Club not dead, just 'furloughed' – Windsor's long-term plan revealed

Kevin Stott pictured at Windsor’s former ground Stag Meadow.

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Windsor’s football director Kevin Stott has confirmed that the club has effectively been ‘furloughed’ while he explores the possibility of reviving the club in a new location in the coming years.

For the past couple of seasons, ‘The Jacks’ have been ground sharing with Beaconsfield Town at Holloways Park following the loss of their rolling lease from the Crown Estate to use Stag Meadow in Windsor.

While he understands supporters and interested observers may feel this is the end of the club, he insists it’s not the case as he explores three potentially exciting new locations for the rebirth of the club in a few years’ time.

“What we’ve done over the past two years was right for the moment, but sometimes you have to be brave and say, are we going to keep doing the same thing or am I going to create a more sustainable long-term future,” said Stott.

“Listen, In the age of social media, I would be surprised if that wasn’t the view that people would have. From the outside and if you don’t know the detail inside the club, then I would probably come to that conclusion, but it’s not true.

“In any organisation you have to look at the resources you have and focus on what you’re going to point that at to get the best return.”

News of Windsor’s withdrawal from the Combined Counties League came out on Wednesday (July 23) with the league confirming the club had pulled out of the competition while it pursues an ‘ambitious new ground development project’.

Stott confirmed to the Advertiser on Wednesday that Windsor were exploring three potential sites, but wouldn’t reveal where they are, and admitted they’d have to overcome significant planning hurdles to bring the project to fruition.

Whether or not this plan does come to fruition in the coming years remains to be seen, but Stott is committing his time and resources into making this happen, rather than focusing on being the ‘benefactor’ for the club at step 6.

“Primarily I only have a limited amount of resource both in terms of time and money and I want to focus on something that is about the future,” said Stott.

“So, we’ve identified three potential new sites for a new home. And you’ll appreciate those budgets are time consuming and I need to be able to focus on that.

“That’s really it. It’s making sure the resource that we have is pointed at the longer-term opportunity. That’s why I’ve made that decision.

“If I said the funding is not an issue, that sounds very flippant, but it’s not. We’re looking at three different options and then it’s just a case of how those options develop. There are always planning details that you have to navigate.

“But we feel very positive about it. I’ve already done a lot of work on this over the past two years, and I want to focus on that.”

He added: “What I’m trying to avoid is funding the first team in good faith, before you have the income streams to make that sustainable outside of being a benefactor.

“There’s nothing long term in that. The original Windsor & Eton was a wonderful example of that. When benefactors go away, which they always do, the team tumbles down.”

The Combined Counties statement read: “The club has advised that this decision is part of a strategic shift, as they focus their efforts and resources on an ambitious new ground development project.

“This initiative is intended to strengthen the club’s long-term foundations and support future growth and sustainability.”

On how the future looks for Windsor, Stott added: “I want to focus on the exciting opportunities that are ahead, and they may take two or three years to materialise but so what?

“Windsor FC will continue to exist, but it’s just been furloughed.

“I can’t talk about the potential locations. They need to stay confidential for the time being. I don’t want to pre-empt things. The reason we have three options is that as we know, with the best intentions, things sometimes fall out, and you must have options. But I remain positive.

“One of the things we’ll do outside of this is think about how we can run a successful youth section that doesn’t need a stadium, for example. We’ve got some new models on how to do that, and I’d like to think that side of things can happen sooner.”

Windsor’s recent history has been turbulent to say the least. There was shock and surprise when the club was evicted from its home at Stag Meadow in 2023, with the Crown Estate ending its rolling lease with the club in favour of offering the newly established Windsor & Eton FC - founded by Mark Cooper - a longer-term lease for the ground and site.

The Royalists have been able to capitalise on that opportunity by creating a thriving youth section and a successful men’s, women’s and vets’ team, with the senior men’s team claiming back-to-back promotions to move up to step 5.

In contrast, Windsor FC had to move swiftly to secure its future with a ground share arrangement at Beaconsfield Town.

For the past two seasons they’ve played their home matches at Holloways Park in Combined Counties League 1 - the division from which they’ve now withdrawn.

With a team made up largely of Beaconsfield Town u21s players and under a succession of different managers, Windsor have managed to survive at that level, but only just.

Last season they finished in the bottom three and were only spared relegation because of a reprieve as there weren’t enough clubs from levels below claiming promotion to take up enough places in their division. However, the ground share arrangement had looked to be working for both clubs as Windsor were able to field a competitive side at step 6 and Beaconsfield were able to give their young players a taste of senior men’s football rather than putting them into less physical development leagues.