'I'm 100% committed to the team' - Swindon Town owner hoping to repair relationship with fans

ITV News West Country's Ross Arnott speaks to Swindon Town owner Clem Morfuni after a tumultuous few months for the club.

Swindon Town's owner has said that he is still 100% committed to the football club despite some fans urging him to sell up.

The club's supporters posted an open letter to Clem Morfuni last month saying they had 'lost confidence' in the direction of the team.

It came after a disastrous league campaign, one of the worst in the club's recent history, where the Robins avoided relegation out of the football league.

Now the owner has spoken to ITV for the first time about how the public letter affected him but also his plans for the future.

"It was tough, it has been a tough time for everyone connected with this football club," he said.

"I totally get it but I feel like we are putting things in place now to try and move forward.

"The letter is not nice and I totally understand it but I have thick skin and I am not the sort of person who can turn around and walk away.

"I am 100% committed to this team, I wouldn't be doing everything I am doing if I wasn't.

"Football is religion to these fans here and I understand that and I will be trying to improve communication with them.

"I get their frustration, I have put millions in to this club. I am not happy either so we are working to move forward with it.

"If someone comes along and says that they are interested in buying this club and the vision they have and the prospect they offer is good I am happy to look at it."

Mr Morfuni bought the club, in what was a hostile takeover, in the summer of 2021.

The team narrowly missed on promotion to League One that season, losing to Port Vale on penalties in the play-offs.

The following season was a more difficult one for the team and financial struggles off the pitch started to emerge.

Last year Mr Morfuni was also charged by the EFL for transferring some of his ownership shares without proper approval.

Since then he has had to officially deny rumours that the club is up for sale on numerous occasions and claims to have put more than £8 million of his own money in to the team since he took over.

Moving forward the team is now managed by Mark Kennedy, who was previously in charge of Lincoln City.

He will hope to secure its future in the football league next year, with Mr Morfuni saying that he has been given a significant budget for the coming campaign.

In terms of supporters, many fans are still making up their mind on the ownership.

With less fans renewing season tickets and many insisting they will not return to the County Ground until there is evidence in an improvement both on and off the pitch.