Football stadium deal to complete this month

Swindon expect to exchange contracts on the purchase of their County Ground stadium by the end of January.

The League Two club is aiming to buy the ground in a joint venture with its supporters’ trust.

Members of the Swindon Town Supporters’ Trust (Trust STFC) overwhelmingly voted in favour of the venture this month.

“We’re really delighted that 88% of our members got involved in the vote and 99.8% of those gave their approval to proceed,” Trust STFC joint vice-chair Alex Pollock told BBC Radio Wiltshire.

“There are a huge number of people involved now in the next couple of weeks to hopefully get the contracts exchanged and signed by the end of this calendar month.”

The venture, called The County Ground Stadium Custodians Ltd, will see the ground bought from current owner Swindon Borough Council, which will then lease it back to the club and trust for 250 years.

Once completed there are plans in place to redevelop the stadium, as well as build a conference centre and hotel on the site around the ground.