Yesterday

[Guest]

very many congratulations on your wonderful win yesterday.Your team did you proud.My lot are out so I will come along to watch you in the next round, as a former Slough resident.

 

Every best wish.I am now going to trawl around your site to find out what's happened with Wexham Park as I didn't know you had moved, albeit hopefully temporarily.

[Ian]

Thanks for the comments! I'm sure there's lots of versions on the truth surrounding Wexham Park but here's my interpretation of events based on what I read and assume.....

 

In exchange for keeping STFC going for several years, Mayfair Communications are offered the opportunity to purchase the freehold on Wexham Park having owned the lease for a number of years. Having exercised that option last year for a relatively small sum (£300k) the current Chairman failed to negotiate an appropriate extension to the lease to enable us to stay amid accusations of unpaid bills although how true that is I don't know.

 

The Ryman League require us to have a minimum 7 year lease on the ground which is unlikely ever now to be obtained on Wexham Park as if planning permission is ever granted on the land the £300k paid to obtain the freehold is worth a reported £80 million and I don't suppose the owners want to wait 7 years to get a sitting tennant off the land before being able to capitalise on the potential profit which is fair enough, really.

 

As to why we haven't got an alternative site in Slough, when a perfectly feasible solution (which would have involved tens of millions of pounds of private funds being invested in the town) was proposed by the former ruling council, direct your enquiries to Richard Stokes, Slough Borough Council.

[Guest]

Has the regen project been rejected by the Council now? is it a dead duck?

[Ian]

The incoming leader made a pre-election boast to cancel any plans for a stadium as part of the regeneration and that was his first comments to the press on being elected. He later tried to retract his comments and change them but made himself look stupid by saying the papers had apologised to him for mis-quoting him when they categorically denied ever offering such an apology and that his original comments were correct.

 

His best ideas so far are to merge with another club or form as AFC Slough because (paraphrasing his words) well, Wimbledon have done ok out of it.