No.2 | Fred Ford | Manager July 1969 to November 1971 | Score 409.6 After winning the League Cup and promotion from Division Three Danny Williams was enticed to Sheffield Wednesday in July 1969. With Swindon already in pre-season training the board turn to Fred Ford to steer the Town ship in Division Two. Ford previously coached at Swindon and had spent
Read moreNo.3 | Glenn Hoddle | Manager April 1991 to June 1993 | Score 404.6 Bringing Hoddle over from Monaco to replace Ossie Ardiles was definitely the right choice. The former Tottenham midfield maestro secured the points needed to avoid relegation in 1991, but only just, as Glenn’s side won 2, drew 1 and suffered 5 defeats in his eight games to finish 21st.
Read moreNo.4 | Bobby Smith | Manager May 1978 to September 1980 | Score 388.9 A manager frequently overlooked and perhaps forgotten, Bobby Smith took over from the retiring Danny Williams for the start of the 1978/79 Division Three season. Smith started off in management young. He was only 29 when he took over at Bury in November 1973, making an
Read moreNo.5 | Ossie Ardiles | Manager July 1989 to March 1991 | Score 363.9 Ossie Ardiles succeeded Lou Macari back in the summer of 1989 and also in this countdown, as we enter the top five Swindon Town managers. The small and smiling Argentinian became Swindon’s first manager from outside of the home nations with the task of building upon Lou’s meteoric rise up
Read moreNo.7 | Lou Macari | Manager July 1984 to July 1989 | Score 348.1 For the past few weeks Lou’s name has been frequently mentioned as a potential no.1 in this countdown, so the fact that he joins outside the top five may be a surprise for some. You may remember my rationale whereby points gained are multiplied by a division factor, so given Macari’s points are spread in three divisions, including two
Read moreNo.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 high hopes Steve McMahon became one
Read moreNo.9 | Roy Evans | Manager July to December 2001 | Score 326 I can hear you say What the f#@k! Roy Evans is number eight! First off I would have never put Roy Evans as our eighth most successful manager. However, as his statistics will show, Roy’s short tenure of 21 League matches epitomised the ‘average’ Swindon manager, which then added to his record
Read moreNo.10 | Danny Williams (2) | Manager March 1974 to July 1978| Score 305.5 Returning for a second stint as manager is perhaps never a good idea, yet Danny Williams answered the Board’s call to save Swindon from relegation back to Division Three in 1973/74. Town were firmly cemented at the bottom of Division Two, having been so for the majority
Read moreNo.11 | Bert Head | Manager October 1956 to July 1965 | Score 287.4 We’re kicking off the top ten with a true Swindon Town managerial legend and our second longest serving manager – Bert Head. Town had spent years in the doldrums, suffering from mismanagement and financial constraints, both culminating in management by a selection committee throughout 1955-56 and the inevitable
Read more
This feature was only meant to last one month, however with the various transfer news and other commitments, this has turned into a beast of a project so Managers Month is rolling over into July with the final ten. So far I’ve confirmed my initial suspicions that Paul Hart was our worst ever manager. Yes he didn’t come 30th, however
Read more
The Washbag 