I have talked about problems at Swindon Town before and I don't claim to know exactly what is going on, except that it isn't good for Robins fans. Indeed, things have reached such a pass that Rod Liddle made it the focus of his column in the Sunday Times yesterday.
Let's first of all give the perspective of owner Lee Power who according to The Football League Paper is 'battling to keep the Robins afloat.' One must ask why they are sinking in the first place, but let's come back to that.
Power does admit that the club 'is in a desperate fight for survival'. Apparently, he has to dig deep into his pockets because of the impact of Covid-19. 'Every month I have to worry about finding funding to keep the wages paid.' He says that he is having to wheel and deal to keep the club alive, having invested heavily to get the club promoted from League Two last season.
One measure he has taken is to sell arguably the club's best player, DJ, to Charlton for an 'undisclosed fee'.
Power is described by Liddle as a 'former upper-level journeyman player and agent'. However, there is some dispute about whether he owns the club. Michael Standing insists that 50 per cent of the club's shares are in his trust. Liddle, who is unsparing in his terminology, describes him as 'another journeyman and agent'. Liddle also alleges that 'there have been doubts about [Power's] veracity when it comes to money.'
No doubt both gentlemen represent business practice at its best, but they have been battling it out in the High Court to the accompaniment of some unusual interventions from Swindon fans on Zoom. For example, they imitated the Scottish accents of one of the lawyers while another was invited to perform a sexual act after what Liddle described 'as a lengthy and erudite peroration'.
Earlier proceedings in this complex matter with a great deal of sometimes baffling background information can be read here: https://www.casemine.com/judgement/uk/5ec564d82c94e079ae125566
Last year Power made an out-of-court settlement with an Australian businessman Clem Morfuni who owned 15 per cent of the club.
Power, who has an Irish heritage but was born in Lewisham, also bought ailing Waterford FC and had explored buying a football club in Montenegro,
Liddle is mystified by why Power acquired Swindon stating 'I cannot see why any businessman would buy a lower division football club unless he was either a) so rich the perpetual losses [didn't matter] or b) was altruistic to the point of insanity. I am not convinced that Power falls into either category.'
Sometimes, of course, a businessman buys a club in the hope that by putting some money in he can push it up a couple of divisions and then sell it a profit. More often than not such hopes are dashed. Sometimes a real estate play is involved, but this is evidently not the case at the County Ground.
Power states that he is now suffering from sleepless nights every night. It is possible that when he first came to Swindon he was so confused by the magic roundabout that his judgment was impaired. Meanwhile, Swindon are, to use his own words, 'on the brink'. Other clubs have managed to survive the impact of the pandemic.
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