Swindon Town is one of the oldest and most historic football clubs in the United Kingdom. Founded 143 years ago in 1879, Swindon was a founding member of the Southern League in 1894 and the club has enjoyed relative success over the years.
Over the past century and a half, the Robins have seen many players establish themselves as club legends, so here is a look at some of the best players in the history of Swindon Town.
Harry Morris
Where else to start than the man named by the club’s supporters in 2013 as Swindon’s greatest ever player?
Morris spent seven years at Swindon, between 1926 and 1933, and nearly a century later is still the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, finding the net 229 times in 279 games. He also holds the club record for most goals scored in a season (47).
John Trollope
From one record holder to another, Trollope is a true one-club legend who spent 21 years at Swindon and racked up an unrivaled 889 appearances for the club, 288 games more than second-most Maurice Owen.
As a full-back, Trollope was a mainstay in the team between 1960 and 1981 and was part of Swindon’s famous League Cup triumph in 1969. Trollope had a brief spell as manager and while that did not pan out quite as well, his service as a player will safeguard his status as one of Swindon’s greats.
Fraser Digby
Swindon Town has had several goalkeepers who have etched their names into the club’s history books. The likes of Sam Burton (1946-61), Jimmy Allan (1971-83), and Peter Downsborough (1965-73) are all club greats, but to select one goalkeeper for the purposes of this article, Digby takes the gloves.
Swindon’s fourth-highest appearance maker with 505 games, Digby arrived as an untried youngster and became the club’s undisputed number one, playing a key role in Swindon reaching the top-flight.
Harold Fleming
Second only to Morris in Town’s all-time goalscorers’ table, Fleming is without doubt one of the club’s greatest ever players. After joining the club in 1907, Fleming spent his entire 17-year career at the club and scored 203 goals in 332 appearances. He would likely have scored more goals and played more games were it not for the onset of the First World War. Fleming’s legendary status is immortalized in a road named after him outside the County Ground – Fleming Way – and a statue in the club’s foyer.
Don Rogers
A football club naming a stand after a player says everything about his place in history. When Town renamed the South Stand the Don Rogers Stand in 2008, it was in recognition of a player who sits fifth on the all-time appearance standings (490) and third for all-time goals (178).
Rogers spent two spells at Swindon, the initial 11-year stint between 1961 and ’72 was later followed by a further year in 1976. His crowning moment came in the 1969 League Cup final against Arsenal when Rogers scored twice in extra time to earn Swindon the biggest trophy in their history.
Colin Calderwood
Few 20-year-old players are made captain, even fewer are made captain before making their debuts. That is what happened when Calderwood joined Town in 1985 and he led the club to a league points-record total and promotion from the Fourth Division.
Successive promotions followed the next season as Calderwood led Swindon into the Second Division, and the defender was a constant leading presence in the team over the next three seasons, the last of which culminated in promotion to the top-flight in 1990 – the first time in Swindon’s history they had reached the pinnacle of English football.
Calderwood played a total of 414 games for Swindon over an eight-year period before establishing himself as a Premier League defender for Tottenham and Aston Villa.
He will always be regarded as one of Swindon’s finest defenders and captains.
There you have the best Swindon Town players of all time. And remember: if you believe STFC can still get promoted to League One this season, learn what are their chances and odds here: edge.twinspires.com/soccer/how-to-bet-on-soccer/
