Swindon Town Football Club is a professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club based in
Swindon
Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
. The club has played home matches at the
County Ground since 1896, which now boasts a capacity of 15,547. Known as the "lucas's", their home colours are red and white. Hall of Fame inductee
John Trollope played 770 league games for the club between 1960 and 1980, a
professional record in English football.
Founded as Swindon AFC in 1879, they became Spartans the next year, before finally settling on the name Swindon Town in 1883. The club turned professional in 1894 as a founding member of the
Southern League, later also entering the
Western League between 1897 and 1902. They were crowned Western League champions in 1898–99 and Southern League champions in 1910–11 and 1913–14, before they were elected into the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
in 1920. They remained in the third tier for 43 years, finally securing promotion into the
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 ...
in 1962–63, where they remained for just two seasons. They lifted the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
after beating
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
in the
1969 final, and went on to secure promotion at the end of the 1968–69 season with the help of talismanic winger
Don Rogers. Relegated again in 1973–74, they dropped into the fourth tier for the first time at the end of the 1981–82 season.
Swindon won the
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
title in 1985–86 and secured a second successive promotion the following season under the stewardship of
Lou Macari
Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenny ...
. They went on to claim victory in the
1990 Second Division play-off final, but were denied promotion into the top-flight after admitting to breaching Football League regulations.
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport.
He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and Swi ...
coached the team to victory in the
1993 play-off final to finally secure a place in the top-flight for the first time in
the club's history. However they were relegated out of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
at the end of the 1993–94 season and dropped into the third tier with a second consecutive relegation. Promoted again as champions to avoid an FA expulsion and a hat-trick of relegations in 1995–96, they remained in the second tier for four seasons until relegation in 2000. They dropped into the fourth tier
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
in 2006 for the first time since 1986. Though managed to secure promotion the next season; they repeated this feat following relegation in 2011, winning the League Two title in 2011–12 to earn promotion to
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
. After relegation back to League Two at the end of the 2016–17 season, they won their third League Two title in the 2019–20 season. However, amid financial and ownership issues, were immediately relegated the following season, returning to the fourth tier for a fifth time.
History
Early history
Swindon Town Football Club was founded by Reverend William Pitt of
Liddington
Liddington is a village and civil parish near Swindon in Wiltshire, England. The settlement lies southeast of Swindon town, close to junction 15 of the M4 motorway, which is approximately away via the B4192.
History
The parish has been an a ...
in 1879.
The team turned professional in 1894 and joined the
Southern League which was founded in the same year.
During this period
Septimus Atterbury
Septimus Atterbury (18 October 1880 – 1964) was an English footballer who made 88 appearances in the Football League for Loughborough, Barnsley, Leicester Fosse and Plymouth Argyle, and 410 in the Southern League for Swindon Town and Plymout ...
played for the club.
![STFCSquad1909-1910](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/STFCSquad1909-1910.jpg)
Swindon reached the
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 ...
semi-finals for the first time in the
1909–10 season, losing to eventual winners
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
.
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
and Swindon were invited to compete for the
Dubonnet Cup
The Dubonnet Cup was an invitational English football exhibition cup game held between 1910 and 1912 held in Paris.
The game was an annual event the aim of which was to generate interest in the French amateur football leagues and helped lead to t ...
in 1910 at the
Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
Stadium in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. The result was a 2–1 victory for Swindon with
Harold Fleming scoring both of the club's goals.
The following season,
1910–11, Swindon Town won the Southern League championship, earning them a
Charity Shield match with the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
champions
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
. This, the highest-scoring Charity Shield game to date, was played on 25 September 1911 at
Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to:
* Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England
** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066
* Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge
* Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...
with Manchester United winning 8–4. Some of the proceeds of this game were later donated to the survivors of the
''Titanic''. In 1912 Swindon Town reached the semi finals of the FA Cup for a second time in 3 years, losing to Barnsley after a replay 1–0.
Swindon's exploits at this time owed a lot to the skilful forward
H.J. Fleming who was 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 ...
11 times between 1909 and 1914 despite playing outside the Football League. Fleming remained with Swindon throughout a playing career spanning 1907 and 1924 and went on to live in the town for his entire life.
Swindon entered
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
in 1920 as a founding member of
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...
and defeated
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
9–1 in their first game of the season. This result stands as a record for the club in League matches.
After the outbreak of
World War II
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 opposin ...
, the War Department took over the
County Ground in 1940, where for a while POWs (
Prisoners of War
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
) were housed in huts placed on the pitch; for this the club received compensation of £4,570 in 1945. World War II affected Swindon Town more than most other football clubs and the club was almost disbanded; the club needed a large amount of time to recover and for this reason it failed to make any real impression in the league and would not climb into the second division until 1963 when they finished runners up to
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
. The club was relegated back into Division Three in 1965, but it was about to create a sensation.
1969–2000
![1970 Anglo-Italian Cup - Juventus v Swindon Town - Coin toss](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/1970_Anglo-Italian_Cup_-_Juventus_v_Swindon_Town_-_Coin_toss.jpg)
In 1969, Swindon beat
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
3–1 to win the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
for the only time in the club's history. As winners of the League Cup, Swindon were assured of a place in their first European competition: the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...
. However,
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
had previously agreed to inclusion criteria with the organizers which mandated that only League Cup winners from
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
would be able to take part. As the team were not eligible, the short-lived Anglo-Italian competitions were created to give teams from lower divisions experience in Europe. The first of these, the
1969 Anglo-Italian League Cup
The 1969 Anglo-Italian League Cup was a football cup competition held between clubs in England and Italy won by Swindon Town. It was the inaugural Anglo-Italian League Cup competition.
Background
The origin of the Anglo-Italian League Cup (also ...
, was contested over two legs against
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
winners
A.S. Roma
' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...
. Swindon won 5–2, with the scorer of two goals in the League Cup final –
Don Rogers – scoring once and new acquisition
Arthur Horsfield acquiring his first
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
for the club.
The team then went on to win the
1970 Anglo-Italian Cup The 1970 Anglo-Italian Cup was the inaugural Anglo-Italian Cup competition. The European football competition was played between clubs from England and Italy and was founded by Gigi Peronace in 1970, following the success of the Anglo-Italian Leagu ...
competition in a tournament beset by
hooliganism
Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events.
Etymology
There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a d ...
. The final against
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Campania that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. Napoli ha ...
was abandoned after 79 minutes following pitch invasions and a missile barrage, with
teargas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...
being employed to allow the teams to return to the dressing room.
Following management changes, Swindon had a long unsuccessful period culminating in them being relegated in 1982 to the
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
, the lowest professional Football League at the time. They were eventually promoted as champions in 1986 with the club achieving a Football League record of 102 points, the second club to score over 100 points in a season,
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
having totalled 101 two years earlier.
A year later they won the Third Division play-offs to achieve a second successive promotion.
Promotion campaign Manager
Lou Macari
Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenny ...
left in 1989 to take charge of
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
with veteran midfielder, and former
Argentine international,
Ossie Ardiles
Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. He now runs ...
replacing him. In his first season, Swindon were
Second Division play-off winners,
but the club later admitted 36 charges of breaching league rules, 35 due to illegal payments made to players, and were relegated to the Third Division — giving
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
promotion to the First Division and
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
to the Second Division. The scandal saw then-chairman
Brian Hillier
Brian Hillier (1943 – 23 October 2008) was a football chairman most notable for being chairman of Swindon Town.
A lifelong Swindon Town supporter, he became chairman of the club in 1984 when they were in the Football League Fourth Division - th ...
being given a six-month prison sentence and chief accountant Vince Farrar being put on probation. A later appeal saw Swindon Town being allowed to stay in the Second Division.
Ardiles remained in charge until March 1991, when he departed for
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
and was succeeded by new player-manager
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport.
He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and Swi ...
. Swindon progressed well during the
1991–92 season, Hoddle's first full season as manager, and just missed out on the Second Division play-offs, having briefly led the table in the autumn. A year later they beat Leicester City 4–3 in the new
Division One play-off final to achieve promotion to the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
— bringing top-division football to the club for the first time.
Hoddle moved to
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
before the
1993–94 FA Premier League
The 1993–94 FA Premier League (known as the FA Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the Premier League, the top division of professional football in England. Manchester United won the league by eight points o ...
season began, and was replaced by assistant
John Gorman John Gorman may refer to:
* John Gorman (director) (1884–1936), American movie director
*John Gorman (entertainer) (born 1936), English vocalist and musician
*John Gorman (politician) (1923–2014), Northern Ireland politician
*John Gorman (footb ...
, but Swindon never adjusted to the pace of Premier League football.
They were relegated after recording only five wins and conceding 100 goals — the latter record yet to be broken — and have never returned to the top flight. One of the few successes of the season was a 2–2 draw against champions Manchester United in the league.
The
following year, Swindon were relegated for the second consecutive time and slipped into Division Two. Gorman had been sacked as manager in November 1994, and although his successor, player-manager
Steve McMahon
Stephen Joseph McMahon (born 20 August 1961) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and current television pundit.
As a player, he was a midfielder from 1979 to 1998, most notably playing for Liverpool in the late 1980s. ...
, was unable to avoid relegation, he did take Swindon to the semi-finals of the League Cup.
McMahon then succeeded in getting Swindon back into Division One on his first attempt, winning the Division Two championship in
1995–96.
McMahon remained as manager until September 1998, when he left by mutual consent after Swindon lost five of their nine opening games of the
1998–99 season.
2000–2020
The club then went through five managers in five years (
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to:
* Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist
* Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist
* Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...
was appointed twice), during which time they were again relegated into Division Two. The highlight of the next few seasons was a fifth-place finish in
2003–04 as financial troubles persisted. A first-round
playoff
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
loss to
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
on penalties meant Swindon extended their stay in the third tier, now renamed
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
.
The club has been beset by financial difficulties throughout its recent history, having been placed into administration twice
and also twice fought off winding-up orders from
Her Majesty's Customs and Excise
HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...
over unpaid tax.
The board was paying £100,000 to creditors annually (2% of the annual turnover),
and only managed to begin the
2006–07 season after sourcing £500,000 to pay for players' wages.
In 2006, caretaker manager (and former player)
Iffy Onuora
Ifem "Iffy" Onuora (born 28 July 1967) is a Scottish former professional footballer, manager, and coach for the England U21 national team. He is also the current equalities coach for the Professional Footballers Association.
As a player, he wa ...
was unable to save Swindon from relegation to
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
meaning they became the first ever former
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
team to be relegated to the lowest
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
division.
Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder. He is the president of Serie B side Como 1907. He is best known for having spent the majority of his c ...
agreed to become the new Swindon manager in May 2006 following the relegation, with
Gustavo Poyet
Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team.
Poyet played as a midfielder and began his caree ...
joining the coaching staff. After a good start to the season, the pair moved to
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 S ...
in October. Veteran defender
Ady Williams
Adrian Williams (born 16 August 1971) is a former Wales international footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Ameri ...
and
Barry Hunter took temporary charge until
Paul Sturrock
Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football coach and former player.
As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances betwe ...
was appointed on 7 November. Sturrock guided Swindon to promotion back to
Football League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
in his first season with the club, earning the third automatic promotion place in a 1–1 draw with
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
in the last game of the 2006–07 season.
In 2008, Swindon Town was taken over by a consortium, fronted by local businessman
Andrew Fitton, with plans to clear all club debts by the end of the
2007–08 season.
Paul Sturrock having departed for
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
, the consortium appointed Sturrock-recommended
Maurice Malpas
Maurice Daniel Robert Malpas (born 3 August 1962) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He signed for Dundee United in 1979 and spent his entire professional playing career with the club until his retirement in 2000. With him, United w ...
manager, and Swindon finished their first season back in League One in 13th, helped by 15-goal signing
Simon Cox. However, the
2008–09 campaign started badly and Malpas was sacked on 14 November 2008, with
David Byrne
David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...
taking over temporarily.
Danny Wilson was unveiled as the new manager on 26 December 2008. Wilson helped maintain Swindon's League One status and finished in 15th position, though only four points from the relegation zone, in his first season in charge.
The
2009–10 season would prove a vast improvement, despite the sale of League One top-scorer Simon Cox. The club maintained a play-off position going into the new year, and were at one point in second place with automatic promotion in their own hands. However, a slight slip in form towards the end of the season saw Swindon finish fifth, entering the play-offs against
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
. Swindon won the tie on penalties and went on to play in the
Football League One play-offs
The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...
final against
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
for a place in the
Football League Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...
. However, they lost 1–0 in what was their first defeat in four appearances at Wembley.
After losing the final Swindon lost their top scorer
Billy Paynter
William Paul Paynter (born 13 July 1984) is an English former professional association football, footballer and coach who is now head first team coach at club Runcorn Linnets F.C., Runcorn Linnets. In a 17-year professional career in the English ...
who joined Leeds United on a free transfer, and sold club captain
Gordon Greer
Gordon Greer (born 14 December 1980) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Greer played for Clyde, Blackburn Rovers (two spells), Stockport County, Kilmarnock (two spells), Doncaster Rovers, Swindon Town and Br ...
. Still, many bookmakers had Swindon as one of the favourites for promotion to the Championship going into the
2010–11 season. Inconsistent form left Swindon in mid-table for much of the season; however, a 4–2 win at
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
in January left fans hoping for a late-season surge. Instead, top-scorer
Charlie Austin
Charles Austin (born 5 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Released from his contract by Reading as a youth, Austin played non-league football up to May 2009, when he was signed by Swindon Town after a pro ...
was sold to
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
and the team did not win again for 19 matches. When Danny Wilson resigned on 2 March,
Paul Hart
Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English association football, football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the English Football League, Football League as a Defender (association football), def ...
was brought in but failed to save the Robins, and on 25 April 2011 Swindon were relegated to League Two yet again after losing 3–1 to
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
. Paul Hart was replaced for the last two games of the season by former player and current reserve and youth team coach
Paul Bodin
Paul John Bodin (born 13 September 1964) is a Welsh former professional footballer and coach who is now the coach of the Wales under-21 team. His son, Billy Bodin, is also a professional footballer.
A former Chelsea youth team graduate, he mo ...
.
![SwindonTownFC League Performance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/SwindonTownFC_League_Performance.svg)
Soon after the season ended, the board revealed that high-profile former player
Paolo Di Canio
Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward, ...
would take his first management position at the club. After losing seven of his first 13 games in charge, Swindon went on a 15-match unbeaten run which put them into promotion contention by the midpoint of the
2011–12 season. After a defeat on Boxing Day 2011 to
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
, Swindon broke a club record by winning 10 consecutive league games, and by March they were well clear of the chasing pack at the top of League Two. They also enjoyed success in both the
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 ...
, beating Premiership side
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
in the third round before losing to Championship side
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
in the fourth round, and the Football League Trophy, reaching the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
at Wembley, where they were runners-up to League One side
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
. On 28 April 2012, Swindon, already promoted, guaranteed their championship of League Two on 28 April after a 5–0 drubbing of
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
at the County Ground.
On 18 February 2013, with Swindon riding high in League One and in contention for a second consecutive promotion, Di Canio announced his resignation, alleging mistreatment by the board of directors, including the sale of Matt Ritchie behind his back, and the financial instability of the club at the time. In his place came
Kevin MacDonald who had previously held caretaker roles at
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
and Aston Villa. MacDonald guided Swindon to the League One play-offs; however, they were knocked out after a penalty shoot-out defeat to
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
. On 13 July 2013, MacDonald left Swindon Town by mutual consent, only three weeks before the start of the
2013–14 season and only five months after taking the Swindon job.
In the
2014–15 season, Swindon reached the League One Play-off final again where they lost 4–0 to
Preston after a season in which they were competing for automatic promotion. They went top of the league after a 3–0 win away to
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
; however, a 2–0 defeat to
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
was the first of a series of results that saw Swindon's form dip, and a 1–0 defeat to bottom club
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
meant that Swindon were consigned to finish in the play-offs. They reached
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
after a record-breaking 5–5 draw (winning 7–6 on aggregate) against Sheffield United, the highest-scoring EFL play-off match in history.
In the
2016–17 season, Swindon were relegated to League Two for a third time; they finished third from bottom on 22 April 2017 after losing 2–1 to
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
with only one more fixture on the road in hand. Following this relegation, manager
Luke Williams was sacked after Swindon lost 3–0 at
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
. On the 5th of February 2017 Swindon played local rivals Oxford United who managed to secure the 3 points by scoring 2 goals in 3 minutes to make Swindon lose 2-1. A red card was shown to keeper Lawrence Vigouroux for saying how bad of a club Swindon is.
2020-present
On 9 June 2020, Swindon were crowned League Two champions on the basis of average points per game, matches in the
2019–20 season having been suspended from March due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...
.
However, in the
following season, the pandemic created financial difficulties for the club, with the chairman,
Lee Power
Lee Michael Power (born 30 June 1972) is a former professional association football, footballer and former chairman of Swindon Town F.C., Swindon Town. Born in England, his Irish ancestry allowed him to be capped by Republic of Ireland national ...
, warning in February 2021 of potential bankruptcy,
and then, in April 2021, being charged with breaching FA regulations concerning the club's ownership and/or funding.
On 18 April, manager
John Sheridan resigned after winning just eight of 33 matches, with the club seven points from safety with four matches to play.
The club's relegation to League Two was confirmed following a 5–0 defeat by
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
on 24 April 2021.
On 26 May 2021,
John McGreal
John Leslie McGreal (born 2 June 1972) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is currently an U21s coach at Ipswich Town.
He began his career at Tranmere Rovers, making his debut in the 1991–92 season. He becam ...
was appointed Swindon manager but, on 25 June 2021, after less than a month in the job, he left Swindon by mutual consent, citing ownership uncertainty which was preventing him signing new players.
Chief executive Steve Anderson also left the club on the same day, followed by director of football
Paul Jewell
Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is an English football manager and former player, who was most recently director of football at Swindon Town.
Jewell began his playing career with Liverpool, continued at Wigan Athletic and concluded in a t ...
.
Swindon supporter groups urged fans to boycott games until the ownership problems were resolved, with High Court hearings due to start on 6 September 2021.
On 30 June 2021, the Official Supporters Club was told that a deal to transfer ownership to Australian businessman Clem Morfuni's Axis group would be completed "in the next couple of weeks",
though the club later complained that the Axis group was delaying payment.
In early July 2021, it emerged that players and staff had not received their June wages,
and that the County Ground's owner,
Swindon Borough Council
Swindon Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Swindon in Wiltshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. As such, it is administratively separate fro ...
, was taking legal action after receiving no rent since April 2020.
The EFL described the ownership wrangle as "concerning"
and imposed a transfer embargo on the club.
In pre-season friendlies at
Melksham Town and
Hungerford Town
Hungerford Town Football Club is a semi-professional Football club (association football), football club based in Hungerford, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association, they are currently members of and play at B ...
, Swindon fielded sides featuring just a few experienced first-team players,
with the rest of the squads being composed of youngsters and trialists.
The club then cancelled its planned pre-season friendly with
Swansea City
Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
at the County Ground on 17 July 2021,
citing "ongoing logistical and operational issues".
On 15 July 2021, it was reported that the club had paid 60% of the outstanding wages due in June.
On 21 July 2021, it was reported that Power had transferred ownership of his shares in the club, and that the EFL had granted Morfuni consent to acquire additional shares, having passed its owners' and directors' test.
Morfuni appointed
Ben Garner
Ben Garner (born 19 May 1980) is an English professional football coach who was most recently manager of Charlton Athletic.
Whilst completing the UEFA Pro Licence in 2014, he was mentored by then Chelsea manager José Mourinho. Previously, Garne ...
as head coach and
Ben Chorley
Benjamin Francis Chorley (born 30 September 1982) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. He was most recently the director of football at Swindon Town.
Chorley started his career at Arsenal, spending several years at the cl ...
as director of football plus Rob Angus ( ex Nationwide Director) appointed as CEO and, on 26 July 2021, the new management announced their first signing, with midfielder
Ben Gladwin
Benjamin Thomas Charles Gladwin (born 8 June 1992) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for League Two club Crawley Town.
Gladwin has played for 11 clubs including Swindon Town (three previous spells), Queens Park Rangers, Blackbu ...
returning for a fourth spell at Swindon.
On 16 September 2021, Swindon Town was given a suspended three-point deduction by the EFL, relating to the non-payment of player wages in June.
Kit and badge
Crest
Swindon Town have used at least five different kit badges since their inception.
The original badge depicted a robin inside a shield with the letters STFC in the four corners, this changed to the "Steam Train" badge which was a coat of arms for the club based heavily on the coat of arms used by the local council.
The "Steam Train" badge was in the form of a traditional shield, bisected with the club's name, a GWR steam locomotive (as Swindon is a
railway town
A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site.
North America
During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporar ...
), a football and with a
robin
Robin may refer to:
Animals
* Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae
* Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including:
**European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'')
**Bush-robin
**Forest rob ...
sitting on top. Beneath the shield was a motto on a scroll – "''Salubritas et Industria''" – meaning "health and industry".
This motto is also that of the town of
Swindon
Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
itself.
During the 1970s the club changed the badge to one referred to as the "ST arrow" or "traffic sign" badge.
This was circular and had the letters 'S' and 'T' interlocked, which both ends of the letter 'S' being made into an arrow. Also shown was a simple football and the club name.
Following the 1985–86 season, the "Steam Train" badge was re-introduced onto the kits. The crest was re-styled and the text "Division Four Champions 1985/1986" replaced the motto.
A diamond shaped crest for Swindon Town was introduced at the beginning of the 1991–92 season following a series of financial problems for the club. The idea behind the new crest was to give the club a new fresh image.
:"The 'travelling' football represents the club that is looking to the future with successful progress. The diamond shape clearly has the letter 'S' (for Swindon) running through it, while a green section was also introduced to match a new 'green trim' on the team's home (red and white) shirts."
On 5 April 2007, the club unveiled plans to change the badge, claiming the diamond badge was correct for the time, but did not represent or show any of the club's heritage or history.
Swindon offered fans the chance to vote on-line for the three new choices, which were all similar to the original steam train design, and a fourth option of keeping the 1991 design.
On 23 April 2007, it was announced that option three of the logo vote was the winner of the poll (it can be seen on the far right of the picture).
Winning the vote with 68% in favour, the new badge includes the club name, a robin, a GWR steam locomotive – the rail industry being an important part of the Town's heritage – a football, and re-introduces the town's motto – 'Salubritas et Industria'. It has been in use since the beginning of the 2007–08 season.
Home kit
Originally playing in black and white with the addition of blue
sash
A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...
for away games,
the club changed to black and red quarters on entry to the
Southern League in 1894.
The club changed again in 1897 with the ''
Swindon Advertiser
The ''Swindon Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid newspaper, published in Swindon. The newspaper was founded in 1854, and had an audited average daily circulation at the end of 2017 of 8,828.
It claims to have been the UK's first provincial 'penny ...
'' reporting:
:"The new colours of the Swindon Town F.C. are to be green shirts, with white sleeves. Good-bye to the old well known red and black."
With problems obtaining green dyes, the kit was short-lived and Swindon Town changed their shirts to the more familiar red in 1901.
Initially a dark maroon, a lighter shade was chosen for the start of the 1902–03 season and also resulted in the club's nickname "the Robins" appearing in print for the first time in programme notes for the first game.
The nickname is a reference to the former name of the
European robin
The European robin (''Erithacus rubecula''), known simply as the robin or robin redbreast in Great Britain & Ireland, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that belongs to the chat subfamily of the Old World flycatcher family. About in len ...
– "redbreast".
Swindon Town have played their home games in variations on the red and white theme since then, wearing a red shirt with white collars and white or red shorts for much of their history which has led to the team being known as the "Red and White Army". For example; the kit worn during the 1985–86 Division Four Champions season consisted of a red shirt with white pinstripes, white shorts and red socks and chants of "
Lou Macari
Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenny ...
's Red and White Army" were heard from the supporters at the final stages of the season.
Following the rebranding of the club in 1991, green elements were re-introduced onto the home strip and badge to represent the team's short-lived kit from the turn of the century. These were removed in 2007.
Away kit
The club's
away kit
Away may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Away'' (2016 film), a 2016 British film
* ''Away'' (2019 film), a 2019 animated silent film
* ''Away'' (TV series), a 2020 science fiction drama on Netflix
Literature
* ''Away'' (play), a 1986 play by M ...
s have only begun to change since the 1990s and the advent of the lucrative replica kit market. Swindon's first away kit (that was entirely separate to the home kit) consisted of an all-blue strip; this was not used for the club's
1969 League Cup Final victory where they elected to wear an all-white strip.
For a period in the 1980s the club changed their away kit to white shirts and black shorts and introduced a new third kit of yellow shirts and blue shorts.
The club alternated between these two schemes as its away kit for the 1980s.
When the club re-branded in the 1991 close season, it introduced a new away strip: the white and green "potato print" shirt with dark blue shorts.
This remained in use until its replacement in 1993 with another yellow and blue strip, integrating the new colour scheme by adding a green collar.
A special third kit was added for the 1996–97 season and was coloured "petrol green" in honour of the then sponsors
Castrol
Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for com ...
.
Swindon wore black and gold striped away shirts for the 2003–04 season with an all-white third kit, following this with variants on the blue theme until returning to all-white in 2007.
In 2008–09 they returned to the dark blue away kit that was used previously for the 2006–07 season but this time they had white shorts instead of a whole dark blue strip. In 2009–10 they returned once again to the all-white kit, but unlike the home kit, which showed ''
FourFourTwo
''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2.
In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had e ...
'' on the front, this showed '
FIFA10' on the front as a part of sponsorship with
EA. They also this year had an all-blue third kit which was featured for the FA Cup and also the play-off away game to Charlton.
In 2010–11 they had an all-black third kit. The all-black kit became the club's away kit for the 2011–12 season with an all-white kit as a third kit used for the FA Cup run. This kit caused controversy among some fans, because it had the sponsors ''
The People
The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881.
At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...
'' printed on the shirts.
For 2012–13 they had a blue and yellow away kit, again controversial as these are the colours of Swindon's close rivals
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...
.
For the 2021–22 season, they released a checkered gold and green kit. The colours of the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
national team, paying homage to the new Australian owner Clem Morfuni. Later in the season they also released a special all black third kit. This included a darkened club badge, intended to signify the club coming "out of the darkness" following the take over of the new owner.
Shirt sponsors
Since 2015 Swindon's kit has been manufactured by
Puma
Puma or PUMA may refer to:
Animals
* ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae
** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat
Businesses and organisations
* Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company
* Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...
. Previous manufacturers include Umbro, Admiral, Adidas, Coffer Sports, Spall, Diamond Leisure, Loki, Mizuno, Lotto, Xara, DGI, Strikeforce, and Lonsdale. The club's shirt sponsors have included ISIS, Lowndes Lambert Group, GWR FM, Burmah, Castrol, Nationwide, Kingswood Group, FourFourTwo, Samsung, EA Sports FIFA, C&D, Imagine Cruising, Bartercard and First City Nursing & Care.
Stadium
![Swindon Town Football Club ground at The County Ground - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Swindon_Town_Football_Club_ground_at_The_County_Ground_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1619541.jpg)
Swindon Town's original pitch was located south of Bath Road, in the region of Bradford Road, adjacent to the
Okus Quarry
Okus Quarry () is a 2,500 square metre geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Old Town, Swindon, Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocke ...
.
After a young spectator fell into the quarry the team decided to move first to Lansdown Road and then to a pitch near The Croft where they were to remain for the next 11 years.
Swindon Town have been playing at the
County Ground since 1896. They played their games on the site of the adjacent cricket pitch also called the County Ground from 1893 until the ground opened.
Thomas Arkell of
Arkell's Brewery
Arkell's Brewery was established in Swindon, England by John Arkell in 1843, and has been owned by members of the Arkell family since its establishment. It is Swindon's oldest company, built initially on the massive expansion of Swindon in the Vi ...
donated £300 to finance the construction of a stand on what was then known as the 'Wiltshire County Ground', this investment was enough to begin development of a purpose-built football ground. Since its original construction, the ground has been periodically updated with new features or fittings. A cover on the Shrivenham Road side was erected in 1932, followed by the current roof at the Town End. This cost £4,300, which was raised by the Supporters' Club, and was opened on 27 August 1938 by local
MP,
W.W. Wakefield.
The War Department took over the ground in 1940, where for a while
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
s were housed in huts placed on the pitch. For this the club received compensation of £4,570 in 1945.
The addition of
floodlights
A floodlight is a broad-beamed, gas discharge lamp#High-intensity discharge lamps, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is Night game, being held during low-li ...
in 1951 at a cost of £350, gave Swindon the honour of being the first League club to do so. These were first tried out ''v.'' Bristol City on 2 April 1951 beating
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
by six months.
These original set of lights were supplemented by lights on both side stand roofs, which were sufficient for the
County Ground to stage its first floodlit league match on 29 February 1956 ''v.''
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
. (seven days after
Fratton Park
Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history.
The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...
became the first ground to stage a floodlit league fixture). The present pylons date from 1960.
[Inglis, Simon: "Football Grounds of Britain.", page 358. CollinsWillow, 1996.]
The ground currently contains elements constructed between 1950 and 1995, with the latest addition being the large sponsored stand on the south side. The County Ground is also the only football stadium in the world with a
Rolex
Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...
watch acting as its timekeeper, the clock on the Stratton Bank stand featuring its name was erected to celebrate promotion in 1963.
The ground itself is on land owned by
Swindon Borough Council
Swindon Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Swindon in Wiltshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. As such, it is administratively separate fro ...
to which the club pays rent. Swindon have in the past considered a move to a club owned stadium to generate more revenue, but have not had the financial backing to do so. In 2006 a redevelopment campaign for the County Ground began,
with the club and TrustSTFC (the
supporters' trust
In British sports, a supporters' trust is a formal, democratic and not-for-profit organisation of fans who attempt to strengthen the influence of supporters over the running of the club they support. There are over 140 supporters' trusts across Eng ...
) raising a petition to 'Save Our Home' urging the Borough Council to "facilitate the redevelopment of the stadium and do everything they can to keep the club within the Borough"
including the proposed upgrading of the adjacent Cricket Club to County standard and Athletic Club to Olympic standard.
Supporters
![Swindon Town home attendances since 1889](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Swindon_Town_home_attendances_since_1889.PNG)
As an expanding railway town, the club had attendances of up to 32,000 on match days until the early 1970s. Due to Swindon's low unemployment rate (one of the lowest in the United Kingdom),
more people work in the town than live there and so are unlikely to support the team.
In addition; poor team performances, the financial instability in the club and the change to an all-seated stadium following the
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
have led to attendances at the County Ground dropping.
With an all-seated capacity of 15,728 at the County Ground, Swindon averaged a home attendance of 5,839 for the 2004–05 season.
Only 37% of the grounds seats were occupied at a game on average.
This rose to 5,950
(37.8%) in 2005–06 and was reported as 7,109 (45.2%) for the 2006–07 season.
A core group of fans has inhabited the Town End of the stadium since the 1980s, producing past fanzines such as "The 69'er", "Bring the Noise" "Randy Robin" and "The Magic Roundabout"
amongst others. Supporters call the team "The Town", "The Reds", "STFC" and also the "Red and White Army". The red and white army is a term the supporters use to identify themselves as well. The Junior Robins is the children's supporters club which operates to provide lower ticket prices, away game activities and transport to young fans.
Membership of the club also allows them to be nominated as game mascot and gives them the opportunity to train in one of the many Football Schools run by the club.
![Red army loud yeovil27](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Red_army_loud_yeovil27.jpg)
The
supporters' trust
In British sports, a supporters' trust is a formal, democratic and not-for-profit organisation of fans who attempt to strengthen the influence of supporters over the running of the club they support. There are over 140 supporters' trusts across Eng ...
, TrustSTFC, was established in 2000. This organisation is a democratically elected group of fans who raise funds for the club and aim to give supporters access and input into decisions made by the club's board.
The group run a number of schemes including the "Loan Note Scheme", the aim of which is to buy shares in the club and assist with investment.
Another scheme is the Red Army Fund, the money raised by this fund is given to the club to contribute towards the purchase and wages of new players.
TrustSTFC also take part in the Fans' Consortium, who aim to place a supporter with a large stake-holding in the club onto the board of directors.
The trust is also currently campaigning with the club for the re-development of the County Ground.
The "Football Fever Report" published by statisticians of the
Littlewoods Football Pools was released in January 2007. This report researched those teams that were the most stressful to support. Swindon Town were placed 5th out of all 92 League clubs,
with the report stating –
"It's only just over a decade ago that Swindon were a Premier League side, but the past 10 years have been tough going for fans at the County Ground. Relegation from the top flight in 1994 was followed by a second successive drop, and although promotion from Division Two was secured a year later, the team struggled in Division One in the next three seasons, finishing 19th, 18th and 17th. In 2000 came relegation, and a year later Swindon avoided another 'double relegation' by just one point. A glimmer of hope came when the play-offs were reached in 2004 – ending in a semi-final loss to Brighton – but last term Town became the first club to drop into the bottom tier of the Football League having once been in the Premier League. We bet Robins' fans can hardly believe it."
With the dwindling support during matches in the 2004–05 season, another fans' group "Red Army Loud and Proud" was formed.
Red Army Loud and Proud is a small group of fans attempting to bring back the atmosphere and fun to match days. With the stated aim of being "the 12th man on the pitch",
the group sponsors players and also provides large colourful flags to the matches.
However, in more recent years 2010–11 Swindon has rapidly increasing attendances with an 8,400 average attendance for the 2010–11 season despite relegation.
Hooliganism
Swindon Town has had problems with
hooliganism
Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events.
Etymology
There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a d ...
since the 1970s, with the first known group being called the Swindon Town Aggro Boys (STAB).
In a home game against
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
in March 1978, STAB were responsible for pelting the opposing goalkeeper with darts, stones and a golf ball. Club chairman Cecil Green later proclaimed: "We intend to stamp out this thuggery. The incidents were diabolical."
A new hooligan gang emerged in the 1980s, the Swindon Southside Firm (SSF), who were named after the area of terracing they occupied.
In a match at
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
, then manager
Lou Macari
Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenny ...
walked straight into a group of more than 100 SSF members chasing Northampton fans up the street. Macari said the incident was "worse than a
Celtic–Rangers game".
In the 1990s, the Swindon Active Service (SAS) came to prominence and it is believed they were at the centre of several hostilities with fans of local rivals Oxford and Reading.
In September 1998, 19 SAS members were arrested at the home match with Oxford.
A fracas at an away game versus
AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
on 18 December 2004 resulted in the arrest of seventeen and the imposition of banning orders on those found to be guilty.
The fighting, involving more than forty supporters, occurred in a busy shopping centre before the game. "District Judge Roger House said it had been a 'frightening and terrifying' experience for scores of Christmas shoppers who witnessed the scenes."
The ''
Swindon Advertiser
The ''Swindon Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid newspaper, published in Swindon. The newspaper was founded in 1854, and had an audited average daily circulation at the end of 2017 of 8,828.
It claims to have been the UK's first provincial 'penny ...
'' reported that "The area was packed with Christmas shoppers, who watched in horror as pub windows were smashed and fans traded insults."
On 16 December 2006, Swindon recorded one of their highest attendances of the season: 10,010 at a home win against rivals
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...
.
The game was marred by supporter trouble which resulted in 11 arrests and saw an area of seating in the Arkell's Stand damaged,
with the ''
Western Daily Press
The ''Western Daily Press'' is a regional newspaper covering parts of South West England, mainly Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset as well as the metropolitan areas of Bath and North East Somerset and the Bristol area. It is published Mon ...
'' reporting that "the incident
..ended with damage to 60 seats after they were used as missiles between opposing fans".
On the day of the return game in Bristol, twenty Rovers fans attacked a number of Swindon supporters with baseball bats at a local pub.
Nick Lowles, author of ''Hooligans 2: The M–Z of Britain's Football Hooligan Gangs'', has said "If you look at Swindon, the police have been very proactive in the last five years in terms of stopping hooliganism".
Swindon Town has imposed Banning Orders on those supporters who cause disruption, criminal damage or are violent when attending games. There were 29 banning orders in place in 2006, which was an increase from a total of 11 in 2005. The increase in banning orders has resulted in a reduction of arrests at games, with only 22 people being arrested attending games in 2005–06 compared to 39 arrests in 2004–05. Of the 22 arrests in 2005–06; 11 were for Public Disorder, five for
violent disorder
Violent disorder is a statutory offence in England and Wales. It is created bsection 2(1)of the Public Order Act 1986. Sections 2(1) to (4) of that Act provide:
:(1) Where 3 or more persons who are present together use or threaten unlawful violen ...
and the rest were made up of offences relating to missile throwing, racist chanting, pitch invasion, alcohol-related offences and one incident of being in possession of an offensive weapon. 33 Swindon fans were also banned from travelling to the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
.
In 2013, 10 Swindon fans were charged with violent disorder following an incident outside the Royal Oak pub in Brentford before the club's League 1 play-off semi-final defeat.
On 23 November 2013 a Swindon fan was arrested after running onto the pitch and punching
Leyton 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 professio ...
's goalkeeper,
Jamie Jones Jamie Jones may refer to:
* Jamie Jones (DJ), Welsh DJ, producer and two-time DJ Awards winner
* Jamie Jones (footballer) (born 1989), English professional footballer for Wigan Athletic
* Jamie Jones (snooker player) (born 1988), Welsh professional ...
.
Rivalries
In 2003, a poll of supporters of all Football League clubs to find out which teams they see as their main rivals was conducted by the
Football Fans Census
Football Fans Census (sometimes known as FFC), is the trading name of Football Fans Central Ltd, a small market research company which specialises in research into the views and opinions of English football supporters.
When the free-to-air dig ...
, the results of which put Swindon in joint 13th place on the list of teams with most rivals.
This was calculated from the number of other clubs that consider Swindon to be their first, second or third biggest rivals. Swindon fans considered
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...
to be their main rivals, something that was reciprocated by Oxford fans. Less fierce rivalries exist with
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
,
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...
,
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
,
Newport County,
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
,
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
and
Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...
.
Swindon Town Women F.C.
Swindon Town Ladies FC were established on 28 September 1993, after breaking away from the established Swindon Spitfires Women's and Girls' Football Club. The current Swindon Town Women Football Club (STWFC) first team play in the
FA Women's National League
The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...
South West Division 1, and reached the third round proper of the
FA Women's Cup
The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...
for the first time in their history during the 2012–13 season where they were narrowly defeated 1–0 in extra time by Gillingham LFC. Swindon Town Women currently play their home games at
Fairford Town F.C.
Fairford Town Football Club is a football club based in Fairford, Gloucestershire, England. Affiliated to the Gloucestershire County Football Association, they are currently members of the and play at Cinder Lane.
History
The club was establ ...
In addition to the senior squad, the club run a Development and U16 team. The Development team compete in the
South West Regional Women's Football League
The South West Women's Football League is at the fifth and sixth levels of the English women's football pyramid, with the seven other Regional Leagues – Eastern, London & SE, Southern, West Mids, East Mids, North East and North West. The S ...
while the U16s compete in the
Wiltshire Women and Girls Football League
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
.
Players
First team squad
.
''For recent transfers, see
2022–23 Swindon Town F.C. season.''
Out on loan
Reserves and Academy
''For further information:
Swindon Town F.C. Reserves and Academy''
Club management
Club officials
.
Managerial history
As of November 2018, 37 men have been appointed as a manager of Swindon Town Football Club, excluding caretaker managers.
Danny Williams and
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to:
* Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist
* Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist
* Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...
are the only men to have been given the job on a permanent basis twice.
*
Sam Allen 1902–1933
*
Ted Vizard
Edward Vizard (7 June 1889
– 25 December 1973) was a Welsh international footballer who became a manager. He spent almost all his playing career at Bolton Wanderers.
Playing career
Born in Cogan, Wales Vizard joined Bolton Wanderers in Sep ...
1933–1939
*
Neil Harris 1921–1926
*
Louis Page 1945–1953
*
Maurice Lindley 1953–1955
*
Bert Head
Bertram James Head (6 June 1916 – February 2002) was an English professional football player and manager.
Playing career
Head was born in Midsomer Norton and began his career with his local team before joining Welton Rovers. He moved ...
1956–1965
*
Danny Williams 1965–1969
*
Fred Ford 1969–1971
*
Dave Mackay
David Craig Mackay (14 November 1934 – 2 March 2015) was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the Double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961, an ...
1971–1972 (player-manager)
*
Les Allen
Leslie William Allen (born 4 September 1937) is an English former football player and manager who played as a inside forward.
Playing career
Allen started his playing career at amateur club Briggs Sports where he helped them to reach the s ...
1972–1974
*
Danny Williams 1974–1978
*
Bobby Smith 1978–1980
*
John Trollope 1980–1983
*
Ken Beamish
Kenneth George Beamish (born 25 August 1947) is an English former Association football, football player, coach and manager. In his playing days he was a Forward (association football), forward, and he scored a total of 198 goals in 642 league a ...
1983–1984
*
Lou Macari
Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenny ...
1984–1989 (player-manager)
*
Osvaldo Ardiles
Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. He now runs his ...
1989–1991 (player-manager)
*
Tony Galvin
Anthony Galvin (born 12 July 1956) is a former professional footballer who played as a winger. He played most successfully with Tottenham Hotspur, for whom he played 201 league games. He finished his league career with spells at Sheffield Wednes ...
1991 (caretaker)
*
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport.
He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and Swi ...
1991–1993 (player-manager)
*
John Gorman John Gorman may refer to:
* John Gorman (director) (1884–1936), American movie director
*John Gorman (entertainer) (born 1936), English vocalist and musician
*John Gorman (politician) (1923–2014), Northern Ireland politician
*John Gorman (footb ...
1993–1994
*
Andy Rowland
Andrew Arthur Rowland (born 8 September 1954) is an English former footballer who played for Derby County, Bury and Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team cu ...
1994 (caretaker)
*
Steve McMahon
Stephen Joseph McMahon (born 20 August 1961) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and current television pundit.
As a player, he was a midfielder from 1979 to 1998, most notably playing for Liverpool in the late 1980s. ...
1994–1998 (player-manager)
*
Mike Walsh 1998 (caretaker)
*
Jimmy Quinn 1998–2000 (player-manager)
*
Colin Todd
Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, ...
2000
*
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to:
* Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist
* Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist
* Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...
2000–2001
*
Roy Evans
Roy Quentin Echlin Evans (born 4 October 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool. He eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become the team manager. While predominantly plyi ...
2001
*
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to:
* Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist
* Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist
* Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...
2001–2005
*
Iffy Onuora
Ifem "Iffy" Onuora (born 28 July 1967) is a Scottish former professional footballer, manager, and coach for the England U21 national team. He is also the current equalities coach for the Professional Footballers Association.
As a player, he wa ...
2005–2006
*
Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise (born 16 December 1966) is an English former professional football player and manager who played as a central midfielder. He is the president of Serie B side Como 1907. He is best known for having spent the majority of his c ...
2006
*
David Tuttle
David Philip Tuttle (born 6 February 1972 in Mortimer Common, Berkshire) is an English former footballer. He is currently manager of AFC Aldermaston.
Career
As a player, Tuttle was a central defender. He began his playing career at Tottenham ...
2006 (caretaker)
*
Ady Williams
Adrian Williams (born 16 August 1971) is a former Wales international footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Ameri ...
2006 (caretaker)
*
Paul Sturrock
Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former association football, football coach and former player.
As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances betwe ...
2006–2007
*
David Byrne
David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...
2007–2008 (caretaker)
*
Maurice Malpas
Maurice Daniel Robert Malpas (born 3 August 1962) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He signed for Dundee United in 1979 and spent his entire professional playing career with the club until his retirement in 2000. With him, United w ...
2008
*
David Byrne
David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...
2008 (caretaker)
*
Danny Wilson 2008–2011
*
Paul Hart
Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English association football, football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the English Football League, Football League as a Defender (association football), def ...
2011
*
Paul Bodin
Paul John Bodin (born 13 September 1964) is a Welsh former professional footballer and coach who is now the coach of the Wales under-21 team. His son, Billy Bodin, is also a professional footballer.
A former Chelsea youth team graduate, he mo ...
2011 (caretaker)
*
Paolo Di Canio
Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward, ...
2011–2013
*
Fabrizio Piccareta
Fabrizio Piccareta (born 15 November 1965) is an Italian UEFA Pro licensed coach. He is the coach of the Under-19 (Primavera) squad of SPAL. Under the tenure of Paolo Di Canio, he served as both assistant manager, and later caretaker manager fo ...
2013 (caretaker)
*
Tommy Miller
Thomas William Miller (born 8 January 1979) is an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the manager of National League North club Spennymoor Town.
He has previously played for Hartlepool United, Ipswi ...
&
Darren Ward 2013 (joint player-caretakers)
*
Kevin MacDonald 2013
*
Mark Cooper 2013–2015
*
Lee Power
Lee Michael Power (born 30 June 1972) is a former professional association football, footballer and former chairman of Swindon Town F.C., Swindon Town. Born in England, his Irish ancestry allowed him to be capped by Republic of Ireland national ...
2015 (caretaker)
*
Martin Ling
Martin Ling (born 15 July 1966) is an English football manager and former player currently director of football for Leyton Orient. He played in over 100 Football League matches for each of Exeter City, Southend United, Swindon Town and Leyton ...
2015
*
Luke Williams 2015–2017
*
David Flitcroft
David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the director of football at club Port Vale. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry ...
2017–2018
*
Matt Taylor 2018 (player-caretaker)
*
Phil Brown 2018
*
Richie Wellens
Richard Paul Wellens (born 26 March 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently head coach of EFL League Two club Leyton Orient.
Wellens began his career at Manchester United ...
2018–2020
*
Noel Hunt
Noel Hunt (born 26 December 1982) is an Irish retired professional footballer, who is the Under-23s manager at Reading.
A striker, he began his career in Ireland with Shamrock Rovers, also playing for Waterford United on loan. He moved to Scot ...
2020 (caretaker)
*
John Sheridan 2020–2021
*
Tommy Wright 2021 (caretaker)
*
John McGreal
John Leslie McGreal (born 2 June 1972) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is currently an U21s coach at Ipswich Town.
He began his career at Tranmere Rovers, making his debut in the 1991–92 season. He becam ...
2021
*
Ben Garner
Ben Garner (born 19 May 1980) is an English professional football coach who was most recently manager of Charlton Athletic.
Whilst completing the UEFA Pro Licence in 2014, he was mentored by then Chelsea manager José Mourinho. Previously, Garne ...
2021–2022
*
Scott Lindsey
Scott Lindsey (born 4 May 1972) is an English former footballer. He played as a midfielder in the Football League for Gillingham and is currently the head coach of Swindon Town.
Playing career
Lindsey started his career with Goole Town before ...
2022–
Player awards and recognition
Swindon Town Hall of Fame
On 15 December 2011, local newspaper the ''
Swindon Advertiser
The ''Swindon Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid newspaper, published in Swindon. The newspaper was founded in 1854, and had an audited average daily circulation at the end of 2017 of 8,828.
It claims to have been the UK's first provincial 'penny ...
'' announced that the club were to launch the Swindon Town 'Hall of Fame'. Former players
Don Rogers,
John Trollope and
Paul Bodin
Paul John Bodin (born 13 September 1964) is a Welsh former professional footballer and coach who is now the coach of the Wales under-21 team. His son, Billy Bodin, is also a professional footballer.
A former Chelsea youth team graduate, he mo ...
were the first three confirmed inductees with the others announced during a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
Radio broadcast on 30 December 2011.
Hall of Fame (in alphabetical order)
*
Paul Bodin
Paul John Bodin (born 13 September 1964) is a Welsh former professional footballer and coach who is now the coach of the Wales under-21 team. His son, Billy Bodin, is also a professional footballer.
A former Chelsea youth team graduate, he mo ...
''(inducted 2011)''
*
Don Rogers ''(inducted 2011)''
*
John Trollope ''(inducted 2011)''
English Football Hall of Fame
''The following have either played for or managed Swindon Town and have been inducted into the
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...
''
Statistics and records
John Trollope holds the record for Swindon Town appearances, having played 889 first-team matches between 1960 and 1980. Trollope also holds the
English Football League Record of most appearances by a player at one club, having played in 770 League games.
Central defender
Maurice Owen
Maurice Owen (4 July 1924 – 8 July 2000) was an English professional footballer who scored 150 goals in 555 appearances in the Football League playing for Swindon Town.
Early life
Born in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Owen served as a Chindit in Bu ...
comes second, having played 601 times. The record for a goalkeeper is held by
Sam Burton
Samuel Burton (10 November 1926 – 8 October 2020) was an English professional footballer who played his entire career as a goalkeeper for Swindon Town, making 463 appearances in the Football League and 509 in all first-team competitions. Onl ...
, who is third with 509 appearances.
Harry Morris holds all of Swindon's goal records, having scored 229 goals for the club between 1926 and 1933.
Harold Fleming is second with 203, with
Don Rogers third with 178. Morris scored the most goals in a season with 48 during 1926–27, 47 of which were in League games which is another club record. The most goals scored by an individual is also held by Morris and Keith East, who have both scored 5 against League opposition (Morris having achieved this in 1926 and 1930).
The highest attendance at the County Ground of 32,000 was recorded on 15 January 1972 in a
FA Cup Third Round match against
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
.
The capacity of the ground is now 15,728 so it is unlikely that this record will be broken in the foreseeable future.
Swindon Town have also set records in English football, being the second team (after York City in 1983–84) to score over 100 points in the League when they became
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
champions in
1985–86. The total of 102 that the club scored has since been beaten. They also hold the
Premier League record for most goals conceded in a season, 100 in
1993–94, though several teams have finished with a lower points tally.
On 20 February 2007 the club played in a landmark League game away to
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
, a 1–0 loss. The completion of this match meant that Swindon had, during their history, played a League game at home and away against every team who, in the
2006–07 season and
2011–12 season, were in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
,
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
,
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
and
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
.
Honours
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...
/
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
(2nd tier)
*Play-off winners (2):
1989–90,
1992–93
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...
/
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
(3rd tier)
*Champions (1):
1995–96
*2nd place promotion (2):
1962–63,
1968–69
*3rd place promotion (1):
1986–87
*Play-off winners (1):
1986–87
Football League Fourth Division
The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
/
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
(4th tier)
*Champions (3):
1985–86,
2011–12,
2019–20
*3rd place promotion (1):
2006–07
Southern League
*Champions (2):
1910–11,
1913–14
Western League
*Champions (1):
1898–99
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
*Winners (1):
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
*Runners-up (1):
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
FA Charity Shield
The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...
*Runners-up (1):
1911
A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole.
Events January
* January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...
Football League Third Division South Cup The Football League Third Division South Cup was a association football, football knockout competition open to teams competing in Football League Third Division South.
The competition was first held in 1933–34 Football League, 1933–34 and ran ...
*Runners-up (1): 1935–36
Anglo-Italian Cup
The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...
:
*Winners (1):
1969–70
Anglo-Italian League Cup
The Anglo-Italian League Cup ( it, Coppa di Lega Italo-Inglese, also known as the Anglo-Italian League Cup Winners' Cup) was a short-lived football competition between teams from England and Italy – an English cup-winning team (League Cup or FA C ...
*Winners (1):
1968–69
Wiltshire County FA Senior Cup
The Wiltshire FA Senior Cup is the county cup in Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Som ...
*Winners (10): 1886–87, 1887–88, 1888–89, 1889–90, 1890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1896–97, 1903–04, 1919–20
References
General
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*
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*
Specific
External links
* of Swindon Town F.C.
{{Authority control
1879 establishments in England
Association football clubs established in 1879
Sport in Swindon
Football clubs in Wiltshire
Football clubs in England
Southern Football League clubs
English Football League clubs
Premier League clubs
EFL Cup winners