THE BLUES
First, massive apologies for giving this as an evening kick off in the Travel News article last week. Unforgivable and a stupid error, thanks for the texts! Updated timings in the Train section but I'm sure everyone's made their plans by now.
I do not like writing previews before the previous match has been played however the Easter hols have forced my hand. So looking forward to those six degree temperatures in the south west! Meanwhile who knows what the league table is going to look like at five on Saturday after this crazy season. Where have
Talking of the Borient, nice of old
Four points are the minimum I believe we need from the two Easter games to keep these upstarts in their place. There's some horrible trips up north next month! Still waiting for news re the Ginger Gem on Friday, let alone Monday.
Still, let's hope Flav doesn't react the way young
THE OPPOSITION
As of March 20
Certainly they did us a favour last weekend nicking a couple of points from
Wiltshire fans have not been too impressed with the manager's tactical prowess and he seems to have come up with a sort of 4-3.5-2.5 to combat a run of only 2 wins in the last 10. However, tricky winger Anthony McNamee is enjoying his new role and will be a man to watch. In the new-look system McNamee is given licence to roam, while the three other players in the engine room do the dirty work! Certainly in the draw with Carlisle McNamee was the best player on the pitch, tormenting the visitors' defence every time he got on the ball. The former Watford man completed his first 90 minutes since arriving at the
"It was definitely the best team performance since I've been here. Just the way we were passing the ball around, we were unlucky not to win the game," said McNamee. "We kept playing with it and gave everyone a chance to get on the ball and show what they've got. The formation that we play, with one wide and three centre-midfielders, I like it. It gives me licence to roam and I like that. I'd hardly played a lot of games in a row, but hopefully coming to Swindon I can get a lot of games in and then my performances will go from there. I was happy with my performance on Saturday. It's starting to get good and more consistent, and hopefully it can just keep getting better for me.
Playing every week is good and I'm working hard in training knowing that I've got a chance of playing on a Saturday. Before I came to Swindon I haven't played on a Saturday at three o'clock for about seven months, so it is weird, but it's great to just be involved and playing games."
A report on that Carlisle game and the team that finished the game.
A fortnight ago Maurice Malpas described Leeds United's victory at the County Ground as daylight robbery, but if that's the case then Carlisle should be among Britain's most wanted criminals as they stole a point from Wiltshire with an 86th minute equaliser. And Peter Murphy played the leading role of the visitor's villain, heading home Simon Hackney's corner before escaping unpunished from a clear foul on Hasney Aljofree inside the area with time running out. Had Town been awarded a last-gasp penalty it would have been no more than they deserved for arguably their best performance of the season.
A creative, passing display saw them dominate their high-flying opponents from start to finish, and midfielder Craig Easton revealed it was exactly the reaction to some recent under-par performances that Town boss Maurice Malpas had been asking for. "It's disappointing because we've put everything into the game and I think it's the first time we've played 80 minutes, nearly a full 90 that we can be proud of," he admitted. "Other games, we've been good for the first half or little spells, but I think we can be proud of the full game, and unfortunately it wasn't enough to get the three points. The gaffer's always on about getting reactions. We were unhappy with the way we defended in the 15-minute spell against Orient, and I don't think we saw anything near that kind of level in this game. That's a reaction from the back four and the rest of the team to defend really well, and I'm just gutted it wasn't enough to get the win."
The sides went in goalless at half-time, largely thanks to Carlisle keeper Keiren Westwood, who pulled off a series of fine saves to keep Town's Anthony McNamee-inspired attack at bay, including an amazing triple stop from Simon Cox, Blair Sturrock and Easton. And the hosts were left to rue their missed chances nine minutes after the restart when Marc Bridge-Wilkinson headed Carlisle in front.
That could have seen Town capitulate, but they continued to press and were rewarded in the 61st minute as Cox netted at the second attempt from Michael Timlin's cross. When Sturrock latched on to Peter Brezovan's long punt down field and smashed the ball past Westwood with 11 minutes remaining it appeared that Town had sealed the victory, however Murphy snuck in free to head home the equaliser in the 86th minute.
The home side drove forward once more in search of all three points and thought they had the chance to win it as Murphy used Aljofree as a stepladder to make a clearance from inside his own box, but amazingly the referee refused Town's penalty claim. Although they ultimately didn't get the result they deserved, Easton was full of praise for Town's goal heroes, who had both been suffering in front of the net. "I'm chuffed for the two lads - hopefully it will give them the confidence to go on and get a few more before the end of the season," he said. "Coxy has missed a few chances but keeps putting himself up for it and he's got his reward. Also Blair has been working tirelessly for us but needed a goal and I'm really chuffed for him that he got one. If we can keep getting the ball out to Macca and he can keep putting those sort of crosses in then there'll be plenty more goals to come."
Brezovan, Comminges, Jack Smith, Ifil, Aljofree, McGovern, Easton, Timlin, McNamee, Sturrock (Ashikodi 89), Cox.
Subs Not Used: Phil Smith, Zaaboub, Nicholas, Morrison. Booked: McGovern. Goals: Cox 61, Sturrock 80.
THE MATCHES
Played 106; WON 37 DRAWN 24 LOST 45
Quite a history here which started way back on Sep. 11 1930 with a home 1-3 defeat, Nuttall the scorer. Since then it's been fairly even as the respective sides have passed each other through the various divisions.
The biggest victory margin for the Blues was on Feb. 17 1951 with an amazing 8-2 scoreline in Division 3 South at home, Tippett with a hat-trick, Davies and Grant with doubles and a mere one from Lawler. We have suffered two 1-6 hammerings. The first on April 17 1922, Ruddock with our consolation. The other the LDV R1 match on Oct. 22 2002 when Jones hardly saved Newman's obvious embarrassment.
Since that reversal, (and I was there, horrible), there was a Coke Cup R1 2-3 defeat at Roots Hall, Maher and Broughton scoring on Aug. 12 2003. However this has been followed by four succesive wins which 400 plus Shrimpers will want stretched to five on Easter Monday. Revenge in the LDV was gained on Jan. 25 2005 in R4 when Dudfield and Nicolau scored in a 2-0 win at home. Then a hat-trick of league wins, the first away on Sep. 10 05, Captain Adam heading home in the first five minutes setting us on our way for a 2-1 result, Wayne Gray the other. Jan. 25 05 saw Gutteridge and Gower score in a 2-0 win at Roots Hall. Gower again at the home of football won us the points with a winner at the death after Barrett had equalised a first half Swindon goal on Dec. 8 07. This 2-1 win was the last time we met.
THE EASTER FIXTURES
Thursday, 20 March 2008 Tranmere v Port Vale, 19:45
Friday, 21 March 2008
Southend v Swansea, 13:00 Yeovil v Doncaster, 15:00 Northampton v Nottm Forest, 19:45
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Brighton v Swindon, 15:00 Bristol Rovers v Huddersfield, 15:00 Crewe v Hartlepool, 15:00 Gillingham v Bournemouth, 15:00 Leyton Orient v Carlisle, 15:00 Luton v Cheltenham, 15:00 Oldham v Millwall, 15:00 Leeds v Walsall, 17:20
Monday, 24 March 2008
Bournemouth v Tranmere, 15:00 Carlisle v Northampton, 15:00 Cheltenham v Leyton Orient, 15:00 Doncaster v Oldham, 15:00 Hartlepool v Yeovil, 15:00
Millwall v Luton, 15:00 Nottm Forest v Brighton, 15:00 Port Vale v Gillingham, 15:00 Swindon v Southend, 15:00 Walsall v Crewe, 15:00 Swansea v Bristol Rovers, 17:45
THE GROUND
At one end is the Stratton Bank Stand, a former terrace with rows of seats bolted on to it. This area is uncovered and has a clock above it as well as a small electric scoreboard. Opposite is the small, covered Town End, with several supporting pillars across the front. An unusual feature is that the supporting legs of one of the floodlight pylons are actually in one side of the stand, there are even some seats situated behind them! The sides are larger, two tiered covered stands towering above the two ends. The newest of these is the attractive Nationwide Stand, while on the other side is the older Arkells Stand. The latter has windshields on either side and a few supporting pillars.
The ground also benefits by a striking set of four floodlight pylons. Once a feature across the country, floodlights are slowly but surely disappearing from the landscape, being replaced by rows of lights across the stand roofs. It's a shame really, if only because the floodlight pylons made it a lot easier to locate a ground in a town or city and were always synonymous with a football ground.
Away fans are located in the Arkells Stand at one side of the pitch, where up to 1,200 fans can be housed. This is an older stand with facilities to match, but at least you are under cover. If you are at the back of this stand there is one supporting pillar which may impair your view of the goal otherwise it is fine. You even get a view of some of the rolling Marlborough Hills beyond one corner of the ground! There is a small kiosk at the back of stand serving amongst other things a range of Shires Pies (but alas no chicken balti pie), but be careful when taking them back to your seat. The entrances to the seating areas are through large solid doors, and to compound matters they open out towards you! Teams with a larger away following can also be allocated the Stratton Bank End if required. A further 2,100 fans can be accommodated in this area, but the end has no cover and is open to the elements. Fine on a nice sunny day, but on a cold wet, winters day, it can be grim.
THE PUB
Personally I'll be starting, earlier now than I thought, at the Sarancens Head Hotel in Highworth 7 miles from Swindon and the seller of many fine pints of Arkell's. Then on to the Glue Pot at 5 Emlyn Square, Swindon, SN1 5BP, 20 minutes walk from the ground, walk in a straight line from the rail station turniing right at the lights, walk past several 'youth' pubs first, and the seller of many fine ales including Hopback beers.
There's a good Weatherspoons at the top of the high street, for all their faults it's a big bar, plenty of staff, usually, and plenty of choices.
The Steam Railway Co is a large pub, also twenty minutes walk from the stadium. Good all-rounder. Has nine handpumps with Fuller's London Pride, Wadworth 6X and Charles Wells Bombardier as the regulars and up to six guests. Carlsberg, Fosters, Kronenbourg, John Smiths Smooth, Guinness and Strongbow Cider also available. Wheelchair friendly, adapted toilet, children welcome until 6.00 p.m., own parking, pool table and darts, sport shown on six TVs and a big screen beer garden. 14, Newport Street, Old Town, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 3DX.
If you can't be bothered to walk far from the station, you can see the floodlights, the GW Hotel Bar and Grill will stare you right in the face and serves good food as well as two versions of Arkells, a guest ale and all the usual suspects.
THE CAR
137 odd miles from Roots Hall, give yourself two and a half hours. Leave the M25 at junction 15, then join the M4 signposted the West leaving at junction 15, then at the Marlborough Road roundabout take the third exit onto the A419, signposted Swindon. One mile up you'll hit another roundabout, take the first exit onto the A4259, signposted Swindon, Hospital (A&E). Another mile, another roundabout, (there's a lot in Swindon, you get the 'magic' one soon enough), the third exit this time, still the A4259, signposted the Town Centre. Less than a mile, still the A259 and yet another roundabout, the first exit though signposted Walcot West, Town Centre, Old Town. Yes, it's the Magic Roundabout and keep to the A4259 getting onto Cirencester (A419) but to be honest you will see the ground, just push the excelarotor down and get across as quickly and as safely as possible. There's plenty of street parking, good luck!
THE TRAIN
The ground is walkable from Swindon train station and will take you around 10-15 minutes. Leave the station, cross the road and proceed up the road between the two pubs (Great Western and Queen's Tap), continue to end of road. Turn left, proceed along Manchester Road, through traffic lights as far as you can go. At the junction turn right. The County Ground is about 300 yards up this road on the left.
After my cock up re the kick off it was the least I could do to check www.thetrainline.com and with tickets on sale at twenty quid on the day there may be some late decisions to go. Believe it or not there are still some single ten pound fares from 9 to 10.30 direct from the Fenchurch Street line, Liverpool Street is closed, good luck getting to work on Tuesday, all the way to Swindon. This is mainly die to a bus service from Reading adding thirty minutes to the journey that will now take over three to hours. (There are three trains an hour from Paddington to Swindon.) It will cost 25quid back but with a direct line to Paddington, you will be home by nine if you catch the 17.35 or 17.59. If you can get to London the fares are 7.50 and 18.50 respectively.
THE HISTORY
Swindon Town Football Club was founded by Reverend William Pitt of Liddington in 1879. The team turned professional in 1894 and joined the Southern League which was founded in the same year.
Swindon reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in the 1909-10 season, losing to eventual winners Newcastle United. Barnsley F.C. and Swindon were invited to compete for the Dubonnet Cup in 1910 at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris. 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 champions Manchester United. This, the highest-scoring Charity Shield game to date, was played on 25 September 1911 at Stamford Bridge with Manchester United winning 8-4. Some of the proceeds of this game were later donated to the survivors of the Titanic.
Swindon entered the Football League in 1920 as a founding member of Division Three and defeated Luton Town F.C. 9-1 in their first game of the season. This result stands as a record for the club in League matches.
In 1969 Swindon beat Arsenal 3-1 to win the League Cup for the first and 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. However, the Football Association had previously agreed to inclusion criteria with the organisers which mandated that only League Cup winners from Division One 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, was contested over two legs against Coppa Italia winners A.S. Roma. 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 for the club. The team then went on to win the 1970 Anglo-Italian Cup competition in a tournament beset by hooliganism. The final against S.S.C. Napoli was abandoned after 79 minutes following pitch invasions and a missile barrage, with tear gas 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, 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 first club to score over 100 points in a season. A year later they won the Second Division play-offs to achieve a second successive promotion. Promotion campaign Manager Lou Macari left in 1989 to take charge of West Ham United with veteran midfielder, and former Argentine international, Ossi Ardiles 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 promotion to the First Division and Tranmere Rovers to the Second Division. The scandal saw then chairman Brian Hillier 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.
Swindon progressed well during the 1991-92 season, Glenn Hoddle's first full season as manager, and just missed out on the Second Division play-offs. A year later they beat Leicester City 4-3 in the new Football League Division One play-off final to achieve promotion to the Premiership — bringing top-division football to the club for the first time. The club are one of the few domestic football teams never to have lost a game at Wembley Stadium.
Hoddle moved to Chelsea during the summer of 1993 and was replaced by assistant John Gorman, but Swindon never adjusted to the pace of Premiership football. They were relegated after recording only five wins and conceding 100 goals — the latter record has yet to be broken. The following year, Swindon were relegated for the second successive time and slipped into Division Two.
New manager Steve McMahon succeeded in getting Swindon back into Division One on his first attempt, as they won the Division Two championship in 1996. McMahon remained as manager until September 1998, when he left by mutual consent after Swindon had lost 5 of the 9 opening games of the 1998-99 season. The club has then had eight managers in nearly eight years (Andy King was appointed twice), during which time they were relegated back into Division Two. They fully finished 5th in the 2003-04 season but failed in the promotion play-off stage and stayed in the same league, now renamed League One.
Caretaker manager Iffy Onuora was unable to save Swindon from relegation to League Two in 2006. Their relegation meant that they became the first ever former Premiership team to be demoted to the lowest Football League division. Dennis Wise agreed to become the new Swindon Town manager in May 2006 following the relegation, with Gustavo Poyet joining the coaching staff. The pair left in October when it was announced that they had agreed to move to Leeds United. Adrian Williams and Barry Hunter took temporary charge until Paul Sturrock was appointed on November 7. Sturrock guided Swindon to promotion to League One in his first season with the club, earning the third automatic promotion place in a 1-1 draw with Walsall in the last game of the 2006-07 season.
The club has been beset by financial difficulties throughout its history, having been placed into administration twice and also twice fought off winding-up orders from Her Majesty's Customs and Excise over unpaid tax-bills. The board currently have to make yearly payments of £100,000 to creditors (2% of the yearly turnover), and only managed to begin the 2006-07 season after sourcing £500,000 to pay for players' wages. The club is campaigning for the redevelopment of the County Ground to help finance the team and a takeover bid by a Fans' Consortium was launched in December 2005.
After much negotiations Swindon Town were taken over by a new consortium during the early stages of the 2007/08 campaign. The appointed chairman-designate being the American Jim Little also announcing former-QPR defender Rufus Brevett as Sporting Director and Portuguese agent José Veiga as General Manager. This lot were then taken over by local businessman Andrew Fitton!
After Paul Sturrock buggered off back to Plymouth former Dundee Utd. team mate Maurice Malpas joined as manager in january 2008. Originally joining Motherwell as assistant manager to former coaching colleague Terry Butcher, he took over the manager's position in May 2006 following Butcher's departure to coach Sydney FC in the A-League. He left the club in June 2007 after one season in charge. Malpas later became caretaker manager of Scotland's under-21 team in August 2007 but missed out on the permanent position to Billy Stark.
However a new sponsorship contract was terminated on 17 March 2008 following local building company Kingswood's financial problems and failure to pay the club over 100,000quid, with Swindon Town Chief Executive Ian Watkins commenting, "We had to withdraw from Kingswood because they had not paid their money and going forward under new ownership we don't want to work in any past uncertainty."
(Thanks to all the usual suspects with their help with this article.)