Question for the Older Generation

[Crozzer]

Partial history of Swindon Town:

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.

[leefer]

Indeed,Swindon player Freddie Wheatcroft died during ww1...he came home a hero and is buried in Radnor street cemetery.

[Reg Smeeton]

Partial history of Swindon Town:

The club was founded in 1881

  The club ws founded in 1879.

[Crozzer]

This just goes to prove the nature of history and insight of Napoleon's quote, "What is history but a fable agreed upon".  It was 1881 for a long time, until it was fairly recently determined to be 1879.  The date of foundation does not seem to have the same certainty as the half life of Cobalt 60. 


I had cut and pasted from this source, forgetting about the content of new club badge and the research that went into establishing the accepted year of foundation.

http://www.indopedia.org/Swindon_Town_F.C..html

The Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2007 - 2008 (and previous editions when it was the Rothmans) states that it is generally accepted that Swindon Town came into being in 1881.  Wikipedia states 1879.  The club's badge obviously trumps any thing else, and obviously is the official date.  Presumably, in the unlikely event of some authenticated papers in an attic in Liddington being suddenly discovered that show a different history, this could change.



This from Vital Football on choosing the new badge design.


The Foundation date of Swindon Town: 1879 or 1881?

In the first book club historian Dick Mattick - a former club director, ever wrote on Swindon Town F C, 1989's 'The Robins', the foundation date of 1881 was stated. This was the generally accepted date at the time and the club itself celebrated its centenary with a match against cup holders Ipswich Town in 1981. It came from the merger of the Spartans and St Marks Young Men's Friendly Society after they had played out a 2-2 draw but more recent research indicates an earlier formation date.

On 29th November 1879 a match was played and reported on two weeks later in The Swindon Advertiser as being between Swindon Association FC and Rovers FC which resulted in a 4-0 defeat for the Swindon side who were a man short.


Perhaps the best person to be arbiter of the club's foundation is the Rev William Baker Pitt who was the founder. Research carried out by Peter Lupson for his book 'Thank God for Football' turned up a speech made by the Rev Pitt at a dinner in 1911 to celebrate the club's winning of the Southern League. As part of this speech he said 'we decided to call our club the Swindon Town Football Club but found this rather a large mouthful to shout out so we afterwards changed the name to the Spartans'. Hence, Dick Mattick and other local historians now regard the first match played by Swindon as this 1879 match in which Pitt, along with Cockbill and Watson, were reported as having given good service for the visitors. It is for this reason that '1879' has been incorporated into the new designs.

[JOHNNY REEVES]

no mention of a howard fleming

[dell boy]

no mention of a howard fleming

Fleming was spotted by secretary/manager Sam Allen, playing for local team St.Marks, and was invited for a trial. It took just one reserve game for Fleming to earn a contract - he scored twice in a 4-0 win over Salisbury. Seven days later, on October 19th, 1907, Fleming made his senior debut versus Luton, scoring one goal, creating two others, and missing a penalty, as the Town won 4-0 again. Fleming finished as top scorer that season, with 17 goals from 30 appearances.

The following season, Fleming scored 28 goals in 34 games, and was rewarded with international honours. To this day, he holds the record for the number of England appearances made by a Swindon player, making eleven appearances in which he scored nine goals, including a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Ireland in Dublin in 1912.

During his time at Swindon, the team won the Southern League championship twice, and also reached the FA Cup Semi-Finals twice. In the second semi-final, versus Barnsley, Fleming was obviously seen as the dangerman, and he was singled out for some rough treatment. The injuries he sustained kept him out for 10 months. Fleming's career was interrupted again when the first War began, during which time he worked as a PE instructor in Cambridge.

After the war, Fleming returned to Swindon, and when the Town joined the Football League in 1920, Fleming was one of the players who played in the inaugural first match. He struck four goals in the Town's 9-1 win over Luton, which remains the club's record league victory.

Fleming's last game was on 9th April, 1924, when he again scored in a 4-0 win. One of the greatest players in the club's history has been immortalised with a statue that stands in the club's foyer. Also, he has a street in Swindon named after him, Fleming Way.

[Bogus Dave]

was he not called harold?

[Ardiles]

Also, he has a street in Swindon named after him, Fleming Way.

It is quite fitting that the main road from the County Ground to the centre of Swindon is named after one of the club's finest sons.  It's just a shame that this road is one of the dreariest in the town.  (And, God knows, it has some competition.)

[Reg Smeeton]

It is quite fitting that the main road from the County Ground to the centre of Swindon is named after one of the club's finest sons.  It's just a shame that this road is one of the dreariest in the town.  (And, God knows, it has some competition.)

  You can be rest assured of one thing, if SBC were responsible for naming a new road into the CG now it would be called something like Venice Way.

  Back in the 60's, the club was important to the Town...sadly no longer.

[Reg Smeeton]

was he not called harold?

  This is a thread for old buggers

[Crozzer]

"In our day we had to stand on t'terraces, watch the highlights in black and white and had to twiddle the knobs on the t.v. without a remote control.  Worst than that David Coleman was always on the bloody t.v."

"Luxury! We had to be shoved along t'terraces with shovers to make sure thirty thousand could get into t'ground, and it cost 1/6 to get in just to be shoved.

"We had it harder, we had to be in the ground at 1.30 for a 3.00 p.m kick off, and had to stand on a bench so we could see, and there was only one sub. and if the goalie got hurt, somebody else who wasn't a goalie had to go in goal"

"We had it rougher, Dave Mckay were manager"

"Aye, those were the days, the youth of today would never believe us".

[Ardiles]

  Back in the 60's, the club was important to the Town...sadly no longer.

Reg - we can all hope for the day when, once again, STFC becomes a socially acceptable topic of conversation in Swindon's pubs, and in its schools and offices on a Monday morning.  The last decade has taken its toll...give it a few years.  We'll start to see improvements fairly soon, I hope.

[dell boy]

"In our day we had to stand on t'terraces, watch the highlights in black and white and had to twiddle the knobs on the t.v. without a remote control.  Worst than that David Coleman was always on the bloody t.v."

"Luxury! We had to be shoved along t'terraces with shovers to make sure thirty thousand could get into t'ground, and it cost 1/6 to get in just to be shoved.

"We had it harder, we had to be in the ground at 1.30 for a 3.00 p.m kick off, and had to stand on a bench so we could see, and there was only one sub. and if the goalie got hurt, somebody else who wasn't a goalie had to go in goal"

"We had it rougher, Dave Mckay were manager"

"Aye, those were the days, the youth of today would never believe us".

Can we please go back in time to those great days - even though you were cramped in, you always ended up standing next the same people all season. If you were late getting in to the ground you knew it was ok if you pushed your way to your normal location, because the blokes who stood with you each game always saved your place.

[Nemo]

Michael Pook.

It's getting depressing now when the youth players are younger than me.

[Luci]

Its depressing now first teamers are younger!!!!!