THE County Ground is set to undergo a £22.5 million transformation if a deal can be struck between Swindon Town and the council next week.

The club's masterplan would see £20m ploughed into a four to five year project to build a new Town End, conference centre and hotel, starting in 2026/27.

In the more immediate term £1m will be spent on redeveloping the Stratton Bank open end over the course of 24 months. Between 2024 and 2027 corporate boxes will be added to the Don Rogers Stand in a project costing £1.5m.

The details were revealed in Swindon Borough Council document ahead of a cabinet meeting next meeting.

Read: Latest on Swindon Town and council talks over County Ground sale

The Conservative administration is likely to rubber-stamp a £2.5m deal which would see the ground - currently under local authority ownership - sold to a joint venture company comprising the club and its supporters.

The three parties had been in a dispute over the price of the ground and had crunch talks this year to come to an agreement. 

The council provided an update on social media, stating a cabinet meeting is due to take place on March 16, where councillors will meet to decide whether to approve the sale. 

Its Facebook post read: "BREAKING TRANSFER NEWS: The transfer of the County Ground from the Council to a joint venture of Swindon Town Football Club and the Trust STFC is a step closer to being completed."

The committee report for the freehold sale of the ground says that the recommendation to cabinet is to approve the sale and reveals what appears to be the agreed final price of £2.3m. 

The sale of the freehold of the County Ground to a proposed joint venture company made up of 50 per cent of Swindon Town FC and 50 per cent of Swindon Town Community Mutual Ltd, a group representing the supporters of the club, was approved in cabinet in 2019.

But the sale did not proceed because the then chairman Lee Power became involved in a legal dispute regarding ownership.

Clem Morfuni took over in July 2021 after a legal battle with Power and together with Trust STFC, renewed the bid to buy the ground. 

One of the terms of the sale is that the joint venture company has agreed to carry out a Stadium Development Plan that will see the significant investment made into improving the stadium. 

 

The terms of sale state that the council would have the option to buy back the freehold in the event that this improvement work hasn't started 3 years from the sale of the ground to the club and Trust. 

The final decision will be made next Wednesday.