Swindon hope to reach next stage of County Ground development early next year

Swindon Town are on course to present a design for the first phase of The Nigel Eady County Ground redevelopment plan early next year.

Having purchased the club’s ground using the funds left behind by Nigel Eady in March 2023, Swindon and TrustSTFC as part of the Joint Venture company have a three-year window in which to have a plan signed off of over £1 million in value before Swindon Borough Council would be able to exercise a buy-back option.

When most recently asked about the topic in September, CEO Anthony Hall told The Adver that the club hoped to appoint an architect that month and were working to have a planning application in place during the early part of 2025.

In the November minutes for the club’s Advisory Board, it was revealed that an architect had been appointed, a survey of the work had been completed, and work was underway to present plans for consultation in January 2025.

The plan for the first phase of the redevelopment is to install hospitality facilities in The Don Rogers Stand to enable the club to gain more revenue.

Hall said in September: “That [corporate boxes in the DRS] is one element of it, when the stand was built in 1994 there was an allowance for other hospitality facilities to be built that we can use on matchdays and non-matchday – so that will be looked into.

“[The first phase of development] is a refurbishment of The Don Rogers Stand with hospitality and there is an aspiration to have corporate boxes, but we need to look at the feasibility of that.

“We would need to look at where those boxes are located because we are very aware that those boxes would mean the displacement of fans.”

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The Advisory Board minutes also revealed that a survey is being undertaken to install a big screen in the ground.

In October 2023, Swindon commercial manager James Watts submitted a planning application to install an LED screen in the ground and it seems that this plan remains on the agenda for the club.

The minutes said: “A structural Survey is underway for the installation of the Big Screen.

“This will be located at the Don Rogers Stand end of the Stratton Bank in the mid-terrace lateral gangway between the white barriers.”

The initial plan had the screen used specifically for advertising purposes and it was made up of 30 960mm by 960mm panels.