Carson in charge at Swindon

The former champion jockey Willie Carson was yesterday confirmed as the new chairman of the Second Division club Swindon Town.

The bid from his consortium to take over the running of the Wiltshire club was overwhelmingly backed at an extraordinary general meeting yesterday. The EGM was ordered by the High Court following the resignation of the previous chairman, Danny Donegan, last month.

Carson, a former Robins director, and his consortium have been involved in a long-running battle to take over as the club's board of directors. The consortium had fought to prove that because the previous board had not held an annual general meeting for more than two years they had broken the shareholders' rights.

Carson was cautious about making any claims about the future. "There are no promises – there have been too many promises broken at Swindon Town recently," he said. "We will concentrate on things in the short term. We'll be looking to do everything for the benefit of the club – all the new directors have Swindon Town at heart."