Thetownend.com

I’m a writer working on a book about the clubs of the Football League. We want to capture the spirit, humour and knowledge of the terraces so have been speaking to real fans, asking them for their opinions on their clubs highs and the lows, the heroes and the villains on and off the pitch. If you're a Swindon Town supporter and want to get involved, it would be great to get some feedback on the below:

Greatest moments on this ground: (what and why)
Lowest moment on this ground: (what and why)
Heroes of the turf: (top 5 legends and why)
Zeroes of the turf: (three or four underachievers who failed to live up to the hype)
Heroes of the sideline: (top 2 or 3 managers or coaches and why)
That’s quite interesting: (a couple of lines about a player or the club etc that are "quite interesting")
Don’t mention the: (something embarrassing or funny - running to a couple of lines)
Villains: (unpopular players or those who left under a cloud...)
Not a lot of people know that: (a piece of obscure trivia)

Sure others will have a greater memory than me for some of this stuff but here's my personal contribution:

Greatest moment at the ground - Mark Hughes getting punched in the face in the town v man u leauge game '93
Worst - Too many to choose from but losing to cheltenham in the johnsons paint trophy which could have been our last ever game due to going bust was a dark moment for me

Heros...
Don Rogers - just a legend - look it up or do you want the book written for you?
Duncan Shearer - ginger scoring machine
Jan Aage Fjotoft - norweigan scoring machine, and the circumstances of his coming to form make hima cult hero
John Trollope - record for the most games for one club
Shaun Taylor - OOh Shaun Taylor - nuff said

Zeros

Joey Beauchamp - did we really pay £1m for the mummys boy?
Neil Ruddock - money grabbing cunt
Jason Drysdale -
There must be soooo many but I've blocked them out...

Heros of teh sideline

Macari
Hoddle
Ardiles

Not a lot of people know about the Rolex clock, well they probally do but I don't know much else that not alot of people know.....


 

Nope. The fee at it's highest was £800,000 (which was bad enough) including Adie Whitbread.

swindon-town-fc.co.uk states that West Ham got £300,000 up front.

Greatest moment at the ground - for me it would be the game in 1963 versus Shrewsbury Town when Roger Smart scored the only goal & we won promotion to the Second Division for the very first in our history time with the team of 'Bert's babes'.  For those of you not around then, Swindon Town were regarded as just another average Third Division club who had never won anything, had lost 2 FA Cup semi-finals sometime before the Great War & were content to tick along season after season.  Bert Head came in & started building a team centred on young local players & for the first time there was a real pride, not to say passion, in the town & surrounding countryside about OUR football club.
Worst moment - relegation to the Fourth Division after losing at Newport County away. I went to bed at 6 o'clock because I was so down.  Then, on waking the next morning the realisation hit me & I felt like I'd had my guts kicked out.
Heroes of the turf - the Don. If you ever saw him play you'll understand.  If you didn't see him play, they it would take me the rest of this site to tell you how good he was.  There have been others who were good like Maurice Owen, Ernie Hunt, Mike Summerbee, Rod Thomas, Peter Noble, Peter Downsborough, Taylor, Calderwood, Fjortoft, Shearer, Walters & more recently Cox - but for me the Don was the best.
Heroes of the sideline - Hoddle & Ardiles - because of the football that their teams played.
Macari - for bringing the club back from the dead & for giving we Swindon fans that amazing season when we won the Fourth Division & the subsequent seasons of achievement, Bert Head who started the ball rolling & Danny Williams for that game at Wembley.
Zeroes of the turf - Probably David Peach - biggest rip-off since Ronnie Biggs called it a day. My gran was still a better full back than him when she died aged 103.
That's quite interesting - The Town had to move from their previous ground, The Croft in Old Town when some kid, who was watching the game fell into the adjoining quarry.  Yes, Health & Safety were around keeping us safe even in those days!
Don't mention - Steve McMahon, Mike Diamandis or Oxford United.
Villains - Who now remembers Mike O'Hara, Goalkeeper & cat burglar or Graham French, left winger, would be murderer later a guest of her Majesty or Jimmy Gould who liked a bet or two especially on games he was playing in?
Obscure Trivia - The Shrivenham Road stand that had been purchased from the Aldershot Military Tattoo site - now long since gone or that the Town End stand was opened by the Town's then MP Wavell Wakefield - who had actually for a time held the record number of England caps at Rugby Union.

I’m a writer working on a book about the clubs of the Football League. We want to capture the spirit, humour and knowledge of the terraces so have been speaking to real fans, asking them for their opinions on their clubs highs and the lows, the heroes and the villains on and off the pitch. If you're a Swindon Town supporter and want to get involved, it would be great to get some feedback on the below:

Greatest moments on this ground:
Bodin scoring that penalty to put us 4-3 up at wembley in the play off final (Ok it was at wembley but we are quite at home there (never beaten)
Beating a fulham side with Moore, Best & Marsh in it something like 5-0
Beating the Arse in the cup in the very early 70's
Invicibiles goal going in against Peterborough
Rory Fallons overhead kick against the shitty scum
Seeing Joey Beauchump well wound up by us vs the pox when we thrashed em 4-1 I think

Lowest moment on this ground: (what and why) The day the takeover by our current owners seemed to have fallen thorough.
The day that the Diamandis scum ever got involved with STFC.
The day the Football authorities demoted us by two divisions for offences that sunsequently saw the likes of Spurs get a samll fine.
Heroes of the turf: Shaun Taylor would put his head where it could hurt. Don Rogers & John Trollope No explanation needed. Jan the Man for his goals & celebrations. Jimmy Davis for being with us before he died. Duncan Shearer for his goals

Zeroes of the turf: Beauchump, Jamie Cureton for being a twat, Mac Mahon for being himself.
Heroes of the sideline: Macari, Hoddle & Ardiles

Villains: Diamandis for trying and almost suceeding in shafting the club & supporters. SSW for allowing hime to do so, & Willie Carson for being the puppet.

In the interests of accuracy, the fan fell into the quarry when we played at Bradford's Field not the Croft....it was this accident which prompted a move to The Globe Field, which is roughly where Globe Street/Lansdown Road is....the Globe pub recently closed.

From the GF...we then moved to the Croft.

I've tried to work out where exactly Bradford's Field was, and have come to the conclusion it must have been in the garden of the Vicarage of Bath Road Methodist church.  Although other bits of it have been built on....my research isn't exhaustive mind.

Thanks for the correction Reg. I shouldn't have relied on memory with my failing faculties.

Whats the name of the book?

Don't have time for a full reply, but....

That’s quite interesting: (a couple of lines about a player or the club etc that are "quite interesting")


Graffiti on a board with in large letters stating "Swindon Needs Christ" outside a Methodist church in Swindon, circa 1969.

"Move Rogers over to right wing, and play him on the left wing".


Swindon was Swindon Town F.C.

I got a nice PM before the thread was posted. It's "Around the Grounds: The Essential Fans Guide to the Clubs of the English Football League” to be published Christmas 2009 by Footprint Books.

greatest moments: end of the playoff game against wigan in the eighties, climbing the fencing in the town end to get onto the pitch, my first ever pitch invasion.

Lowest moment: The night that we were demoted, following spontaneous protests in the town centre which were starting to turn very ugly, walked to the county ground. Someone had prized open the gate to the town end, I wandered in and stood on the terrace alongside about 50-60 other town fans in total silence. Pitch black and in silence, all staring at the pitch with a total feeling of despair.

Top 5 Heroes: Don Rogers. Sam Parkin. Bobby Barnes. Shaun Taylor. Simon Cox.
Underachievers: Neil Ruddock. Jamie Cureton. Steve Macmahon.

heroes of sideline: macari, ardiles


Villans: Mike diamandis and Sir seton wills.


 

Phil,
I can remember beating Fulham 5-0 vividly. I was stood on Stratton bank at the front. The game was actually a replay. It was 3-3 in the first game at theirs which I was at too. Marsh should have been sent off for pushing the ref!!!

Greatest moments on this ground: (what and why)

1986 : Clinching promotion against Chester, and getting our first league champions trophy a month later against Crewe, and the party after those games.
The cup wins in the late 80's against Sheff Wed ('85), Portsmouth ('88), Chelsea ('88) (when we won 4-0), and the classic League Cup games against Bolton, when we won in the 118th minute in the 3rd replay (the longest ever League cup tie)

Lowest moment on this ground: (what and why)

The demotion in 1990. It still grates me to this day, considering other sides have got away with it since. The amount of money involved was approx £100k, which is what some players in the top flight get in less than a week.

Also a mention after the game against Brighton in Dec '07, when it looked like it could've been our last game, when the takeover looked dead.

Heroes of the turf: (top 5 legends and why)

Jan Fjortoft - Yes he didn't score for 6 months, but he certainly made up for it in the next 15 months
Shaun Taylor - Would put his head where most people wouldn't.
Colin Calderwood - Was club captain during our most successful period ('85-93).
Sam Parkin - Scored hat-trick on debut. says it all really
And Don Rogers...and the rest of the heroes of '69

Zeroes of the turf: (three or four underachievers who failed to live up to the hype)

Joey Beauchamp, MacMahon, Cureton

Heroes of the sideline: (top 2 or 3 managers or coaches and why)

Lou Macari for turning the club around, and Hoddle and Ardiles for then taking the club onto the promised land, where we may never get to again.
A special mention to Danny Williams.

Villains: (unpopular players or those who left under a cloud...)

Mike Diamandis and Sir Seton Wills. The two people that nearly killed the club.
 

Don’t mention the: (something embarrassing or funny - running to a couple of lines)

We celebrated out centenary in 1981, but in the 1990's, it was found that we were formed in 1879, a couple of years earlier than previously thought. But that didn't stop the club having a 125th Anniversary dinner in 2006...two years after they should've, soon after creating the new cub badge and putting the year 1879 in, our year of formation.

Here are my choices:
Greatest moments on this ground: (what and why) So many. Favourites include: beating Arsenal 4-3 in League Cup 1979, big wins in the league like Bury 8-0 in the same year and Stoke in the '90's - remember the Stoke fans' conga on Stratton Bank; any win against Bristol City.

Lowest moments on this ground: (what & why) The 5-0 defeat against Leeds in Town's only season in the Premier which meant we had conceded 100 league goals; defeats against non-league opposition v Stevenage under McMahon when Town's lack of fight when the going (and weather) got tough was all too apparent.

Heroes of the turf: (top 5 legends and why)
Colin Calderwood - took Town from Division 4 to the Premiership. Captain Marvel
Steve 'Chalkie' White - best free tranfer ever. Only Town player to receive a standing ovation from Swindon fans for scoring a goal for the opposition
Danny Invincibile - quite rubbish really, but scorer of 'that' goal against Peterboro'. " And it's Invincibile on the volley. Would you believe it?" Remember?
Leigh Barnard - for running all day & for epitomising a Lou Macari Swindon side - they never gave up
Chris Kamara - silky skills, but don't mess with Kammy. Rememeber Jim Melrose?

Zeroes of the turf: (three or four underachievers who failed to live up to the hype)
Kim Heiselberg - 'rapid' full back signed by Colin Todd. Roasted by Paul Hall & never seen again.
David Geddes - like running through treacle.
Joey Beachump - need I say more?

Heroes of the sideline: (top 2 or 3 managers or coaches and why)
Lou Macari - lifted the whole club and the town of Swindon out of the doldrums in the eighties
Bob Smith - fantastic cup runs in the late seventies
Danny Wilson - has great potential. Did well to keep Town up last year.

That's quite interesting: (a couple of lines about a player or the club etc that are "quite interesting")
Jan Aage Fjortoft failed to hit the net before Christmas before embarking on a great scoring spree that saw him net thirteen league goals between January and May 1994.

Don't mention the: (something embarrassing or funny - running to a couple of lines)
Last season's tacky competition to re-name the Stratton Bank. Err why would you want to do that? It's called the Stratton Bank.

Villains: (unpopular players or those who left under a cloud..)
No real villains apart from Steve McMahon. Duncan Shearer's replacement Terry Gibson was too short, though.

Not a lot of people know that: (a piece of obscure trivia)
The clock on Stratton Bank (I refuse to call it any other name) is owned by Deacons, a very good friend of mine.

Greatest moments at the CG -

Swindon 4-3 Arsenal LC quarter final 79-80, we took the game to the arse who had a team consisting mainly of international players Jennings, Talbot, Devine, O'leary, Young, Brady, Stapleton, Sunderland, Hollins and Rix, the chant of Wembley 69 when we were 3-1 up was a great feeling for me a 13 year old at the time.

Swindon 5-0 Fulham 76-77 FA Cup 3rd replay, another thrashing of a team containing big name players, Moore, Marsh and Best...we were all over them.

Swindon 8-0 Bury 79-80, my first BIG win for Swindon, fantastic cold December afternoon, we want 9, we want 9 chants finishing off the game....wonderful!

Greatest moment away from the CG -

Clinching the championship title away at Mansfield in 85, memorable day with near 3,000 town fans there.

Lowest Moments at the CG -

Ipswich thrashing us 6-0 in 98-99, they were so good compaired to us.

Stevenage 2-1 defeat in 98-99, awful performance against a woeful non-league side who knew how to play in the awful wet and windy conditions.

Heroes of the turf -

Jan Aage Fjortoft, the man was such a classy player and scorer of some great goals.
Don Rodgers, total legend.
Shaun Taylor, would have died for the club, gave everything he had in every game, captain fantastic.
Chris Kamara, my first hero, great tackler, hardman, ball playing midfielder, hero.
Glenn Hoddle, even at 35 haden't lost the ability to play defence splitting passes and boss the game.
Coling Calderwood, antother great servant and fantastic defender.

Zeroes of the turf -

Joey Bumchum, just for being a big baby.
Leigh Barnard, despised the little idiot and still do.
McMahon, nearly killed the club.
Ruddock, overweight waster.
Cureton, too good for us, apparently.

Heroes of the sideline -

Bob Smith, for making us play fanastic football and getting us into the semis of the league cup.
Lou Macari, for making turning the club around when itt needed it most.
Glenn Hoddle, for being a great player and manager.
Andrew Fitton, for saving us in our hour of need.

Villians -

Mike Diamandis, Ruddock, McMahon, Todd, Beamish.

Obscure trivia -

The Stratton Bank clock is the only Rolex timepiece overseeing any football club in the country.

Just wanted to drop a quick line to say thanks everyone for taking the time and getting involved in the book!

Well done JJ

nice one JJ

Completely agree with all of the above, but for me the influential players were ;

Alan Mayes
Peter Eastoe
David Moss
Andy Rowlands
Kenny Stroud
Dave Syrett (when he chose to turn it on !)

From a backroom point of view, I will always class myself privileged to play for Wilf Trantner for two seasons.

Albeit the bloke was an absolute cunt pre season

Should have been different Fred.......Smith and Trantner for that season were unreal......79 seaon was incredible for a young fan like myself..Stoke away,Wolves away...even Wimbledon away(i think) are ethed firmly in my memory along with Swansea away(boxing day)..we won that and should have walked the lge.
Syrett was class on his day and reminded me abit of Bamber...Roy Carter was a fav of mine but realy didnt go on to fulfill the promisehe had.

Ideally, would have to include the whole team of 69 in the greats, but, while Don Rogers was the much loved star, he could turn it on one week and lose it completely the next.  Fantastic and disappointing in turns!  As a starry-eyed 13 year old, it was Thomas and Trollope, Harland and Butler (the Beardsley of his day, with a shot like a cannon) and Peter Noble especially who painted the canvass for Rogers to shine.

And away at school, where most people supported either Pompey or Argyle (surprise, surprise it was a naval school!) it was those two semi-final matches against Burnley that caused me most excitement, even more than the final.  Perhaps it was the anticipation of the final.....whereas the Final, even with winning, meant the fairytale was over!!

Only saw Eastoe & Syrett play a couple of times so can't comment on them as they left the 1st season I started going regularly as a 10 year old.

Moss was the one thing that kept us up pretty much as Coxy did for us last season and on his day was a match for any winger/striker in the league at the time, classy.

Mayes, Rowland & Stroud.....3 great servants, Mayes and Rowland were the finest pair of striker I have ever seen at Swindon as a pair, they knew exactly where each other were on the pitch.

Stroud was calm and collected and so good on the ball, never wanted to leave Swindon and was offered a pay cut to stay and a salary double to sign for Brizzle Shitty, I know this because I was in hospital with his brother, he said Kenny never wanted to leave Swindon and still regrets doing so.

Admittedly most of my memories of good players came from the season Leefer says ...the 78/79 season when we took a lot of clubs to the cleaners, much bigger clubs at the time, Stoke, Wimbledon, Arsenal, Luton and Wolves....all were outlayed by us.

And Highland Robin.....I would be inclined to agree about the 69 team but cannot comment myself as I was only 3 at the time but my dad and grandfather tell/told me many stories of the team as has Joe Butler who I see and speak to often.

Good times....may they return one day in the near future.