Thetownend.com

Next season is my ten year anniversary.A whole decade of being a Swindon supporter.All those minutes and hours gone,i can't help thinking that i could have done something a bit more constructive with my time,like learn spanish or take up pipe smoking .But fuck it i made my decision and i will stick by it.
Did anyone else here go to the last away game of that season in 95/96?It was shewsbury and it was my first ever away game, what a day it was amazing.

Congratulations.....you've picked a pretty lean 10 years  :( .

  I was at Gay Meadow.....was having trouble finding a pub, they either seemed closed or full, so a decent local invited us along to the nearby Bowls Club.  I suppose not looking like a hoolie has its advantages.

I must not have gone to that game, as I don't even remember the fixture.

I remember away at Chesterfield which was where we secured the Championship, and I remember the last game of the season which was a dull draw, but cannot remember ever playing Shrewsbury. :?

I went up to that on the train from London with the SSILA boys.  We found a nice little locals pub and I would have been quite happy tp stay there but everyone else seemed to want to go to the game for some reason :roll:

That 10 years has gone far to quickly.

I went to Shrewsbury, 2-1 wasn't it?

I remember seeing Dean Spink's sponsored car

That's the one, it was the most relaxed non-pre season friendly I've ever been to.

ive been supporting the Town for 10 years now, and my God its been a crap ten years! We got one promotion that I hardly knew anything about, and a relegation.

We lost on penalties to fecking Brighton, and our hopes of a trip to Cardiff were dashed by losing to Southend.

We haven't gone on any incredible Cup runs apart from the semis of the Coca-Cola Cup, which again I can't really remember!

yeh. same as me.  :(

I have to be honest here and say that if I was just a young pup, I don't know if I would be supporting STFC.  It's only the good stuff up to and including 95-96 that keeps me going.  Fair play to anyone who's started following them since then, you must have masochistic tendancies!

I've supported the town since i was 8 (1992) and i have to admit that if it wasn't for the Playoff final game, a season in the Prem, and the Div 2 Championship, its been a bit shit.

I must been very fortunate, having followed the Town since the early 80's so got all the glory years.  Even had a run of 7 seasons where I only missed one game and that was the second away game in the Anlgo-Italian Cup.

Seen some good times, some great times and many downright awful ones.

If it wasn't for those pesky play offs last season, the coming season would actually be our official 10th anniversary of being totally dross season.  The club could have had special commemorative replica shirts and other items of merchandise made.  Shame really.

I've nothing but admiration for the fans who've only seen the relatively thin times in the last 8 or 9 years.

  When I started going  in 62/63, we got promoted, had a sexy young side and even had TV documentaries made about us.

Who were the SSILA then? Was Banbury red top boy? http://67.18.37.16/525/186/emo/bustingup.gif

Swindon Supporters In London Ass.I think

Correct.   They were around for quite a few years but gradually fizzled out due to the general apathy which reigned during the McMoan/Hunt wilderness years.

I started following Town properly in the 03-04 season.  Before that I had only been to two games.  Away at Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day '97 (I think) and home to Ipswich.  I don't think I could have made a worse choice of games.  Away at Forest we lost 3-0 and the Ipswich game was our record home defeat (0-6)!

I went to that Forest away game with a Forest supporting mate. Can't remember a shot on goal from us and to cap it all he made me sit with the Forest fans or he wouldn't go (he was 30 odd not 15!). I remember the 3rd goal celebrations, some forest fan turned to me yelling 'yeeeesssssss' and clocked I was a Swindon fan from the look on my face and lack of movement from my seat. He must have felt sympathy because he said "sorry" before carrying on with his celebrations.

My first game was I think around 1988. I think super Lou was in charge, I recall it being a cup game against Vale I think, possibly a replay. It went to extra time and Ross McLaren scored the winner. Great atmosphere too. I tried looking up the game to find it exactly and the one that seemed the closest fit was in 1990, definitely too late. So maybe my mind is playing tricks about the details.

I'm not surprised you didn't come back for so long!

My first game was against Plymouth Argyle in 1990. I was 4 and all I remember was Peter Shilton being the goalkeeper. I don't know how often I went for the next few years, but I went to a few games in 95/96 (including the game where the players paraded the trophy around after the game, I remember being on my Dad's shoulders on the Stratton Bank for that) and then I had a season ticket when in 97/98 then lost interest in football totally and started going after a 0-0 draw with Reading at home when Igoe got sent off for Reading, only missed a few home games since then.

Batch

That sounds a bit like the game that settled the epic series v Bolton 3-3 CG 1-1 BP aet 1-1 BPaet 2-1 CG aet , now of course it'd just be setttled by pens striaghr away...yet another example of being screwed by the bigger clubs.

Dont know if reg can help, my first swindon game was swindon 3 - newcastle 2, 3 pens two missed I think.  That was me hooked forever.....

Reg can you tell me what year, im thinking 88? prob was my dad doesnt do sport just works so my mates old man took me, top bloke old ken is and I owe him a lot....

HI reg,

Just been on the epic Statto site http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/ and you are correct, 21st Nov '89. Thought it was earlier but there you go. Steve White got the other.

Lived in Ciren with my mum who couldn't drive. Before that date I was a Man U 'fan'. Swindon might as well have been as far as Manchester because I couldn't get to games of either club. Didn't start watching the Town properly until 1995 since I was away at Uni in Swansea 1992-1995 (when I could drive). Uni was great but robbed me of the playoff final (exams next morning) and the prem season (made a few games, incl. drawing with Man U 2-2 - a significant moment given that was the time I knew I was a proper town fan through and through!).

Bloody hell 16 years, been watching them longer than the girlfriends been alive! JOKE

 That was March 91.....I missed teh game, it was Easter and was walking Dorset Coast Path, so can't help with the details although Micky Hazard scored a pen.

 It was Ossies last game.......he buggered off to Newcastle after it.

 I developed a bit of an odd pattern of managers getting sacked or leaving when on holiday, because I never bother looking in papers or owt, seeing that as part of geting away from it all.......can be a bit o9f a shock when you find out days later.

Oh its not as long as i thought, poo

i wish my dad had been involved in footy, it was easter I remember it clearly!

Did Ling score for us?

I remember that game, we had Rideout on loan.  He was class that day I seem to remember.

Team that day......1 Digby
                            2 Kerslake
                            3 Viveash
                            4 Hazard
                            5 Lorenzo
                            6 Calderwood
                            7 Jones
                            8 Shearer
                            9 Rideout
                           10 MacLaren
                           11 Foley
                         Sub White

I was watching the footy last night round a mates and they couldn't beleive some of the people that have been involved in the club. The discussion grew from Carrick to Hoddle and Ossie. This is why it would be such a shame if the club diappeared out of existence.

Anyway the first Swindon game I saw was the 92/93 play off on the telly; I had only got into playing football that season anyway. First game I went to see was Bristol Shitty at home in 94/95 /o\ (0-3) no wonder I have blanked it from memory. Went a few times the following season \o/ and then to games here and there (my dad isn't really a town fan). The 99/00 season was the only season I pretty much went to every game - what a disaster.

my first game was steve white's testimonial against bristol city in the summer of 94. i think we won 2-1. my first league game was swindon 0-5 liverpool

My first time watching the Town was way back in 1978, stood on the Stratton Bank watching us beat Brentford 2-0.

 :old:

  I remember that one quite well.....as it was the first game I'd seen after living away and doing a bit of travelling.

  Steve Aizlewood got injured and Roy Carter went and played centre back and was superb....lovely balmy September evening just right for standing on the Bank.

 In goal was Chris Ogden, who had a short lived career as an attempted Jimmy Allan replacement....culminating in getting a drink driving conviction in Conmmercial Road....

be interesting to see the team that played when i first went.

i think it might have been something like: in no particular order.

Digby
Taylor
Bodin
Culverhouse
Robinson
O Sullivan
Horlock
Ling
Gooden
Allison
Finney

thats a rough guess....Happy Days those were  8)  standing in the stratton bank.

What do you remember about this game Reg?

Nov 2nd 1976, Crystal Palace (H) 1-1

Nowt.....as I wasn't there.....think that may have been the Palace side that got to FA Cup semi......Malcolm Allison's fedora.

Hah!  Got you, you part-time bastard!

I remember it OST.Decent crowd-they had 2 lumps up front Swindlehurst and Steve Perrin who scored.Our own beanpole striker Dave Syrett scored ours-Me and him played in the same Dorset schoolboys side.He was better than me.At the time of this game we were both in the top 6 hence the big turnout.

the first game i went to was home to oxford in about 1989, i was about 5, and we won 3-0! cant ask for a better start! been hooked ever since  :D

Well done Adje.  It was a bloody cold night I remember.  I was off school for the rest of the week after that with the flu -  I seem to remember Dave Syrett's dad/uncle (I think it was his dad) used to read our leccy meter!

Whatever happened to Dave Syrett I wonder?

Or his dad for that matter?

That was a great one to start with.  I remember Paul 'Oggie' Hunt having a storming game and great things were expected.  Sadly though, that one game was pretty much his Swindon career.

As part of the deal that brought Dave Syrett to Swindon,his dad insisted(allegedly)that Town also sign his brother Pete-who was,to be kind,not all that and ended up playing for Salisbury.Last I head Dave was a school groundsman( in Warminster,I think.)

Sorry i've returned to this thread late,i post and then run away :)
I had gone to games prior to the 95/96 season but it wasn't a regular thing.Shamefully i thought that i could be a fan of swindon and man utd but i realised in the 94/95 season[when we went down]that it was'nt possible.Swindon were  the team i cared about ,they were the team that mattered to me,and there is no way i'd change that.
Shewsbury away was class.The tannoy announcer said that the players would return and thank the fans ,which they did, a bog standard clap from the halfway line.But we weren't happy with that and started to sing" we're not going anywhere".No one left so the players came back out and we stood on the wall with the fence on it and they walked down and shook hands e.c.t.God it was great.

Leicester 0-0 opening day of the 91 season I believe....

I think it was the 92-93 season, I checked in one of my old programmes.  I have the Liverpool vs Swindon programme from Annefield.  I found it in my garage.  I also have the League Cup Final programme.  My uncle went to that game.

1st game I went to was against Shrewsbury, 10th April 1976. 3-0. Syrett, Anderson and Stroud scored, don't remember a thing about the game. next one was March 79 when we beat Lincoln City 6-0 and I had got into football a lot more then after the 78 World Cup.
Didn't live in Swindon so couldn't go very often when I was young.

My Dad's first game was a 2-2 draw against Norwich City at the CG.