Paul Ukighir
After the second day of play, the Spirit of ’69 believes it has achieved a “huge milestone” in its efforts to persuade Clem Morfuni to sell Swindon Town.
Between 250 and 300 supporters gathered at the rear of The Arkell’s Stand after Swindon’s 3–3 draw with Port Vale on Saturday, according to Wiltshire Police, to voice their displeasure with the club’s management.
Morfuni said in December “There is no point in protesting” during an interview with The Adver, but it was revealed on Saturday evening that he had met with The Spirit of ’69 co-founder Terry Pierce ahead of the second protest.
Pierce said that attending a private meeting felt like a significant turning point for the movement, even though she received some criticism online for doing so.
He said: “It was lose-lose for Mr. Morfuni with regard to engaging with the protest but one of our primary objectives was to get some sort of engagement with Mr. Morfuni.
“When he reached out on Friday evening to arrange a meeting, we thought long and hard about taking it but ultimately we felt it was the right thing to do.
“We don’t think that it is correct to protest and then not engage as ultimately it shuts down a path forward.
“There were some views exchanged but there was nothing in the meeting that he has not said publicly in Fan’s Forums and media interviews.
“What this does allow us is a direct route forward to drive towards some sort of public meeting, our commitment to the people who have aligned with us from the beginning is that we will not get sucked into trying to resolve this through public meetings.
“We are very much of the opinion that whatever conversation that happens next has to be in a public forum in one way or another.
“We didn’t really get into the to-ing and fro-ing of why the meeting shouldn’t be private and it is a conversation we need to have when the club follow up.
“I think that they have shifted from a dismissive tone to an intent from the club to speak and listen to us. I think that is a huge milestone.”
After two protests so far, the group intends to keep up the pressure and push for a change in ownership.
He said: “Ultimately we were there to have our anger be heard and to have confirmation [from people in hospitality] that it was very audible is job done on Saturday.
“We were really happy with the turnout, to show the community remains and our position hasn’t changed and our anger hasn’t dissipated is very important.
“Where do we go next? There are two or three really key things coming up and we have to be super careful on what our next steps are.
“You have the ground redevelopment, the season ticket campaign, and obviously the season ending on the pitch. It is a super interesting few months to come for us.”
