SWINDON Town’s summer football programme gets under way in Scotland this weekend with a squad of 24 looking to shed a few more stone in the summer sun.

The County Ground’s professionals are not quite ready for their first pre-season matches, but the Robins will be represented by a band of strong-willed supporters, who have lost a combined 40 stone in three months.

The Football Fans in Training (FFIT) group set off for Edinburgh yesterday (FRI) afternoon ahead of a weekend of competition, with 19 other schemes at other clubs across the country.

“This has been huge because it’s added another dimension when the programme finished in April. It gave them something else to strive towards and work towards,” said Jon Holloway, manager of Swindon Town Football in the Community Trust.

“This is taking their passion for football and putting into representing the football club and England as well.

“It’s been brilliant to feel this excitement from this group of men.”

The Town faithful, all aged between 35 and 65, took part in the innovative programme to help them all lose weight between January and April.

Once the programme came to an end, Jon and his team put the club forward for the national tournament made up predominantly of Scottish sides which have been running similar schemes.

Southampton will be the only other English club to send a team of fans, just a short time after they lost in two warm-up friendlies with Town ahead of the contest.

“When the programme finished the big part of it was ensuring it’s a long term goal and they keep running with it,” said Jon.

“They have set themselves up with a Facebook group and still exercise together three or four times a week.”

Town will enter two squads of 10 in the six-a-side tournament, which will be played out Scottish Premier League Hibernian’s training ground.

And for the full experience, the supporters will be kitted out in Swindon Town’s first-team shirts.

Jon is confident the team will do themselves proud north of the border, with a competitive streak to match anything in their way.

“Like all guys, lots of them played football in their younger days and that competitive streak has been evident,” he said.

“We saw it in the 13-week programme. They needed that to lose the weight they did across the programme.”