Video of the Week: Portsmouth 0 Swindon 1 – 31st October 1997

Video of the Week

Flying high at the top of the Division One table, Swindon visited Fratton Park on a Friday night live Sky Sports televised match. After Chris Hay gives the Town the lead, Swindon’s young goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall suffers a gashed scrotum after a collision with Pompey defender Robbie Pethick. With no keeper on the bench, Mildenhall […]

TheWashbag meets Fraser Digby: Part 4 – McMahon and the end of an era

Steve McMahon 1

In our first in-depth interview with a Swindon Town legend, Ron Smith interviews Fraser Digby on his career and life after football. Fraser and his washbag were the inspiration for this site, so it was a great pleasure to meet and interview him. In this fourth of six parts to be published over the next couple […]

Going Up! 1995/96 – When Steve McMahon brought joy to Swindon

1996 Division Two Champions

As we continue to look back over previous promotions, we reach the Steve McMahon 1995/1996 title success. A season that lives long in the memory of our writer, Adam Johnson… Everyone has dates in their minds to remember, some you dare to forget, but some live on as a moment of significance. The 4th of […]

Hall of Shame #8: Joey Beauchamp

Joey Beauchamp Oxford United

Seeing that we’re travelling down the A420 on Saturday, now seems an appropriate time to induct the most hated player to wear the famous red of Swindon Town, Joey Beauchamp. Richard Banyard provides the biography of the Oxford United legend. It’s over seventeen years since he left the Town, and more than ten since he last […]

Hall of Shame #6: Steve McMahon

Steve McMahon 1

Andrew Hawes gets his chance to induct his choice into the Hall of Shame…a popular selection by all accounts… There aren’t that many managers in Swindon’s history who have achieved promotion. Bert Head, Danny Williams, Lou Macari, Ossie Ardiles (albeit briefly), Glenn Hoddle, Steve McMahon and Paul Sturrock complete the list. Yet when thinking about the […]

Video of the Week: Swindon 1 Oldham Athletic 0 | 12th February 1996

Before the forthcoming trip to Leicester City, this was the last time Swindon Town reached the FA Cup 4th Round, back on 12th February 1996. Steve McMahon decided to drop Martin Ling for himself for this clash with Division One Oldham Athletic – but when McMahon is forced to retire with a hamstring problem, Ling […]

Does pre-season matter for promotion?

Pre-season friendly

With pre-season now drawing to a close, Alex Cooke looks back at past seasons to establish whether pre-season and form taken into the campaign make any difference for mounting a successful promotion push. Can anybody predict promotion from pre-season? What exactly does a crushing 11-0 win against a Norcia XI teach us? What can Paolo […]

“To be blunt, I hated Steve McMahon”

Steve McMahon 1

As the managers countdown draws to a close Alex Cooke delves behind my statistics to present his case for who is the worst Swindon Town manager. The numbers are clear: Paul Hart is Swindon Town’s worst manager. His managerial reign could be described as a car crash – except at least a car crash is compelling to […]

Managers Month: Steve McMahon

Steve McMahon 1

No.8 | Steve McMahon | Manager Nov 1994 to Sept 1998 | Score 340.7 Taking over from the sacked John Gorman in November 1994, the board, more specifically Rikki Hunt, got his man. The appointment returned Town to leadership by a central midfield player manager with international experience, a formula that had worked so well previously. However from these […]

Town Live on TV

With the live televised home game against Exeter on Monday fast approaching, I’ve tried to come up with a list of previous Town games shown live on TV. I’ve covered most of the major and recent matches but I know there are some missing, perhaps some ITV matches in the 1990s? If anyone can remember any other Town games on TV or memories of our TV performances, please feel free to comment…….