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Swann hopeful after Northolme buy-out bid
Blue Square Bet North play-off final. Gainsborough Trinity v Nuneaton Town. Trinity Chairman Peter Swann G120513-3m
GAINSBOROUGH Trinity Football Club chairman and local businessman Peter Swann has said that he ‘remains hopeful’ in his bid to invest £500,000 in the club ground at the Northolme.
Mr Swann has made two separate offers to the football ground - one which sees him buy the club outright and another where the current owners still retain involvement.
One of the offers included £500,000 of improvements but only on the condition that he owned the ground.
“We met last Wednesday,” Mr Swann told The Standard. “We’re meeting again soon which is a long way forwards from where we were before.”
He continued: “We’re going to sit down with the committee to discuss the finer details because the outcome will affect the club for years to come.”
Speaking of his plans for the Northolme if his bid is successful, Mr Swann told the Standard: “Obviously the ground is tired and needs substantial upgrades in all areas - and parts of that will just eat up money.”
“I want to improve certain facilities for the fans which are just not good enough and need to be made better as we don’t even have many of the basics.”
He added: “We need to make the stadium work at this level at least if we are going to go up one. The Blues Club aren’t going to invest that kind of money so it’s going to be a struggle otherwise.”
“If the Blues are going to move forwards then now is the time to do it.”
Mr Swann, who claims to have already invested around £1.75million in the club in the last four years, says he will step down as chairman at the end of the season but hopes to continue his involvement as owner.
“It’s a massive decision that needs to be made by the members and the fans - the impact would be massive,” he said.
Mr Swann, who has other business interests in the town such as the State Club, has been critical of the state of trade, investment and visitors to the town - but remains positive about the impact of football at the Northolme.
“The excitement that the Blues generated through football last year was amazing,” he said. “We had about 20 per cent of the population of Gainsborough down for one game so it’s very important that the football club survives and lives on as a vital part of the town.”
What improvements would YOU like to see made to the Northolme? Email newsroom@gainsboroughstandard.co.uk and let us know.
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Weather for Gainsborough
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 6 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Light rain
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