Response To Advertiser Article

A article appeared in yesterday's Swindon Advertiser called, 'Plan's are Doomed', with our site editor Gary Stanley the person being interviewed.

The article failed to represent the view's correctly and has since recieved numourous e-mails attacking him personally and asking If he represented Trust STFC, Here he set's the record straight as suggested by people close to him.

Here is the official statement from Gary Stanley....

' For several week's now this site has been promoting the redevelopment of Swindon Town's current home the County Ground in the Town Centre of Swindon. I was approached by the Swindon advertiser Monday to do an interview on my view's of the redevelopment. Most people who know me, know I am firmly behind the club redeveloping the County Ground site. Deputy Chairman Mark Devlin has said on Numorous message to make the plans work. My input into the article was supposed to represent my views, and my views only. Not coming across as a representative for Trust STFC or slating the club.

The Advertiser originally asked me what fan's can do to get view's across to which I replied come to Trust meetings as we have open debate's. The Advertiser then made out,although I specifically asked them not to that I was speaking on behalf of Trust STFC. I specifically advised them to say I was coming from the Vital Football site and that unless anything is officially released by Trust STFC It is my view's and my view's only.

I will say now I did NOT once say that the proposed plan's would fail. What i did say is that I felt the club needed to build up instead of out, and that building on the Cricket pitches etc, taking away the green area's could prove fatal to the approval of the plan's. I suggested finding way's to build on the current footprint and minimise reducing the green area's, thus getting councillors to aprove of plans to redevelop the site. Ofcourse the Newspaper failed to note this point thus making me look 100% behind the club's plan's, and making it appear Trust STFC were against the plans whole heartedly. The way they printed the article was to suggest 'Do It my way or not at all'. I am not a stadium architect or ever claim to be, I am a hardcore supporter who travel's up and down this country spending thousand's of pound's to support, Swindon Town Football Club, and want's to see this club succeed on and off the pitch. I have spent numourous hours giving out Keep Town In Swindon Post Cards, and getting people to sign official Swindon Town Football Club petition's which I personally dropped off at the County Ground. I do not think the whole situation is doom and gloom as suggested in the article but the media as usual, has chosen to highlight the negative points as opposed to the facts to sell a few more paper's.'

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.