Swansea City are on course to become outright owners of their home ground, after Swansea Council’s cabinet backed the sale of the Swansea.com Stadium to the Championship club.

The Swans have called the deal, subject to that agreement, a move that will safeguard the club’s long-term future.

Talks between the club and the council have been running for some time over a purchase that would end the local authority’s ownership of the stadium the Swans have called home since it opened back in 2005.

The council built the ground for £27m, and the Swans took over its day-to-day running in 2018.

Council leader Rob Stewart said the deal is being struck for a price above fair market value, with a cabinet report describing “a large purchase price” alongside extra payments tied to promotion, plus ticketing and hospitality perks the council will retain.

“It’s very difficult for them (the football club) to do that if they’re not in control of the asset,” Stewart said.

A report put before cabinet said: “Following lengthy negotiations, terms and conditions have been tentatively agreed which generate a large purchase price, plus additional contingent fees in the event of promotion, as well as retained ticket and hospitality benefits.”

The ground began life as the Liberty Stadium and was originally shared by the football club and the Ospreys. Its opening lined up with one of the most successful eras in Swansea’s history, headlined by a seven-season run in the Premier League from 2011 to 2018.

Stewart pointed out the council saw no rent from the arrangement until 2018, when the lease was restructured to make the Swans the primary tenant and the Ospreys the sub-tenant.

He said the authority doesn’t usually part with its assets lightly, but judged this the right call, while confirming the council would keep planning powers over future development around the site.

Not everyone on Swansea Council is convinced, though.

Opposition leader Chris Holley pressed for clarity on how the sale actually helps the Swans on the pitch, and questioned whether the club could eventually use the ground as loan collateral.

“This is a substantial asset belonging to the council and the people of Swansea and I think we need an explanation,” he said.

“This is a highly significant moment for Swansea City as, after over two decades playing at the Swansea.com Stadium, we move towards taking outright ownership of the ground,” Swansea City chief executive Tom Gorringe said in the days before the council agreed the stadium sale.

“Owning the Swansea.com Stadium is of major strategic benefit to the football club, and we look forward to completing the purchase in due course.”

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