Swindon Town

Swindon Town FC

Ground: The County Ground

Capacity: 15,728

Club Founded: 1879

League: EFL League Two (current level)

Swindon Town supporters have had their fair share of thrills over the years, with huge underdog cup wins, controversy, and Premier League football all being witnessed at The County Ground.

Swindon Town History

The Early Years

The football club was formed in 1879 in the large former railway town in Wiltshire, eighty miles west of London, by Reverend William Pitt as the Spartan Club, taking on its present title four years later. Swindon turned professional in 1894, as a founding member of the Southern League, moving to The County Ground to play home games two years later.

The club reached the 1909-10 FA Cup semi-final, where they lost to Newcastle United before winning the Southern League a year later, coinciding with another FA Cup last-four defeat to Barnsley. Two further Southern League titles were won before the club were founding members of League Division Three South, defeating Luton Town 9-1 in their first game. 

A former club crest

League Cup Winners

Apart from one season in which the club was forced to apply for re-election, nothing out of the ordinary took place. In 1958, when the League was reorganised, Swindon were placed in Division Three. The 'Robins' won promotion to Division Two at the end of the 1962-63 season, but were relegated two years later. 

They found shrewd managers in Danny Williams and Bert Head as they assembled a fine team, with Mike Summerbee moving on to greater things while Don Rogers was the star player with his pace and goals. In 1969, they reached the League Cup Final, beating Arsenal 3-1 at Wembley as a third-tier club.

The County Ground in the early 70s
Image from The Football League Review

Anglo-Italian Cup Winners

The success led to promotion back to Division Two and a place in the following season's Anglo-Italian Cup. They reached the final and won 3-0 away to Napoli. Town made it a double as they also defeated AS Roma over two legs in the Anglo-Italian League Cup Winners' Cup. A new Main Stand was built at The County Ground, but the great run didn't continue. 

Head had moved to Crystal Palace several years earlier and then signed Rogers in 1972. Swindon were soon relegated to Division Three, before reaching the League Cup semi-finals in 1979-80, where eventual winners Wolverhampton Wanderers defeated them over two legs. 

Promotions

Two years later, Town were relegated to the League's basement, where they remained for four seasons until lifting the Division Four title. The following season, under manager Lou Macari, the team won another promotion via the playoffs, returning to the second tier.

Osvaldo Ardiles stepped into the manager's seat after Macari left for West Ham, and in his first season at the helm, the team won the playoff final against Sunderland with an Alan McLoughlin goal. This should have led to promotion to the First Division for the first ever time, but it was not to be. 

Promotion Denied in the Courts

An investigation by the Football League, acting on The People newspaper's revelations, found the club guilty of illegal payments to the players and tax fraud throughout the 1989-90 season, with thirty-six offences uncovered.

Chairman Brian Hillier was jailed, and West Ham forced Macari's resignation over the matter. The club secretary and treasurer were both given suspended sentences. Sunderland were promoted in Swindon's place. After an appeal, Swindon were allowed to remain in Division Two rather than Division Three as originally decided.

Premier League Football

Ardiles was replaced by player-manager Glenn Hoddle, whose passing style of football with Colin Calderwood as skipper thrilled the fans. The former England midfielder produced a side that went on to win promotion at Wembley in May 1993 after a superb playoff final saw Swindon defeat Leicester City 4-3.

Hoddle moved to Chelsea that summer, with Town in the Premier League. His assistant John Gorman took over, with signings such as Andy Mutch and Jan Aage Fjortoft. Steve McMahon was brought in as manager in November, but he couldn't save the team from relegation. However, they reached the semi-finals of the League Cup. 

Form and Financial Fallouts

Town went down again the following season, but won promotion before Jimmy Quinn replaced McMahon in September 1998, with the club in a dire financial state. In January 2000, Swindon entered into administration with an estimated £4M debt and was losing £25,000 a week. 

Chairman Rikki Hunt was forced to resign and replaced later that season by business tycoon Terry Brady, who took the club out of administration. The team was relegated at the end of the season. Several managers had a go at reviving the Robins' fortunes with little success. 

My drawing of the County Ground, club crests, and former team kits.
For enlarged views, click on the images.

A Flicker of Hope then More Turmoil

The goals of Sam Parkin and Tommy Mooney fired Town to the playoffs in the 2003-04 season, which also saw plans for a new stadium, hotel, and gym in the Shaw area of town rejected. Further financial issues marred the season, which included the non-payment of tax bills. 

Long-time club benefactor Sir Seton Wills, who had put in an estimated £10M over the years, once again helped in troubling times. Andy King lost his job as manager in 2005 and was replaced by Iffy Onuora, who couldn't keep the side up. He departed as Dennis Wise, and his assistant Gus Poyet came in. 

Town's crest from the Premier League era

Boardroom Battles

Wise left to join Leeds United. Paul Sturrock was appointed, and he led the side to promotion.  However, there was plenty of disgruntlement behind the scenes, with a boardroom power struggle taking place. At the same time, plans for the redevelopment of The County Ground were being aired. 

The club entered administration once again, before a consortium including Willie Carson sorted out the problems. Another consortium took over the club in 2008 as Sturrock moved to Plymouth Argyle, to be replaced by Maurice Malpas. After a year, he was sacked, with Danny Wilson coming in and saving the side from relegation. 

Paulo Di Canio

The following 2009-10 season saw Town reach the playoff final, but Millwall defeated them in the Wembley showdown. After the defeat, star striker Billy Painter and club captain Gordon Greer were sold, inconsistent form dipped, and the team was relegated, with Wilson being relieved of his duties. 

The board took the highly publicised but controversial move to appoint Paulo Di Canio as the new manager. The Italian's time at the club was never dull. Predictably enough, he resigned in February 2013, citing the board selling players behind his back as his reason. 

Kevin MacDonald came in and took the team to playoff defeat. Mark Cooper replaced him and led the side to the play-off final in May 2015, where they went down 4-0 to Preston North End at Wembley. Swindon were relegated in 2016-17, which resulted in the appointment of David Flitcroft as manager. 

More managerial comings and goings continued as financial issues blighted the club. Owner Lee Power warned of bankruptcy after Swindon were relegated. In July 2021, the club was eventually sold to Australian Clem Morfuni's Axis group. The managerial merry-go-round showed no signs of abating under the new owners.

Ben Garner took the side to the 2021-22 playoffs before he departed, with several short-term appointments following him before the experienced Ian Holloway took the job in October 2024, transforming the side.

My visits

Swindon Town 0 Hull City 0 

Division Two - Monday 31st August 1987

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 9,600

My visit to the County Ground for the evening kick-off wasn't even on my radar twenty-four hours earlier. I was out on Sunday night having plenty of ales and chatting to my good mate Nick Groombridge in The Other Place nightspot in Scarborough. He told me there was a chance of a ride to watch Scarborough play at Colchester United the following day.

This seemed the sort of mad plan I liked, especially as away fans were meant to be banned from Layer Road. Even madder, they were talking of going on to the evening game at Swindon. It sounded a bit far-fetched, even after beers, but I asked if there was any chance of going with them. 

Swindon's Magic Roundabout

Sure enough, the next morning, I stood at the station in dehydrated condition, awaiting my ride. Mick and Doomie did turn up, and we did go to Colchester, and we got in on players' complimentary tickets. It was now time for part two of the day.

Now I'm still not quite sure how we did it, but we did. Mick's driving was rather rapid around the M25 and M4. It was a lovely day, and I remember getting my first view of Windsor Castle. We were watching the clock and the road signs, and every minute counted. 

The Former Shrivenham Stand
Image taken from the Football Grounds of England & Wales book

We found The County Ground easy enough, and our driver even made navigating the famous 'Magic Roundabout' outside the ground look simple. It was just a parking spot we were struggling for, but he soon slid the car into a tight spot on Shrivenham Road. This was handy as the away entrance was just down the road.

We just about made kick-off as we looked and checked out our surroundings. The County Ground was a big enough venue and had a different appearance on all four sides. We were on the corner of the open terraced Stratton Bank, behind the goal. To our left was the magnificent old Shrivenham Stand, with its closed seating deck.

The Town End was a low stand with terracing, and the Main Stand on the far side had a large seating deck. The stewards were friendly enough and arranged for the programme sellers to return at half-time as they'd disappeared from outside the ground by the time we'd arrived. 

The game was a typical early-season encounter with both sides sounding each other out.

A draw was a fair result from what I remember. At full time, Mick stopped for nutrition in Oxford. I know I slept a lot of the journey as I had to be up again at 4.15 to get to the Post Office for work the next morning. It had been a long but brilliant day out with good people.

Wednesday 15th August 2012

I returned to The County Ground nearly twenty-five years after my first visit. I was on the second day watching football and visiting grounds. I had been at the Exeter City v Crystal Palace match the previous evening, and then called in at the homes of Tiverton Town and Taunton Town. 

I got out at Swindon, had a brief visit to Swindon Supermarine FC before heading to nearby Shrivenham for their FA Cup tie with Kidlington. The walk from the station to the ground took around ten minutes, as I walked around trying to get inside for a proper look. All gates were closed, but I did get a peek through the gaps.

Since my previous call, the County Ground had changed. It was now all seated as a legacy of the team's promotions. The Shrivenham Stand was now replaced by a new Don Rogers Stand. The Arkells Stand now had seats in all the lower tiers. The Stratton Bank was still open, but with seating on the steps. 

The Town End was also structurally the same. I took some photos that give a good impression of the ground before walking up the road to catch a bus out of town.

Swindon Town 0 Bolton Wanderers 1 

Football League One - Saturday 8th October 2016

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 7,023 🎟️ £19

With a day off work and a chance of doing a treble of games in one day, thanks to the International break and the Western League groundhop, I made plans and booked a National Express coach to Swindon for just £6.

The match had been brought forward to a 1pm kick-off for live TV coverage, which worked perfectly for my 9am departure from Victoria. On arrival, I made the prudent decision to fill up and enjoyed an excellent fry-up at the Octagon Cafe.

The Glue Pot pub was my pre-match destination of choice. I was struggling with my directions when I asked a friendly local, who just happened to be heading there before the match. What a decision it was, as we sampled a few different halves. The pub was the tap of the Hop Back Brewery. Their products were absolutely top-notch.

We walked to the County Ground. My pal was obviously experienced in this as I was in the Town End behind the goal just before the teams entered the arena. My ticket was £19, with the programme costing £3.

Since my previous visit, the County Ground had replaced the old Shrivenham Stand with the new all-seated Don Rogers Stand. The far Stratton End terrace now had seats, but they were not required for a smallish crowd. The Town End had also been seated. All of them were signs of Swindon’s brief spell in the top flight.

The game was hardly a thriller. For long parts, I wish I'd stayed in the boozer. Swindon tried to play pretty football, whereas Bolton were more route-one, with neither side being particularly good at it.

The home supporters seemed extremely angry towards their chairman, Lee Power. It was also strongly suggested that the manager, Luke Williams, should have been removed.

James Henry missed a chance for Wanderers in the ninth minute when put through. Lawrence Vigouroux in Town’s goal later denied the same player in the second half. Swindon’s Nathan Delfouneso looked like the most likely to produce anything for the men in red.

Vigouroux would go on to save his side further after the break, denying several forays. However, he couldn't do anything with just four minutes remaining as the game looked certain to end in a stalemate.

Josh Vela's shot was deflected by Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill into the bottom left-hand corner of his own net, sending the 1,000 or so travelling Trotters into raptures. To compound the home side's misery, Raphael Rossi Branco was given a straight red for planting an elbow to Lawrie Wilson as the game entered stoppage time.

At full time, I rushed back to the bus station with several unhappy Robins fans to purchase an Explorer Ticket for £6.70, where I took the number 55 to my second match of the day at Royal Wootton Bassett Town.