v 
BLUES
Steve Mildenhall will hope he recovers from his knee problem so he can play against the town of his birth and the club he made 33 appearances between 1995-2001. He was injured when missing the home fixture against the Robins last October.
Alan McCormack's groin problem will be monitored closely after he surprisingly pulled out at 11.45am on Saturday morning.
With Dougie Freedman, James Walker and Alex Revell all remaining on the sidelines most Shrimpers will expect to see the same starting line-up as the one at Hereford with Christophe a more than capable replacement for Macca.
Another victory for the Shrimpers tonight would equal a club record of fifth successive away wins. That was previously achieved in 1991 and 1931.
Blues boss Steve Tilson, who takes charge of the side for the 300th time Tuesday evening, predicts his side will need seven more wins to make the League One play-offs even after a run of eight wins in ten that continued with last Saturday's 1-0 win at Edgar Street.
Speaking to BBC Radio Essex Tilly said: "You'd have to win seven games out of nine, which is huge ask, but while it's possible you've certainly got to go for it. It was another away game where we've stayed in the game, got a little bit of luck with the penalty and gone away with the three points."
OPPOSITION
Manager Danny Wilson continues to be without Craig Easton (calf), Patrick Kanyuka (groin), Yinka Casal (knee) and Jon-Paul McGovern (leg) for Swindon.
Lee Peacock has been ruled out for the rest of the season and Phil Smith is expected to continue between the posts.
| 19 | Northampton Town | 35 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 29 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 43 | 46 | 38 | -3 | ||||
| 20 | Yeovil Town | 36 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 35 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 32 | 57 | 38 | -25 | ||||
| 21 | Swindon Town | 36 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 32 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 28 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 50 | 60 | 35 | -10 | ||||
| 22 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 35 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 36 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 16 | 42 | 55 | 35 | -13 | ||||
| 23 | Hereford United | 34 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 32 | 53 | 30 | -21 | ||||
| 24 | Cheltenham Town | 35 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 26 | 35 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 15 | 43 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 41 | 78 | 25 | -37 | ||||
Swindon have played nine but picked up only seven points since the snowstorms of February that saw the original fixture postponed. They have though moved up a place and will move out of the bottom four if they win.
Well, we know about 20-goal top scorer Simon Cox, hopefully he'll be dealt with by Dervite and Clarkey in the way they've been dealing with most centre forwards since the Frenchman joined the club and that includes in-form and ex-Blue Paytner, scored a good goal at the Hall earlier this season.
But my main worry is the other former Shrimper Hal Robson-Kanu. Looked classy every time he played for us with great technique, will be a challange for Sankofa if he plays wide left and starts cutting inside.
With a front three like that it's a surprise their struggling but they do have an alarming habit of conceding last minute goals.
Swindon manager Danny Wilson is sutibly concerened about this as he watches his side throw away point after point late on in games - and potentially their League One status with it.
Having done a brilliant job of frustrating Leeds United on their own patch for 87 minutes at the weekend, Town looked on course for a very good point and only their third clean sheet of the season. But, they switched off for a second and left 29-goal striker Jermaine Beckford unmarked at the back post, with inevitable consequences.
Wison told the Swindon Evening Advertiser: "We've worked so hard for a large part of the game and get undone at the death by a little mistake. But those mistakes happen too often. We've seen it many, many times. The same situations develop and we don't go the extra yard or extra inch and it's cost us again. It's not doing things thoroughly enough. We didn't press the ball and ambled out to it on the edge of the box. It got lifted back in and then we just turn off. Beckford's got in between the centre-back and the right-back and no-one's seen him. All we can do is keep working at it - it's a matter of hard work and concentration. You can't take away from the lads the effort they put in because they were absolutely fantastic at times. There were no out-and-out clear cut chances that Leeds missed. There was nothing that you would think was a sitter or a howler or that we were let off the hook. We defended very well."
However, after all that, and this must be worrying the home support, Wilson piled in to the very same players he had been defending!
Again to the Advertiser: "There's got to be a desire to get something out of games like this. You've got to die for a result and maybe in one or two cases that desire isn't there. We will have to address that as soon as we can, whether that be changing players or whatever it may be. The sad thing about it is that what we've got is good enough - but only if they will go the full distance. And unfortunately they aren't doing that in certain areas where it's happened too many times. We should have come away with a point, we should have come away with something last week, and the week before and the week before that. That's not exaggerating - they are facts. And we're not doing that."
Swindon find themselves three points from safety with just 10 games remaining, and Wilson believes they only have themselves to blame.
He continued: "In our make-up there's a lack of character in certain areas. If the players really, really want to go the distance, and really want to play their hearts out for Swindon Town, they've got to do that. I would expect that anyway, but in one or two areas they are lacking that determination and spirit. I don't think it hurts enough for them when they get a defeat like this. It should take nobody by surprise the position that we are in, because we've drawn too many games and let games go like this. We've got to break that trend somehow."
PREVIOUSLY
For a good read about our famous cup win in the sixties that has celebrated it's 40th anniversary, The Day Shrimpers Shocked Wembley Heroes, go here: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=EDY3&id=411891
For a good read about our famous cup win in the sixties that has celebrated it's 40th anniversary, The Day Shrimpers Shocked Wembley Heroes, go here: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=EDY3&id=411891
Two extra Back In Times will be up Tuesday, including a report on the Simon Francis winning game last season.
The Blues have really turned the record around in recent years and are on for their seventh consecutive win against the Wiltshire based club, a hat-trick of wins at the County Ground, and their third double over Swindon in three seasons.
Last October we won 2-1 at the Hall, Revell with one of the headed goals of the season for the Blues, Paytner equalised close in on the hour, but then the substitute Laurent showed we may have something special on our hands with a 71st minute headed winner that beat even Revell's!
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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 Don Rogers 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.
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! (Maybe not Saturday!)
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!
WEATHER
A warm 10c's by the kick-off.
REF
The man in the middle is Karl Evans from Leigh. (That's Greater Manchester, not the one where you get your cockles.)
FIXTURES
Tuesday, 17 March 2009: (all 19.45 kick-off); Cheltenham v Tranmere, Crewe v Bristol Rovers, MK Dons v Millwall, Scunthorpe v Hereford, Swindon v Southend, Walsall v Brighton.
BET
BET
Swindon (15/8) Draw (12/5) Southend (17/10)
For all the footy odds go here: www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-one.
TRANSPORT
They say it's on, a last minute decision to go! All the maps and info you need to get to the County Ground, Last Call to Swindon here:
www.thelittlegazette.com/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=EDW4&id=437983
PUB AND PIES
For a selection of the best pubs and where to grab a pie go to Last Orders in Swindon here:
PUB AND PIES
For a selection of the best pubs and where to grab a pie go to Last Orders in Swindon here:
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 organizers 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 teargas 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 second club to score over 100 points in a season, York City having totalled 101 two years earlier. 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, Ossie 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 7 November. 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.
In 2008 Swindon Town was taken over by a consortium fronted by local businessman Andrew Fitton along with Jeremy Wray who appointed Maurice Malpas as the new manager after Sturrock returned to Plymouth. The consortium are in the process of clearing all debts which the Wiltshire faithful hope will enable the club to punch once again above its weight.
Well, he didn't last the distance! Maurice Malpas was under severe pressure as Swindon started the 2008-2009 campaign badly, after winning the first match at home against Tranmere Rovers 3-1, Swindon lost 5 consecutive matches at home (the first time this had happened since 2000) and there were several calls for Malpas to be replaced. He was finally put out of his misery and sacked on November 14th 2008, with David Byrne taking over temporarily.
Danny Wilson was unveiled as the new manager on 26th December 2008 only days after leaving Hartlepool United. Seems there was a touch of tapping-up involved and Swindon fans were suitably underwelmed. A realtively good start, four new signings, and star man Cox wasn't sold, had given him the benefit of the doubt, but rumblings have started up again after a winless run of six games including four defeats.
(Thanks to the all the usual suspects for their help with this article.)