‘I understand how that is’ says Holloway ahead of Don Rogers stand redevelopment vote
The plans would see more hospitality and corporate boxes installed
Swindon Town fans will be voting on the Don Rogers stand redevelopment later today (7 May).
The club’s proposal sparked a lot of concern when it was published last month with many supporters fearing that they could lose seats they have held for years or even decades.
Instead of the seating, Swindon Town FC wants to expand its hospitality facilities and install new corporate boxes.
Robins manager Ian Holloway told Greatest Hits Radio: “I’m not the people who have been Swindon fans for all these years and have to put up with that. I’m a Bristol Rovers fan and I feel the same as they do, so I understand how that is.
“But I’m not in a position to take sides. I just have to do what I believe is right and I will try to help Swindon Town be a much better club than they have been over the last few years and head towards being a much better club than they’ve been for a long, long time. And if that’s the case, then that’s all I want.”
A recent survey carried out by the Swindon Town Supporters’ Trust saw more than 380 fans share their views on the redevelopment plans.
Almost a third of them (32.29%) said their support for the plans was very low.
271 of the supporters who participated in the survey are season ticket holders – 109 of which will be displaced from their seats if the plans go ahead.
More than two third of those who participated in the survey usually sit in the Don Rogers Stand which means they would likely be affected by the redevelopment works which are set to last between 12 and 18 months.
While almost half the supporters said they tend to attend every game in a season (47.4%), nearly one in five said they only attend ‘a few’ games each season (18.5%).
However, to develop the club as well as the team, Holloway is convinced that attendance needs to increase.
“We’ve got to be resilient, we’ve got to come back together and we’ve got to get more people through the gate because that will help us be a bigger club again.
“You can’t just be a bigger club – you have to literally, physically be a bigger club. And I want you to just enjoy your football because that’s all I can control – what my team does when we’re losing. They never give up”, he said.
“Life gives you downs – but you can turn a down into an up if you believe you can and you never give up.”
Fans who completed the survey were also given the option to add comments on the plans.
According to TrustSTFC, the general themes were that the proposals are generally of a high standard and that the architect had done a good job, but that the Don Rogers stand is best stand at the County Ground and that other stands would need investment first.
Supporters also raised concerns about the funding model and the club’s current ownership as well as about the final developments possibly differing significantly from the proposals.