TRUST STFC vice-chair Alex Pollock reflects on a disappointing opening weekend for Swindon Town as well as some welcome news regarding an off-field story.

The new season got underway last weekend, and I think we can all agree that it wasn’t the opener we were hoping for! But this Saturday is a new game, the second of the season, and I’m sure we’ll see a reaction from the squad.

Swindon hosted an open training session on Monday, and it was fantastic to see many fans turn up at The County Ground, and for all the players and coaching staff to engage with those in attendance.

The club used this opportunity to distribute the new sensory packs that we’d produced in conjunction with Town’s principal sponsor, First City Nursing, for those young fans living with autism.

Over 60 new packs were handed out, and we’re grateful for the feedback we’ve received regarding these. For any parent or guardian looking to obtain a sensory pack, please contact the club for information on how to go about doing so.

Ahead of this week’s home fixture, it’s also worthwhile reminding fans that the club also enabled fans with autism to access The County Ground via the disabled access points to ease the stresses the football environment can bring, and this will continue moving forward.

Earlier in the week, we obtained a copy of the judgement from the recent court case in which an attempt was made to have the company controlling STFC wound up. The Trust welcomes the dismissal of the winding-up petition issued against the club by AC Sports Wiltshire Ltd, also known as Able.

Able claimed the club is insolvent because it has not repaid a £100,000 loan made to the club under the previous ownership and was trying to put the club into liquidation. The judge rejected this, accepting the club is properly disputing the claim on the basis that the payment was actually a non-refundable deposit supporting Able’s unsuccessful efforts to purchase the club.

Subject to an appeal, Able will now have to decide whether it will sue the club for the return of the funds. At the time of writing this column, there was no indication as to what Able’s next steps may be, but they have less than three weeks to file any appeal papers.

Next Tuesday, we shall be in attendance for the latest Advisory Board meeting. Should members have any questions they’d like raised, please do get in touch with us this week via email, and we can include it as part of our segment to discuss on the agenda.

We hope to see many of you at SN1 this weekend, and we’ll remain hopeful for that positive reaction from the team, and finger’s crossed we kick off our home form with all three points! COYR!