TWELVE Oaks Golf Course owner Patricia Grant is hoping that her decision to sell the club to Swindon Town will provide a legacy her late husband Doug that would have made her late husband proud.

Contracts were signed on Tuesday afternoon between the two parties as the football club brings an end its long search for a permanent training ground.

The land in Highworth was originally used for two pitches when bought by the couple 30 years ago, where Doug’s side Wollen Sports played in the Hellenic League, with one of the pitches still remaining on the south side of the plot.

The plans for how the grounds are going to be transformed are yet to be finalised, with club officials set to meet in the coming weeks to discuss that further, but Patricia is pleased to see the site returning to provide a facility for football.

“I know there is going to be a training facility and the rest of it, the clubhouse and the golf course, I am not sure what their plans are for that,” said Patricia, who lost her husband last year.

“For me now that feels right for it to be going back to the love of Doug’s life, which was football.

“That is what makes the deal sound good to me because I know in my heart that Doug would be happy with that.”

Swindon Town has been searching for a new training facility for several years after its old base at Liddington was no longer deemed fit for purpose. It is are currently in a three-year deal with the Beversbrook facility, in Calne.

Town whittled the search down to five locations within the Borough of Swindon, but Patricia said that club chairman Lee Power fell in love with the site on the road between Highworth and Lechlade on his first viewing.

“I think when they came over to look, Lee Power was quite impressed with what he saw here and asked me if I would think about a deal for the whole lot,” she said.

“I thought about it and if they put Dougie’s name on it somewhere along the line, which they have promised me they will do, then I would be happy with that.

“It is a sad time for me, obviously. Not only because I have not long lost Dougie, it has been everything that we have put in to it, which I am very proud of because it is a beautiful facility.”

The golf course and clubhouse is expected to remain open until the new year before Swindon Town are set to take control of the site by the end of January.

“My members I think understand why I have done it, but I think a lot of people are going to miss it,” added Patricia.

“It is going to bring something different football-wise for the youngsters that Doug would love to see happening.”