and unanimous approval.

The next step will be for the parties to finalise the legal documentation to complete the sale.

The proposal for a joint venture between the club and its supporters’ trust to purchase the stadium for £2.3m.

The club and the fans will both have a 50% stake in the ownership of the stadium – and a development plan that would see £22.5m spent on upgrading two stands and building a hotel and conference facility on the Town End over the next five years was revealed last week.

Council leader David Renard again expressed how pleased he was with the deal.

He said: “These conversations started with the trust probably about seven years ago, for various reasons it has been put on hold but we are here now.

“We’ve now agreed a price which all parties are happy with, and once it is concluded it will be good for the club, the supporters, and the town as a whole, because there will be an opportunity for the joint venture to invest in the ground, something the council hasn’t been able to do”.

Credit: Benjamin Paessler, Local Democracy Reporter