REVEALED: Why Peterborough United’s co-owners, rather than the football club, will own the Weston Homes Stadium

The Peterborough Telegraph revealed last week that a deal to sign over ownership of the football ground from Peterborough City Council to Posh owners Dr Neale, Stewart ‘Randy’ Thompson and Darragh MacAnthony had now been agreed. That deal will be formally completed on March 31.

The revelation provoked questions from some Posh fans as to why the owners would own the stadium rather than the football club.

Dr Neale explained: “There are three key advantages for the stadium being owned by the co-owners as opposed to the club. Firstly, it allows the company purchasing the stadium, London Road Properties, to access low cost debt that would not be available to the football club.

“Secondly, it allows us to enter non-football sectors such as operating the Allia Center which has a positive spin off to PUFC.

“Thirdly, and most importantly, it ensures that if anything ever happened to the Stadium then it would not pollute the football club.

“For information, when we last looked, the majority of the top tier football clubs and stadiums were owned by separate but connected organizations for all of the foretold reasons.”

It was announced last March the two parties had agreed a deal with Posh paying £5.265 million for the stadium, Allia Future Business Centre and 12 car parking spaces, with the council holding onto much of the surrounding land it bought as part of the original deal, including the London Road car park.

Posh are hoping to relocate to a site on the Embankment in the near future.