SWINDON Town CEO Rob Angus pens the first of what will be a bi-weekly column, alternating with owner and chairman Clem Morfuni, as he discusses the latest events at the County Ground.

It is great to have the opportunity to write to you on a regular basis about the progress we are making at STFC as we look to rebuild our club and take it onwards and upwards in a new era!

So far, we are pleased at the progress we have made given the issues we have inherited both on and off the pitch. Ben Garner and Ben Chorley have done a great job building a strong squad from a very challenging starting place.

I know how hard they work to continue to improve things on the pitch and get the results that their efforts and that of the rest of the coaching and playing staff deserve.

We are really thankful for the great support for the team and our club from our fans and sponsors. To have around 8,000 Town fans at each of our first five home games has been fantastic and we really appreciate your support. We now have 4,401 season ticket holders which is a third higher than recent historical norms.

Home and away your support has been amazing, you are massively helping with the rebuild of our great club.

In addition, the support from those supporters and sponsors that have waived refunds and credits is much appreciated and is so essential given the substantial debts (c£4m) that we have inherited, it has made a massive difference to us having a club as Clem can’t rebuild our football club all on his own.

We recently had our first Advisory Board meeting which was attended by the Supporters Club, Trust STFC and our Club Ambassador, the legendary Don Rogers.

We discussed a number of issues from the contractual claims from Able, John McGreal, Rene Gilmartin, and Paul Jewell (rest assured that under Clem’s ownership every effort will be made to ensure that money spent by the Club is done so appropriately and for the benefit of the club), to the debts owed and repayment plans agreed with HMRC, Swindon Borough Council and the EFL amongst others, and to more positive plans with regard to the joint club-supporter purchase of The County Ground and subsequent redevelopment and how we can work together to build the next generation of Town fans.

Full details of the meeting including the documents discussed and the minutes of the meeting are on the club’s website, which you can view by visiting https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2021/september/stfc-advisory-board-meets-for-the-first-time/.

Our next Advisory Board meeting is on October 6 - please contact the Official Supporters Club and the Supporters Trust for questions or suggestions that you have which can help take the club forwards.

We now have a couple of local away games, including a West Country derby against Bristol Rovers, ahead of our next home game on October 16 versus Rochdale. This game will be one where we will recognise the great efforts of our charity partner, Wiltshire Air Ambulance who provide such an important service across Swindon and Wiltshire.

It is our privilege to be able to support them and their amazing staff, so we hope you can attend in your numbers again (please spread the word and bring a friend or family member too) to back the team and the great and important service that Wiltshire Air Ambulance provide to our local community.

Thanks for all your support and COYR!