Swindon Town F.C.

Swindon Town
	Badge of Swindon Town
Full name	Swindon Town Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Robins
Founded	1894
Ground	The County Ground, Swindon
Capacity	15,728
Chairman	Willie Carson
Manager	Iffy Onuora (caretaker)
League	League One
2004-05	League One, 12th
Home colours	Away colours

Swindon Town Football Club are an English football team. As of 2003-4, they play in Football League One. They play at the County Ground, Swindon, which has an approximate capacity of 15,500.

History

1881 - 1945

The club was founded in 1881 and went professional in 1894. Initially joining the Southern League it lost its professional status a number of times and had to apply for reentry to the League. The most notable early player was Harold Fleming who played through the 1920s. He scored 202 goals in 234 games for Swindon and was capped nine times for England. Today in Swindon there is statue of Fleming and a stretch of road named in his honour (Fleming Way). During World War II a number of players were enlisted into the army, and County Ground was used as a POW camp.

1945 - 1979

The post-war era saw Swindon competing in the lower divisions of the English League. However the club found shrewd managers in Ernie Hunt, Bert Head and Danny Williams. In 1969 Swindon beat Arsenal 3-1 to win the League Cup for the first and only time in the club's history. The scorer of two of the goals, Don Rogers, was also in form to help Swindon beat SSC Napoli 5-2 (over two legs) to win the Anglo-Italian Cup Winners Cup in 1970.

1980 - 1991: Premier League, then decline

Under the management of Lou Macari in the 1980s Swindon Town surged up the Fourth and Third divisions and were expected to reach the top flight until Macari left to manage West Ham United. One of Macari's best players, Ossie Ardiles took the job of player manager. Ossie Ardiles began his career as Swindon manager in style, guiding the club to success in the Second Division promotion playoffs at the end of his first season in charge (1989-90). But Swindon later admitted 36 charges of breaching league rules (a scandal which saw their chairman Brian Hiller being given a six-month prison sentence and chief account Vince Farrar being put on probation) and were relegated to the Third Division - giving Sunderland A.F.C. promotion to the First Division and Tranmere Rovers F.C. to the Second Division. An appeal saw Swindon being allowed to stay in the Second Division, but they narrowly avoided relegation in 1990-91 and by the end of the season Ardiles had moved to Newcastle United F.C. to make way for former Tottenham and England player Glenn Hoddle as player/manager.

1991 - 1999

In the first season of the new Football League Division One (1992-93), Hoddle guided Swindon to playoff final victory over Leicester City F.C. which meant that top division football would be played at the County Ground for the first time ever. But Hoddle left for Chelsea F.C. just weeks after getting Swindon promoted, and his assistant John Gorman was unable to adjust his team to Premiership football. Only the team's attacking attitude and the goals of striker Jan Aage Fjortoft provided any comfort for the fans. They went down at the end of the 1993-94 season with just 5 wins from 42 games and 100 goals conceded. A year later Swindon were also relegated from the First Division. Gorman's sacking in favour of 33-year-old Manchester City F.C. midfielder Steve McMahon was too late to stop the rot.

McMahon proved to be a capable manager and won promotion back to the First Division in 1996. A lackluster season followed and with Swindon again facing the prospect of relegation McMahon was sacked and replaced with former Swindon striker Jimmy Quinn. In 1997-98 Quinn staved off relegation but the club faced administration - the cost of playing in the Premiership having proved too high. Swindon were in serious financial trouble with millions of pounds worth of debt.

A takeover at the end of the 1999-2000 season secured the club's future but it was too late to secure their Division One survival and they were relegated to Division Two. Quinn was sacked by the club's new owners who turned to ex-Bolton manager Colin Todd (who had won promotion to the Premiership in 1997) in a bid to put Swindon's playing fortunes back on track. But despite several new signings, Swindon made a terrible start to the 2000-01 season and Todd left in November to become assistant manager of Derby County. His assistant Andy King was promoted to the position of manager, on a temporary basis, and prevented Swindon from suffering a second successive relegation.

2000 - 2009

Swindon dropped to the Second Division in 1999 and Quinn left the club. A consortium headed by publisher Terry Brady then bought the club and promised to return it to the Premiership. Ex-Bolton Wanderers manager Colin Todd was called in to build a new team capable of winning instant promotion. However, Todd's signings were not effective, Swindon soon fell to the bottom of the Second Division and Colin Todd left after only a few months at the club. His assistant Andy King narrowly saved Swindon from falling to the Third Division. Terry Brady then left the club due to a dispute over plans for a new stadium and housing development scheme.

The new director Donnie Donegan sacked King at the start of the 2001-2002 season and appointed Roy Evans (formerly of Liverpool F.C.) to take charge of the team, assisted by Neil Ruddock. Evans' tactical style was attractive to watch but produced average results. When Donegan resigned as chairman in December 2001 Evans also departed the club. Andy King once again stepped into the dugout and steadied the team to a mid-table finish. At the same time Swindon Town was placed in administration but emerged to continue as a professional club.

The 2002/2003 season saw King oust Ruddock from the club (many people had considered Ruddock as a potential replacement for King). Early defeats saw calls for King's resignation and the board - even King himself - openly searched for a new manager, albeit with King staying at the club in some capacity. The discontent was soon silenced by King's most successful signing, Sam Parkin, who scored 26 goals in his debut season for Swindon. King's team finished a respectable tenth.

The 2003/2004 season was an even greater improvement. Sam Parkin linked up with the former Watford and Birmingham City striker Tommy Mooney in the Division's most prolific striking partnership. Together they scored over forty goals between them in all competitions. Swindon Town were able to claim a play-off spot, but lost on penalties to Brighton & Hove Albion. Tommy Mooney left the club soon afterwards to sign for Oxford United.

For the 2004/05 season Sam Parkin again proved to be the club's main threat, scoring over 20 goals in all competitions. Swindon finished mid-table and not surprisingly Parkin became the focus for a number of Championship clubs including Crewe Alexandra and Watford. Eventually he signed for Ipswich Town for an undisclosed fee said to be anywhere between £300,000 and £700,000. Andy King sought to cover the loss of Parkin by signing the QPR duo Jamie Cureton and Tony Thorpe. However both Cureton and Thorpe failed to make an impact at the start of the 2005/06 season with only Rory Fallon contributing more than a single goal from open play - a turnaround for Fallon who only the previous season had been loaned out to Yeovil.

After four consecutive defeats Andy King was sacked by the board and replaced by the youth development officer and former Swindon Town striker Iffy Onoura. It remains unclear whether Onoura is a caretaker or full time manager. The board stated at a fans forum that no other applications for the managerial role were being considered, whilst Onoura has said that his position is dependant on results. At time of writing Onoura has stopped Swindon's record losing streak (7 consecutive defeats) with three draws and a cup victory over non-league Stevanage.

Notable Former Players

External links

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