Swindon Town FC want to redevelop the County Ground

The club is trying to redevelop its town centre County Ground site but the proposed improvements have hit problems with Swindon Borough Council.

Deputy Chairman Mark Devlin said the club could move "a few miles outside the town" and ground share in a similar way to Huddersfield and Reading FC.

Mr Devlin declined to reveal the exact location where a ground could be built.

The redeployment hit the buffers because of legal and financial concerns at the council.

The club has already had one proposed development at Shaw Community Forest turned down.

The plan for a new 23,000-seater stadium there was pulled after considerable local opposition.

Club history

The club then announced it wanted to redevelop the current site in the town centre in partnership with the council - which owns the land the County Ground is built on.

Swindon Town has stated that if the ground's facilities are not updated, the club's financial future will be in jeopardy.

Mr Devlin added: "Our intention is to stay in the borough - let me make that clear. We'd like to stay here where our history is.

"There is another opportunity that has been presented to the club just outside the borough.

"That's something that if our discussions with the council don't go the way we want, we'll have to consider."

The club is currently losing �750,000-a-year and has faced two winding-up orders in the past year.

Councillor Justin Tomlinson said there was a limit to the amount of help the council could give Swindon Town.

"We can do all we can to work with the club to keep them at the County Ground but there is a limit to the council tax payers' coffers and what the local community would withstand in terms of development.