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.

Season summary 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 Queens Park Rangers. 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. 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. 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.

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

Transfers

Transferred in DatePosPlayerFromFee 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

Loaned in DatePosPlayerToLoan 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

Transferred out DatePosPlayerToFee 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

Loaned out DatePosPlayerToLoan End

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure £1,815,000

Income £1,570,000

Balance £245,000

Squad # Pos Name Nat Place of birth Date of birth (age) Signed from Date signed Fee Apps Gls Goalkeepers1 GK Fraser Digby Sheffield Manchester United 23 December 1986 £32,000 319 023 GK Nick Hammond Hornchurch Arsenal 1 June 1987 Free transfer 65 029 GK Shane Cook Bristol Academy 1 January 1994 - -30 GK Stewart Kerr Bellshill Celtic 4 January 1994 Loan - -34 GK Paul Heald Wath-on-Dearne Leyton Orient 24 March 1994 Loan - -40 GK Jon Sheffield Coventry Cambridge United 28 January 1994 Loan - - Defenders2 RB Nicky Summerbee Altrincham Academy 1 July 1989 91 53 LB Paul Bodin Cardiff Crystal Palace 10 January 1992 £225,000 184 246 CB Shaun Taylor (c) Plymouth Exeter City 26 July 1991 £200,000 107 1814 CB Adrian Whitbread Epping Leyton Orient 30 July 1993 £500,000 - -15 CB Adi Viveash Swindon Academy 1 July 1988 49 118 RB Eddie Murray Bristol Academy 1 July 1992 2 019 CB Andy Thomson Swindon Academy 1 July 1993 - -24 LB Lee Middleton Nuneaton Coventry City 20 July 1992 Free transfer 0 026 CB Terry Fenwick Seaham Tottenham Hotspur 6 September 1993 Free transfer - -31 CB Brian Kilcline Nottingham Newcastle United 20 January 1994 £90,000 - - Midfielders4 CM Micky Hazard Sunderland Portsmouth 28 September 1990 £130,000 132 185 DM Luc Nijholt Zaandam Motherwell 20 July 1993 £175,000 - -7 RM John Moncur Stepney Tottenham Hotspur 30 March 1992 £80,000 22 28 DM Ross MacLaren Edinburgh Derby County 4 August 1988 £150,000 227 1210 LM Martin Ling West Ham Southend United 15 July 1991 £15,000 82 716 CM Kevin Horlock Erith West Ham United 14 August 1992 Free transfer 17 120 CM Wayne O'Sullivan Akrotiri Academy 1 July 1991 1 021 CM Marcus Phillips Trowbridge Academy 1 July 1992 1 022 AM Austin Berkley Dartford Gillingham 16 May 1992 Free transfer 1 128 LM Ty Gooden Canvey Island Wycombe Wanderers 17 September 1993 Free transfer - -33 CM Lawrie Sanchez Lambeth Wimbledon 17 March 1994 Free transfer - - Forwards9 CF Jan Åge Fjørtoft Gursken Rapid Vienna 29 July 1993 £500,000 - -11 CF Craig Maskell Aldershot Reading 3 July 1992 £100,000 41 2312 CF Steve White Chipping Sodbury Bristol Rovers 8 July 1986 Free transfer 303 11117 CF Chris Hamon Jersey St. Peter 1 July 1992 Free transfer 2 025 CF Andy Mutch Liverpool Wolverhampton Wanderers 20 August 1993 £250,000 - -27 CF Keith Scott Westminster Wycombe Wanderers 18 November 1993 £300,000 - -32 CF Frank McAvennie Glasgow Celtic 16 February 1994 Loan - -

Final league table

Results Swindon Town's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 14 August 1993 Sheffield UnitedA1–320,904Moncur 18 August 1993 Oldham AthleticH0–111,940 22 August 1993 LiverpoolH0–517,364 25 August 1993 SouthamptonA1–512,505Maskell (pen) 28 August 1993 Norwich CityA0–017,614 1 September 1993 Manchester CityH1–316,067Summerbee 11 September 1993 West Ham UnitedA0–015,777 18 September 1993 Newcastle UnitedH2–215,393Ling, Mutch 25 September 1993 Manchester UnitedA2–444,583Mutch, Bodin (pen) 2 October 1993 Blackburn RoversH1–315,847Taylor 16 October 1993 EvertonH1–114,437Taylor 23 October 1993 Tottenham HotspurA1–131,394Bodin (pen) 30 October 1993 Aston VillaH1–216,322Bodin (pen) 6 November 1993 WimbledonA0–37,758 20 November 1993 Ipswich TownH2–213,860Scott, Bodin (pen) 24 November 1993 Queens Park RangersH1–014,674Scott 27 November 1993 Leeds UnitedA0–332,630 4 December 1993 Sheffield UnitedH0–012,882 7 December 1993 Oldham AthleticA1–219,498Mutch 11 December 1993 LiverpoolA2–232,739Moncur, Scott 18 December 1993 SouthamptonH2–113,565Bodin, Scott 27 December 1993 ArsenalH0–417,214 29 December 1993 Sheffield WednesdayA3–330,570Mutch, Maskell (2) 1 January 1994 ChelseaH1–316,261Mutch 3 January 1994 Coventry CityA1–115,869Mutch 15 January 1994 EvertonA2–620,760Moncur, Bodin 22 January 1994 Tottenham HotspurH2–116,464Fjørtoft, Whitbread 5 February 1994 Coventry CityH3–114,635Fjørtoft (3, 2 pens) 12 February 1994 Aston VillaA0–527,637 19 February 1994 Norwich CityH3–315,405Taylor, Fjørtoft (2) 25 February 1994 Manchester CityA1–226,360Fjørtoft 5 March 1994 West Ham UnitedH1–115,929Fjørtoft 12 March 1994 Newcastle UnitedA1–732,219Moncur 19 March 1994 Manchester UnitedH2–218,102Nijholt, Fjørtoft 26 March 1994 Blackburn RoversA1–320,046Fjørtoft 2 April 1994 ArsenalA1–131,635Bodin (pen) 4 April 1994 Sheffield WednesdayH0–113,927 16 April 1994 Ipswich TownA1–114,760Fjørtoft 23 April 1994 WimbledonH2–413,309Summerbee, Barton (own goal) 27 April 1994 ChelseaA0–211,180 30 April 1994 Queens Park RangersA3–19,875Taylor, Fjørtoft, Summerbee 7 May 1994 Leeds UnitedH0–517,228

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR38 January 1994 Ipswich TownH1–112,105MutchR3R18 January 1994 Ipswich TownA1–2 12,796Fjørtoft

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st leg22 September 1993 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–08,649Summerbee, MutchR2 2nd leg5 October 1993 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–2 (won 3–2 on agg)11,756SummerbeeR326 October 1993 PortsmouthA0–212,554

Squad

Starting 11 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

References