BANISHING the begging bowl from the County Ground is a top priority for Mark Devlin as he prepares for Town's eagerly-awaited annual general meeting.

The club's chief executive will focus on football for 90 minutes at Rushden and Diamonds today before turning his thoughts to Sunday's AGM.

For his part Devlin will reflect on 2003 as 'another stepping stone on the path to recovery' and stress how far the club has come in the last 18 months.

Shareholders meanwhile will have their opportunity to grill the board at Sunday morning's meeting and while both directors and supporters are keen to look to the future, it is inevitable that past mistakes will be examined.

The astonishing contribution of Sir Seton Wills over the past decade is not expected to go unnoticed either as the accounts for 1998-2001 are discussed.

Devlin said: "It's three sets of accounts we have to learn from.

"There were excesses. The club did 'go for it' during that period of time. That's great if it works but you need a plan 'B' to fund that approach if plan 'A' fails.

"There clearly wasn't a plan 'B' and that's what got the club into trouble, not once but twice.

"We are now trying desperately to build a club geared to life at a higher level but we can only do it if we can afford to do it."

The three sets of published accounts highlight the contribution made by Sir Seton Wills.

Devlin said: "It has been well documented how much Sir Seton has invested in the club over the last decade.

"He really has put in substantial amounts of money for very little, if any return, apart from the fact that he is desperate to see Swindon Town survive, prosper and move on.

"We don't enjoy those huge amounts from him any more but what he does do is give us a guarantee that if there are any shortcomings or shortfalls throughout the season, he is able to assist us from time to time.

"It's my responsibility to try and make sure we don't have to go to him and that the club can run on an even keel.

"This season may prove a little difficult to return us to a completely break-even position but I would anticipate that next year, if we get everything into place, we can cut our own cloth and won't need to keep going with the begging bowl to an outside shareholder."

Once the AGM is over, attention will turn to the afternoon's action against Brighton.

Another good turnout can only help keep the begging bowl further at bay.

Devlin said: "I'm hoping we can get at least nine thousand in and maybe even break the five-figure barrier.

"We do appreciate the support the fans have given the club and continue to do so.

"We have come a long way over the last 18 months and slowly but surely we're getting there.

"Supporters have had a decade of ups and downs, false dawns and false promises and I'm glad to see that quite a lot of them are returning to the fold and hopefully more and more will continue to do so."