'Chang - not funny' - Adver

[Dr Pierre Chang]

SWINDON Town Football Club is due in court next month for failing to pay rent on the County Ground and faces the possibility of being evicted.

The club owes more than £50,000 to the council, which owns the ground, and that is for money owed over several months.

It is understood there is a clause in the rent agreement which says if the bill is not paid for several months then the money will be pursued through the courts.

If the court finds in favour of the council they have the right to take control of the ground, although it is hoped a solution can be found before that.

The news of the court action comes days after it was announced the amount of Government funding the council will receive next year is due to be significantly less than first thought, meaning an extra £1m in savings will need to be found.

Council chiefs are also keen not to allow the debt to mount to unmanageable levels as it has under previous owners.

A court date has been set for January 5, although if the club, owned by Lee Power, pays the bill this may be cancelled.

A council spokesman said: “The council are pursuing the usual legal action when rent is not paid and payment has not been agreed.

“In this instance the club owes us over £50,000 and it has not indicated when this will be paid.

“None of the individuals and businesses who pay their rent to the council on time would expect us to make an exception, particularly when we are facing serious financial challenges in providing essential services and still have a budget gap for this year of £2m.

“If the court finds in the council’s favour we will have the right to take possession of the ground within 28 days, but we would hope to resolve things with the club before it gets to that stage.

“The council agreed it would not allow whoever owned the club to rack up huge debts, because in the past this led to it having to write-off large sums of money in order for the club to survive. We can’t afford to do that again.”

While the club has enjoyed success on the field and are third in League One, this is not the first time this season Swindon Town has been accused of not paying money owed to the public purse.

In August it was revealed the club owed the police almost £30,000 for unpaid police bills, which has since been resolved.

Swindon Town were contacted for comment but no one was available.

I really am enjoying this season, but can't be the only one fearing a new year capitulation, ala the 12/13 season?

[tans]

Oh ffs.

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

They will pay the bill and that will be that.

Non story.

[Batch]

Ffs. The most worrying aspect is that I thought Power was on top of things.

He could of course not be paying  in protest at something, but that would be stupid..

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

Now we know what the Aussie sponsorship is for.

[DarloSTFC84]

There's always Sixfields..

[Frigby Daser]

Hardly a way of getting the Council onside and goes to show (as if we didn't know it anyway) that we are still very much working on a 'hand to mouth' basis.

The only difference is that the transfer strategy gives us an income flow that we didn't have before, so long as we sell regularly.

[Nemo]

The transfer window reopens in a week, I can't see who it would benefit to go public now?

[Costanza]

Because we operate like clockwork?

[Batch]

Because we operate like clockwork.

Even a stopped clock pays up twice a year.

No wait, that's not it.

[kerry red]

Struggling to understand this.

Power says he has budgeted for crowds of 7500 - which we have spot on - and I presume paying your rent would be included in this.

Anyone else preparing to hear it's the (non going) fans' fault we have to sell in January?

[pauld]

It's annoying and embarrassing but let's get a sense of perspective here, this is 2-3 months' arrears we're talking about here but the council (quite reasonably) keep us on a short leash these days so we can't rack up the six-figure debts of the past. If it doesn't get cleared fairly quickly, that might be more reason for concern.

[Sir Pissalot]

... so it's just the Adver 'shit-stirring' again, then, is it? 

[manc_red]

... so it's just the Adver 'shit-stirring' again, then, is it? 

Not really. Right to report it IMO.

[DarloSTFC84]

... so it's just the Adver 'shit-stirring' again, then, is it? 

Was everything spelt correctly in the article too?