"He needs to sell up" - Claim made on Swindon Town owner amid County Ground redevelopment plans | OneFootball

FLW's Robins fan pundit is against plans to redevelop the club's stadium and wants owner Clem Morfuni to leave

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

FLW's Swindon Town fan pundit has criticised owner Clem Morfuni and urged him to leave the club amid plans to redevelop the County Ground, which he believes are not a priority right now.

Swindon's performances on the pitch have been inconsistent this season, but a likely mid-table finish in League Two would be mostly accepted as a good foundation for Ian Holloway and co. to work off for next term.

Off the pitch, it has been a different story, with Australian owner Clem Morfuni coming in for club-wide criticism due to a lack of finances and being the cause of their general decline over the last few years.

Morfuni was originally hailed as the Robins' saviour when he took charge back in 2021, but optimism that he is the right man to take them forward has slowly dwindled in the years since, with numerous financial sanctions imposed as a result of his mismanagement at board level.

Swindon fan pundit offers 'sell up' Clem Morfuni verdict amid stadium plans

Swindon's supporters group, Trust STFC, wrote an open letter to chairman Morfuni in May 2024, detailing how they had lost confidence in his ability to run the club, with a call for increased investment, more transparency and a plan to redevelop the stadium.

Nearly a year on and the wheels are in motion for the latter to go ahead, with the club revealing last month that a Joint Venture board, made up of club representatives and trust members, had met to discuss the next steps for a potential renovation of certain areas of the County Ground.

Trust STFC members are now set to vote on whether they want the redevelopment to go ahead, or not, in mid-April. The plans require unanimous consent from all members to go ahead, but FLW's Robins fan pundit, Ciaran Daniel, has revealed that he will be voting against the changes, while urging Morfuni to leave the club due to a lack of belief that he has them on the path to success both on an off the pitch.

“My most unpopular opinion that I’d say has most people divided is on our owner,” Ciaran told FLW.

“Personally, I think he needs to go. There is nothing he can do to recover my trust in him, and that’s the same with a lot of supporters.

“He needs to sell up, and we need a clean break from everyone that is involved in this ownership regime.

“When the plans come out for the stadium redevelopment, no matter what they are from Clem Morfuni and his ownership regime, I’ve got a vote share in the joint venture with the supporters trust, so I will personally be voting ‘no’.

“I don’t trust any of them with what they’re doing. I don’t trust that they’ll redevelop the stadium anyway.

“I don’t believe that it’ll be done on time, within budget. We could potentially be ending up in a Northampton situation, where the stand takes years to complete and we’ve got half a stand for the next ten years.

“I’ll be voting ‘no’ for it, and they could pretty much be doing the things they need to do around the ground and I’d still vote that way, because I believe that they’re just in it for themselves.

“If they do the redevelopment, I just don’t believe that they will complete it on time, or complete it at all, if it even gets started.

“It took them months to do a bit of signage and paint on the club shop, and they want to redevelop a stand. It’s not happening.

Clem Morfuni has admitted that he will sell the club if the right offer comes in

It is fair to say that Swindon supporters' anger is well-placed, simply based off the uncertainty around their position in the EFL over the last few years, and the fact that they have had six permanent managers in the nearly four years since Morfuni took over.

The club suffered a £1 million loss in their latest yearly accounts, proving how poorly they have been managed at board level over the last few seasons.

Morfuni has not shied away from speaking publicly about his aims in recent times, and he reiterated his stance on selling the club if the right offer was to come in, after a fan group was set up to put pressure on him to put the Robins up for sale, in a December interview with the Swindon Advertiser.

He said: Was I happy? No, I wasn’t happy. Do I understand where they are coming from? Yes, absolutely.

“As I have said in the media numerous times: if there is anyone out there who can show me their proof of funds and a letter of offer then I will gladly sit down with them.

“I have never shied away from that and said that I am never going to sell the club.

“If these guys can do a better job than me then show me the offer; there are a lot of people who talk a lot and I have had a lot of people come to me saying they want to buy the club, so I ask for their proof of funds but nobody does.

"I am a businessman at the end of the day and I will look at every opportunity. If the opportunity is there and I believe that they will do a better job of running this club then I will sit down with them and talk to them.

“I have always said that. In Fan Forums, in the press, and everything else. There is no point in protesting, just give me someone who wants to buy it."

Swindon fans have continued to peacefully protest against their owner on matchdays outside the County Ground, but a sale certainly does not seem imminent with plans to redevelop the stadium currently in their infancy.

The club's main aim right now has to be to finish the League Two campaign strongly, after they were able to pull away from relegation danger under Ian Holloway. It remains to be seen whether Morfuni will still be in his role come the start of 2025/26, but what is clear is that fans will not be happy until something seriously changes at board level.