George Hedley Swindin (4 December 1914 – 26 October 2005) was an English football player and manager. Playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, Swindin made more than 300 appearances in the Football League with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

and Arsenal, where his 18-year career was interrupted by the Second World War. As manager, he led

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

to three

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

titles before spending a less successful spell with Arsenal. He also managed

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and Cardiff City of the Football League and Kettering Town and

Corby Town Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park. History The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team ...

in non-league football.

Playing career

Swindin was born in Campsall in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and attended South Grove Central School in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

. He played for England against The Rest as a final trial for a schoolboy international against Wales in 1929, but was not selected. He played as an amateur for various local clubs, including for

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

's reserve team in the

, before turning professional in 1934 with

. Swindin established himself in the first team towards the end of the 1933–34 season, but a serious knee injury sustained in the last match of that campaign caused ongoing problems that disrupted his second season and eventually required surgery to remove cartilage. He played 26

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

matches for Bradford City, before being signed by Arsenal in April 1936 for £4,000. He made his debut against Brentford on 3 September 1936, and played 19 games in his first season. His time at Arsenal was at first characterised by nervous and erratic displays, and he shared the goalkeeping spot with Alex Wilson and Frank Boulton. However, he played 17 league matches in 1937–38, more than either of his rivals, as Arsenal won the League title. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

interrupted his career somewhat, but Swindin continued to play through the war for Arsenal, while serving as a

Physical Training Instructor Physical training instructor (PTI) is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness. United Kingdom In the British Army, specialist Ph ...

in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. He made wartime guest appearances for clubs including

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, while serving as a policeman in the area,

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

, and in 1945,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. By the time first-class football had resumed after the war, he became Arsenal's undisputed No. 1, and stayed there for the next few seasons. He had put his erraticness behind him, and he was a commanding keeper who was especially known for his aerial ability and assured handling of crosses, as well as his strong physical resilience. He won his second League title in 1947–48. After the arrival of Ted Platt in 1950, Swindin had to share the goalkeeper's spot for 1949–50, but played in both the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

and

1952 FA Cup Final The 1952 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1951–52 staging of the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), English football's main cup competition. The match was contested by Newcastle United and Arsenal at Wembley ...

s; Arsenal won the former against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, but lost to Newcastle United in the latter. By 1952–53, Swindin was beginning to show his age, and another talented keeper, the Welshman

Jack Kelsey Alfred John "Jack" Kelsey (19 November 1929 – 18 March 1992) was a Welsh international football goalkeeper, who also played for Arsenal. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers to play for Wales. Early life Jack Kelsey was born at ...

, had taken his first-team place. Nevertheless, Swindin played 14 matches that season as Arsenal won the title again, giving him his third Championship winner's medal. Despite his excellent form for Arsenal, he was never capped by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at senior level, with

Walter Winterbottom Sir Walter Winterbottom (31 March 1913 – 16 February 2002) was an English football player and coach. He was the first manager of the England national team (1946–1962) and Director of Coaching for The Football Association (the FA). He ...

preferring

Frank Swift Frank Victor Swift (26 December 1913 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with local clubs near his home town of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed b ...

and

Bert Williams Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-born American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He is credited as being ...

. In all, he played 297 first-class matches (not including wartime games) for the Gunners.

Management career

Swindin moved to

side

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

in 1954. He led them to three consecutive Midland League titles, from 1955–56 to 1957–58, and reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup in 1956–57. Peterborough won the title twice more after Swindin left, enough to win election to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

in 1960. His contribution was recognised by his induction into the club's Hall of Fame. In the meantime, Swindin had returned to Arsenal in 1958 as manager, and his side initially started strongly, finishing third in 1958–59. However, the team soon flagged and spent the next three seasons in mid-table. Despite signing players such as

George Eastham George Edward Eastham, OBE (born 23 September 1936) is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also nota ...

and

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...

, Swindin was unable to bring any silverware to the club, while the club's rivals

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

won the Double in 1960–61. In March 1962, Arsenal chairman Denis Hill-Wood confirmed that Swindin's contract would not be renewed at the end of the season. He then became manager of

for five months, and then Cardiff City from late 1962 to 1964. At Cardiff, he signed

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-ro ...

from Roma, but after a bright start Cardiff soon faded and he resigned after the team were relegated to the

. After that, he had spells as manager of Kettering Town and

before leaving the game for good.

Final years

After leaving football, Swindin first owned a garage in

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...

, before emigrating to Spain, where he lived for several years before returning to his homeland. In the later years of his life he suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He died at

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of ...

in October 2005 at the age of 90.

Honours

Player

Arsenal * Football League First Division: 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

* FA Charity Shield: 1938, 1948

Managerial

Peterborough United *

: 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58

Individual

Hall of Fame: 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swindin, George 1914 births 2005 deaths People from the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster Footballers from Doncaster English footballers Association football goalkeepers Rotherham United F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players English Football League players Midland Football League players English football managers Peterborough United F.C. managers Arsenal F.C. managers Norwich City F.C. managers Cardiff City F.C. managers Kettering Town F.C. managers Corby Town F.C. managers English Football League managers Clapton Orient F.C. wartime guest players Leeds United F.C. wartime guest players Southampton F.C. wartime guest players Neurological disease deaths in England Deaths from Alzheimer's disease British Army personnel of World War II FA Cup Final players