Swindon Town are hoping to put themselves in a position to compete in League One as part of a drive for increased commercial revenue.

This year will see the second now annual concert weekend at The Nigel Eady County Ground, which proved to be a strong success in its maiden year after a ten-year hiatus.

Town’s Chief Commercial Officer James Watts said that increasing the non-football revenue streams would be key for the club to becoming increasingly competitive.

He said: “A successful concert venue will have implications for the playing budget because of the SCMP rules in the EFL.

“The figures that you generate from the concert will go towards that, so that can help us to get additional players and strengthen us.

“If we went into League One then a concert would be a big part of being able to compete at that level because of the big jump in wages and costs. It is part of taking the club to the next level on and off the field.

“I have been here for three years now and we have increased everything by about 30 per cent and we have got some big sponsors on board at all levels.

“We have got to drive a few things and might have to change little bits about hospitality and do things around games like a fan zone.

“Commercially we are in the top five in League Two now, I am happy that we have gone up by about eight places in the last year.

“We have got to push now and think how do we get into the top two and I think that events will be a prime way of doing that.”

Alongside the concerts, Town are looking to host more events, like the upcoming “Evening with Ossie Ardiles and Micky Hazard” and a similar event with Stuart Pearce.

Watts said: “We are doing a selection of events in The Legends Lounge. We want to try and turn it more into a venue, using The Legends Lounge for more events and getting promoters involved in that, who we are talking to on a local and national level.

“That goes beyond club events but also guest speakers, race nights, and things like that.

“The concert was the starting point and on the back of that we can add things to the commercial portfolio in the lounge, but also the suites upstairs and then with a redevelopment of the stadium you can look at other things.”