Swindon Town owner Clem Morfuni reveals condition for selling the club as club debt hits £8 million

Swindon Town in £8 million debt to owner Clem Morfuni

The most recent Advisory Board minutes show that Swindon Town owes Clem Morfuni £8 million.

In order to keep the club afloat, Morfuni has provided interest-free loans to him to help cover cash shortages.

In response to a question about the current size of these loans at the Advisory Board’s February meeting, the amount was £8 million for the 2024 accounts, which were the most recent to be filed.

TrustSTFC has asked that the loans be turned into equity on several occasions, expressing its worries about their magnitude and the potential effects on the club.

Morfuni was asked by The Adver in November if he would think about turning the debt into equity.

He said: “No, I can’t do that. I have spoken to my legal department and my finance department in Australia and I can’t do that.

“Like I have said before, and I said this in the Fan’s Forum, what I want is for when I do sell the club, I don’t want it to be in debt like Andrew Black left it with the £2.95 million debenture which nearly put the club into administration.

“I know how important it is for the supporters of Swindon and I don’t want that to happen again.

“When I do sell, my goal is not to have any debt on the club.”

Trust chair Neil Hutchings told BBC Radio Wiltshire in January: “Clem has had to continue to fund the club probably to the tune of £1.5 million a year, so although the club haven’t released any updated finances for nearly a year now, we suspect that the debt owed to Clem Morfuni is probably in the region of £9-10 million.

“It is all well and good us relying on the overdraft facilities that Clem Morfuni is giving us but in five years time that [debt] is going to be nearer £20 million.

“From a Trust perspective, we feel it is fine Clem funding us day to day but what is he doing to help take the club forward? How is he generating that additional revenue? How is he bringing supporters in and bringing back supporters?

“We have to start addressing some of these other issues, if he doesn’t, for the sake of the long-term security of the club, I don’t see how continuing to build up debt year on year with no solution to pay it off helps anybody.”