Thetownend.com

and most importantly she said she spoke to the chief executive of Swindon Town and it was said that the deal could include us moving the new memorial stadium for the duration during the redevelopment of the county ground.

7am tomorrow

Oh great, for a home match i'd have to drive 60-70 miles to fucking Brizzle.

They said they'd consult residents and the council when the possibility turned into a probability. Looks like that process is beginning, unless the council are being pro-active off there own backs just in case.

They've already done the "consultation" with local residents and councillors - it was the meeting last week when Sandy Gray kicked off by telling them that 80% off fans were in favour. Apparently it went downhill from there.

i vote second theory.

Did anybody go at 7am this morning?

Yes - always do just after I get up for work!  :D

Guess you really mean the radio interview.  About five local residents and two ward councillors (one conservative and one labour), they were all 100% against it!  Nobody from the club, obviously Diamond Mike and his cronies too busy counting their share of the monies!

Yes - always do just after I get up for work!  :D

Good comment by the columnist in todays adver... Can't find it online yet, but basically says only the board want it and its for the money.
It says that the board should come clean about it.

Western Daily Press have a front page Headline article on it.

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146238&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146064&contentPK=17478548&folderPk=100268&pNodeId=145795

Note to current board of STFC
When everybody else seems opposed to this scheme, it's probably everyone else who is right and you who are wrong.  The sooner you U-turn on this, the less painful it will be for you.

EDIT: Seems Mark Devlin is in favour though (in today's Adver).  Well that one certainly took me by surprise.

"We have told the club that the residents are overwhelmingly against it. At the moment the residents only have to suffer a match every second Saturday - a ground-share would ruin their lives."

The bit that annoyed me about the WDP story was:



I'm sorry, but 'suffering' a game every other week sounds a bit dramatic. The club was there when they moved in, so they're causing their own 'suffering'.

FORMER Town chief executive Mark Devlin believes opening the County Ground doors to Bristol Rovers could make sense' - as long as the club cover all angles during the decision process.

Devlin, who resigned his post at Town in February, was chief executive at Queens Park Rangers when they shared Loftus Road with London rivals Fulham between 2002 and 2004 and insists it worked well for the landlords.

With discussions ongoing between Rovers and Swindon about a potential 18-month groundshare from December, Town fans and residents are already protesting but Devlin has urged the fans not to rule it out straightaway.

He said: "The groundshare worked very well with Fulham when I was at QPR. The pitch held up well and there were no instances of crowd trouble.

"We had also had Wasps rugby club sharing with us before that and I don't think there was any trouble in either case.

"It certainly made financial sense for QPR and being honest I think Rangers probably could have earnt a bit more out of it.
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"I don't think any problem is insurmountable. There is a lot Town need to make sure of before any decision, and I am sure they are doing that, but it could be a lucrative decision."

The main concern among Town fans seem to be the potential of crowd trouble, after recent history between the two groups of supporters, and Devlin conceded that has to be looked into.

He said: "There have been problems between Swindon and Rovers in the past but the club know that and will be asking the right questions to the relevant people.

"There were objections when it happened at Loftus Road from supporters and residents but their concerns proved unfounded.

"At QPR we had to put into place initiatives, like a litter collection programme, for the local community. There were also parking issues but like I said it can be worked out."

The ability of the County Ground to stand up to the extra wear and tear is another concern, but Devlin has backed up Town groundsman Marcus Cassidy's view that it can cope.

Devlin said: "I brought Sportsturf to Swindon and they have experience of working on pitches that have two teams playing on it.

"You would not want reserve games on it and I would think Rovers' reserves would be told to play elsewhere. Perhaps Swindon could move their reserves game elsewhere as well.

"But if Swindon want to share with Rovers and it makes financial sense then I am sure there is a way to make it a success."

I agree they should not really have any complaints about the situation as it is but i can fully understand the point about 1 or 2 games every week tbh

That does take the piss dont it

Oh i fully understand the desire to not have it every week, i was just a bit peeved with their apparant 'suffering' as it is at the moment...

Can I put it into context please chaps. I was called yesterday and asked whether I was at QPR when they shared with Fulham or Wasps. When I answered that I was, I was then asked if it had worked ok. And the truth of the matter is that ,operationally, it went fine. There were a few teething problems and It required a lot of work with the residents, groundstaff and local authorities, and Fulham fans do not have history of causing problems (that I'm aware of). Rangers fans, whilst not happy to share the ground, were less anti when they felt the club was receiving decent money for the share. I do not know any of details of the proposed groundshare between Swindon and BRFC so I cannot comment on whether this particular arrangement would be good/bad or indifferent.