TO say there have been some dark days at the County Ground over the past decade (and beyond) is something of an understatement.

From Terry Brady to BEST Holdings, and Bill Power to Bob Holt, Swindon Town have never been too far away from off-the-pitch controversy, so just when it looked like everything was relatively rosy in Wiltshire, those past demons had to rear their ugly heads again.

National reports yesterday claim the club face a winding-up order from property company St Modwen over the non-repayment of a £2.45m loan dating back to 2005 - the borrowing itself being £1.45million, with £1million interest.

The Guardian newspaper claims that St Modwen - who originally became involved in the club when Swindon were looking to move to a purpose-built stadium - issued a demand for repayment three weeks ago following the end of a grace period.

But with no response from current Town chairman Andrew Fitton and the club’s board of directors, the report alleges that there is “no alternative now but to go to court.”

To the cynical eye, the article appears to be merely a political tool aimed to force Fitton & Co to cough up their readies, with little chance of a winding-up order ever coming to fruition.

However, it will have done nothing to help the nerves of Swindon’s long-suffering supporters, who have been thrown from one nightmare to the next under a succession of County Ground regimes.

This time does appear different though, with the fans placing their trust in Fitton’s consortium. Their honesty, willingness to communicate with supporters and general transparency since their arrival in January 2008 has been a real bright spot over the last couple of years.

And Alan Hayward, of supporters group Red Army Loud and Proud, is one of those more than happy with the current regime in place, and confident the situation will be sorted before any winding-up threats become reality.

He told the Advertiser: “This hasn’t come as a huge surprise or a shock because it has been floating around since the AGM (in October) and been sitting in the background, much like the Bill Power case.

“It just seems like two years down the road they (St Modwen) really would like their money back now.

“Most people have got a lot of faith in Andrew Fitton and the new board, and they will deal with it.

“Everybody trusts their financial acumen and business experience. Even if it got to a court case and they had to cough up a couple of million then I think they would.

“I certainly couldn’t see them pulling out and walking away - they are too far down the road for that. But my feeling is that it is all in hand and we will be fine.”

Since their arrival almost two years ago, Fitton and his fellow directors have only had the club’s best interests at heart - shelling out around £7.5million to date, improving the look and feel of the County Ground to express a much more professional approach, and investing heavily in the playing staff.

And while this latest revelation may make unsavoury reading to some, Swindon’s faithful band of supporters should have every belief that there remains a very bright future for their club.