1993–94 Swindon Town F.C. season

Swindon Town

1993–94 season
Chairman	Ray Hardman
Manager	John Gorman
Stadium	County Ground
Premier League	22nd (relegated)
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Jan Åge Fjørtoft (12) All: Jan Åge Fjørtoft (13)
Highest home attendance	18,102 vs. Manchester United (19 Mar 1994, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	11,940 vs. Oldham Athletic (18 Aug 1993, Premier League)
Average home league attendance	15,274
Home colours Away colours
← 1992–93 1994–95 →

During the 1993–94 English football season, Swindon Town F.C. competed in the FA Premier League. It was Town's first (and, to date, only) season in the top flight of English football.

Three years after winning promotion, and then being denied top-flight football for financial irregularities, the Robins finally reached the elite after 73 years of trying thanks to a pulsating 4–3 win over Leicester City in the Division One playoff final.

Soon after securing promotion, player-manager Glenn Hoddle left to take charge of Chelsea. His assistant John Gorman was expected to follow Hoddle to Stamford Bridge, but instead accepted Swindon's offer to become manager. He signed Norwegian striker Jan Aage Fjortoft from Rapid Vienna as well as another striker, Andy Mutch, from Wolves.

Swindon did not record a league win until their 17th game, winning just five games and becoming the first top division team in 30 years to concede 100 league goals, with only four clean sheets all season. They would have fared worse still had it not been for the strong form during the second half of the season of Jan Åge Fjørtoft, who was on target 12 times in the league, with all of his goals coming after the turn of the new year.

Swindon's first ever top-flight victory came on 24 November 1993 when a Keith Scott goal gave them a 1–0 home win over Queen's Park Rangers.^[1] Their 20th game of the season was a memorable one. They travelled to Anfield to face Liverpool, and managed to hold the home side to a 2–2 draw just over three months after they had crushed Swindon 5–0 at the County Ground. Midfielder John Moncur had put Swindon 1–0 up on the hour, and although Liverpool equalised after 71 minutes, Swindon restored their lead three minutes later with a goal from Keith Scott. They were still ahead with five minutes remaining, before an 86th-minute equaliser from Liverpool's Mark Wright denied Swindon a famous victory.^[2] Swindon won their next game 2–1 at home to Southampton. They held Sheffield Wednesday to a thrilling 3–3 draw at Hillsborough on 29 December with two goals from striker Craig Maskell.^[3] However, after the turn of the new year, Swindon found themselves on the receiving end of some more heavy defeats. On 15 January, they lost 6–2 to Everton at Goodison Park, though they did manage a narrow victory over Tottenham Hotspur in their next game, and within a month had fallen to a 5–0 defeat at Aston Villa. They were then crushed 7–1 at Newcastle on 12 March. A 2–2 home draw with Manchester United on 19 March sparked fresh hope that Swindon might just about climb to safety, but they collected just two points from their final eight games and were firmly rooted in bottom place. They had won just five league games all season and conceded 100 goals. Although a string of teams have since recorded fewer wins and points in the Premier League, only Sheffield United have matched Swindon's record for conceding the most goals.^[4] Furthermore, taking factors such as win percentage, goal difference, average attendance and more into consideration, Swindon are the worst team the Premier League has ever seen.^[5]

John Gorman spoke of his hope that Swindon would soon return to the Premiership, John Gorman was sacked as Swindon Town manager early in the 1994/95 season to be succeeded by Steve McMahon, Swindon Town would be relegated to Division 2 at the end of the 1994/95 season

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee
20 July 1993	DM	Luc Nijholt	Motherwell	£175,000
29 July 1993	CF	Jan Åge Fjørtoft	Rapid Vienna	£500,000
30 July 1993	CB	Adrian Whitbread	Leyton Orient	£500,000
20 August 1993	CF	Andy Mutch	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£250,000
6 September 1993	CB	Terry Fenwick	Tottenham Hotspur	Free transfer
17 September 1993	LM	Ty Gooden	Wycombe Wanderers	Free transfer
18 November 1993	CF	Keith Scott	Wycombe Wanderers	£300,000
20 January 1994	CB	Brian Kilcline	Newcastle United	£90,000
17 March 1994	CM	Lawrie Sanchez	Wimbledon	Free transfer
				£1,815,000

Date	Pos	Player	To	Loan End
4 January 1994	GK	Stewart Kerr	Celtic	10 February 1994
28 January 1994	GK	Jon Sheffield	Cambridge United	20 February 1994
16 February 1994	CF	Frank McAvennie	Celtic	16 May 1994
24 March 1994	GK	Paul Heald	Leyton Orient	24 May 1994

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee
1 June 1993	CF	Paul Hunt	Gloucester City	Free transfer
1 June 1993	RM	Brian Marwood	Barnet	Free transfer
15 July 1993	CM	Glenn Hoddle	Chelsea	Free transfer
19 July 1993	CB	Colin Calderwood	Tottenham Hotspur	£1,250,000
27 July 1993	CF	Dave Mitchell	Altay	£20,000
3 November 1993	CM	Micky Hazard	Tottenham Hotspur	£50,000
7 February 1994	CF	Craig Maskell	Southampton	£250,000
				£1,570,000

#	Pos	Name	Nat	Place of birth	Date of birth (Age)	Signed from	Date signed	Fee	Apps	Gls
Goalkeepers
1	GK	Fraser Digby		Sheffield	(1967-04-23)23 April 1967 (aged 26)	Manchester United	23 December 1986	£32,000	319	0
23	GK	Nick Hammond		Hornchurch	(1967-09-07)7 September 1967 (aged 25)	Arsenal	1 June 1987	Free transfer	65	0
29	GK	Shane Cook		Bristol	(1975-11-02)2 November 1975 (aged 17)	Academy	1 January 1994	—	-	-
30	GK	Stewart Kerr		Bellshill	(1974-11-13)13 November 1974 (aged 18)	Celtic	4 January 1994	Loan	-	-
34	GK	Paul Heald		Wath-on-Dearne	(1968-09-20)20 September 1968 (aged 24)	Leyton Orient	24 March 1994	Loan	-	-
40	GK	Jon Sheffield		Coventry	(1969-02-01)1 February 1969 (aged 24)	Cambridge United	28 January 1994	Loan	-	-
Defenders
2	RB	Nicky Summerbee		Altrincham	(1971-08-26)26 August 1971 (aged 21)	Academy	1 July 1989	—	91	5
3	LB	Paul Bodin		Cardiff	(1964-09-13)13 September 1964 (aged 28)	Crystal Palace	10 January 1992	£225,000	184	24
6	CB	Shaun Taylor (c)		Plymouth	(1963-02-26)26 February 1963 (aged 30)	Exeter City	26 July 1991	£200,000	107	18
14	CB	Adrian Whitbread		Epping	(1971-10-22)22 October 1971 (aged 21)	Leyton Orient	30 July 1993	£500,000	-	-
15	CB	Adi Viveash		Swindon	(1969-09-30)30 September 1969 (aged 23)	Academy	1 July 1988	—	49	1
18	RB	Eddie Murray		Bristol	(1973-08-31)31 August 1973 (aged 19)	Academy	1 July 1992	—	2	0
19	CB	Andy Thomson		Swindon	(1974-03-28)28 March 1974 (aged 19)	Academy	1 July 1993	—	-	-
24	LB	Lee Middleton		Nuneaton	(1970-09-11)11 September 1970 (aged 22)	Coventry City	20 July 1992	Free transfer	0	0
26	CB	Terry Fenwick		Seaham	(1959-11-17)17 November 1959 (aged 33)	Tottenham Hotspur	6 September 1993	Free transfer	-	-
31	CB	Brian Kilcline		Nottingham	(1962-05-07)7 May 1962 (aged 31)	Newcastle United	20 January 1994	£90,000	-	-
Midfielders
4	CM	Micky Hazard		Sunderland	(1960-02-05)5 February 1960 (aged 33)	Portsmouth	28 September 1990	£130,000	132	18
5	DM	Luc Nijholt		Zaandam	(1961-07-29)29 July 1961 (aged 31)	Motherwell	20 July 1993	£175,000	-	-
7	RM	John Moncur		Stepney	(1966-09-22)22 September 1966 (aged 26)	Tottenham Hotspur	30 March 1992	£80,000	22	2
8	DM	Ross MacLaren		Edinburgh	(1962-04-14)14 April 1962 (aged 31)	Derby County	4 August 1988	£150,000	227	12
10	LM	Martin Ling		West Ham	(1966-07-15)15 July 1966 (aged 26)	Southend United	15 July 1991	£15,000	82	7
16	CM	Kevin Horlock		Erith	(1972-11-01)1 November 1972 (aged 20)	West Ham United	14 August 1992	Free transfer	17	1
20	CM	Wayne O'Sullivan		Akrotiri	(1971-05-12)12 May 1971 (aged 22)	Academy	1 July 1991	—	1	0
21	CM	Marcus Phillips		Trowbridge	(1973-10-17)17 October 1973 (aged 19)	Academy	1 July 1992	—	1	0
22	AM	Austin Berkley		Dartford	(1973-01-28)28 January 1973 (aged 20)	Gillingham	16 May 1992	Free transfer	1	1
28	LM	Ty Gooden		Canvey Island	(1972-10-23)23 October 1972 (aged 20)	Wycombe Wanderers	17 September 1993	Free transfer	-	-
33	CM	Lawrie Sanchez		Lambeth	(1959-10-22)22 October 1959 (aged 33)	Wimbledon	17 March 1994	Free transfer	-	-
Forwards
9	CF	Jan Åge Fjørtoft		Gursken	(1967-01-10)10 January 1967 (aged 26)	Rapid Vienna	29 July 1993	£500,000	-	-
11	CF	Craig Maskell		Aldershot	(1968-04-10)10 April 1968 (aged 25)	Reading	3 July 1992	£100,000	41	23
12	CF	Steve White		Chipping Sodbury	(1959-01-02)2 January 1959 (aged 34)	Bristol Rovers	8 July 1986	Free transfer	303	111
17	CF	Chris Hamon		Jersey	(1970-04-27)27 April 1970 (aged 23)	St. Peter	1 July 1992	Free transfer	2	0
25	CF	Andy Mutch		Liverpool	(1971-11-03)3 November 1971 (aged 21)	Wolverhampton Wanderers	20 August 1993	£250,000	-	-
27	CF	Keith Scott		Westminster	(1967-06-09)9 June 1967 (aged 26)	Wycombe Wanderers	18 November 1993	£300,000	-	-
32	CF	Frank McAvennie		Glasgow	(1959-11-22)22 November 1959 (aged 33)	Celtic	16 February 1994	Loan	-	-

Note: Stats and ages are correct as of July 1, 1993.

Swindon Town's score comes first^[6]

[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Fraser Digby 2 MF  ENG Nicky Summerbee 3 DF  WAL Paul Bodin 4 MF  ENG Micky Hazard 5 MF  NED Luc Nijholt 6 DF  ENG Shaun Taylor 7 MF  ENG John Moncur 8 MF  SCO Ross MacLaren 9 FW  NOR Jan Åge Fjørtoft 10 MF  ENG Martin Ling 11 FW  ENG Craig Maskell 12 FW  ENG Steve White 14 DF  ENG Adrian Whitbread 15 DF  ENG Adi Viveash 16 MF  NIR Kevin Horlock 17 FW  ENG Chris Hamon 18 MF  ENG Eddie Murray

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  ENG Andy Thomson 20 DF  IRL Wayne O'Sullivan 21 MF  ENG Marcus Phillips 22 MF  ENG Austin Berkley 23 GK  ENG Nick Hammond 24 DF  ENG Lee Middleton 25 FW  ENG Andy Mutch 26 DF  ENG Terry Fenwick 27 FW  ENG Keith Scott 28 MF  ENG Ty Gooden 29 GK  ENG Shane Cook 30 GK  SCO Stewart Kerr (on loan from Celtic) 31 DF  ENG Brian Kilcline 32 FW  SCO Frank McAvennie (on loan from Celtic) 33 MF  NIR Lawrie Sanchez 34 GK  ENG Paul Heald (on loan from Leyton Orient) 40 GK  ENG Jon Sheffield (on loan from Cambridge United)

Only considering Premier League starts

• GK: #1, Fraser Digby, 28
• RB: #2, Nicky Summerbee, 36
• CB: #6, Shaun Taylor, 42
• CB: #14, Adrian Whitbread, 34
• LB: #3, Paul Bodin, 28
• RM: #7, John Moncur, 41
• CM: #5, Luc Nijholt, 31
• CM: #16, Kevin Horlock, 32
• LM: #10, Martin Ling, 29
• CF: #9, Jan Åge Fjørtoft, 36
• CF: #25, Andy Mutch, 27