For as many years as we can remember, the Trust has submitted programme notes to the Club ahead of each home match. Articles have included a broad range of subjects including stadium developments, historic events and wider footballing topics of interest.
It’s a time-consuming process but one we were fully committed to – playing a small part in a long-held football tradition.
Two weeks ago, we submitted our programme notes for the opening game of the season. The Club acknowledged receipt and confirmed that they had been added to the draft.
Those notes never appeared in Saturday’s programme and on Monday morning we received an email saying that they had been removed due to them “…coming across in quite a negative light towards the Club”. Unfortunately, the Club made no attempt to contact us to discuss their concerns in advance of publication.
Below, we share with you those programme notes in full and unedited.
We respect that the programme is a Club publication and it’s fair that they decide what they do and do not publish. But in equal measure, at a time when many supporters are feeling a growing divide between them and off-field elements of the club they love, the Trust cannot accept any form of censorship.
Earlier today at the Advisory Board, we informed the Club that we were suspending programme note submissions with immediate effect. Instead, our programme notes will appear in a new “Trust Matters” column in the Swindon Advertiser in the buildup to each matchday.
It’s disappointing that the positive steps being taken by Ian Holloway to bring the players closer to the community which supports them so passionately are being undermined by a reluctance to engage at a Club leadership level.
Nevertheless, we look forward to sharing our thoughts through the Adver and we’ll be sure to share the articles with our members through our newsletters.
Programme notes for 22nd August 2026 vs. Cheltenham
A new season is upon us, and supporters will be full of hopes and expectations for a successful campaign.
Traditionally, we judge progress after the first 10 matches, so we shouldn’t get too carried away by a fast start—or too discouraged by a slow one. After all, the last time we won this division, we began the season poorly.
There have been many changes to the Club and playing staff since last season ended, which will inevitably bring challenges as everyone settles in and the Club looks to start strongly.
One concern on the playing side is the number of legacy and new pre-season injuries affecting the squad. Are we simply unlucky, or is there a deeper issue? The number of hamstring injuries will be a particular focus.
Off the pitch, we will want the Club to address operational issues quickly, ensuring the website is fully up to date, and ticketing operations are ready for the new season.
In today’s football world, a Club’s value is heavily influenced by its current and potential revenue. In the game’s increasingly inflated financial landscape, this often matters more than profit or sustainability. Almost every Club makes a loss—and the higher you go up the League pyramid, the larger those losses tend to be.
Not everyone may realise that Commercial and Media revenue is significantly higher (double) than Matchday revenue. With James Watts having left to become Managing Director of Cheltenham, we hope appointing a new Commercial Director is a priority.
We look forward to working with Ethan Thatcher, the new PR & Communications Manager, throughout the season.
We wish Callum Knowles, the recently departed Head of Media and Club Photographer, all the best. Last year, he worked with us on several key projects, including the award-winning My Shirt My Town project.
As we begin the new season the Trust must address some membership subscription issues. It is no longer financially viable for us to maintain subscriptions paid monthly at £1 or £2 per month. The cost to the Trust to process these payments is more than the payments! For this reason, we will be writing to members to ask them to subscribe via the annual £19.69 subscription instead. We really value every one of your memberships and we hope you will understand this initiative.
As you will have seen we were busy in the close season by delivering the 2025/26 Fans survey which had a very powerful message for the Club, and we hope they will take heed and address the issues raised. Also, we successfully negotiated with the Club to amend their recently issued debentures to ensure that they do not impact the Nigel Eady County Ground JV including the Lease on the Ground. Fuller details of these initiatives can be found on the Trust website – so take a look! www.TrustSTFC.com. You can also join the Trust from the home page to stand with us.
COYR!
Nick Coote TrustSTFC Board