Swindon Town owner Clem Morfuni said that the late payments that resulted in an EFL punishment were the result of an “administrative error” on the side of the club.

It was announced on Tuesday that the club had been fined £2,000 and given a one-transfer window Transfer Fee Restriction with a second window suspended and will be triggered if any further payments are late between now and June.

The club had accrued 39 days of late payments, which included payments seven days late to HMRC in June 2023 (for which they were notified in July 2023), five days late to HMRC in October 2023, and late payment of ticket monies to a third-party club for 27 days.

Various members of the club’s hierarchy spoke to fans at the Fans’ Forum in the Legend’s Lounge on Tuesday evening and among the topics discussed was the punishment the club had received from the EFL.

Speaking at the Fans’ Forum, Morfuni explained why the club had made the late payments that had got them in trouble with the EFL.

He said: “It was an administrative error.

“I take the blame for it, I made the mistake and at the end of the day, I will take it on the chin.

“I haven’t got a problem if I make a mistake, I apologize for it, running this club is not easy.”

Club CEO Anthony Hall was also asked about how the mistake had been made and he said that changes had been made and guaranteed this would not happen again.

He said: “Originally it was a three-window ban, but we appealed that because we felt it was disproportionate to the offence committed and the EFL has recognised that to a point.

“They banned us in this transfer window from buying players, but it hasn’t prevented us from doing our loans and selling players, as you have seen people have been moving in and out.

“It is annoying, and it is disappointing, and we will put that right going forward.

“I will clarify that we are under a suspension for the summer window. [Will you be able to sign players for fees in the summer?] Yes, we will.

“All payments to HMRC etcetera are now completely logged automatically so that the payments cannot be missed going forward, previously they weren’t.

“We are all human, but there shouldn’t be [any errors] going forward, definitely not.”