Swindon's contributions to World Cup history

By Staff Reporter - 24 May 2018

Sport

When you think of the World Cup, depending on your age, it will conjure up different memories, ones such as the Brazil 1970 side that won in Mexico, or Gazza’s tears in 1990 when he was booked against Germany – and who can forget Zinedine Zidane’s head butt in 2006? One team that does not necessarily spring to mind when thinking of the competition is Swindon Town. However, were you to dig a little deeper, then there is more World Cup history between the two than you may have first thought. A player who will be well remembered in both Wiltshire and New Zealand is Rory Fallon. The former Swindon forward represented the All Whites at the World Cup in 2010, and he and his 22 teammates came away with a very honourable distinction. New Zealand were the only team to go through the tournament unbeaten, but unfortunately for them, their very creditable draws against Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay were not enough to see them through to the round of 16 and they had to make do with a third-place finish in Group F. Although Fallon did not play for Swindon while on the grandest footballing stage of them all, two players would represent the club with pride in the early 1990s. Alan McLoughlin may have been born in England, but his Irish ancestry meant that he was picked by Jack Charlton to represent the Republic at Italia ‘90. Charlton’s side would go up against a nation with another Swindon Town World Cup representative. Legendary forward Jan £ge Fj?rtoft may not have featured in the 0-0 draw between Norway and the Republic, but he did feature in their other two group matches, and the Norwegians were unlucky to finish bottom of a group in which the quartet of teams all finished on four points. The current squad will travel to Russia with former England defender, Gareth Southgate, at the helm. Not much has been made of our chances this year and that is reflected in betting odds on Stakers and the opinions of sports pundits, but there will no doubt be the familiar excitement that this could be our year. Arguably, the last time that England’s odds married with the nation’s expectations was back in 2010 when Fabio Cappello was in charge. Capello is no stranger to the County Ground, having played for Roma there in the final of a short-lived competition known as the Anglo-Italian Cup Winners’ Cup Final. The competition was created as a way for the Football League to placate Swindon for not being allowed to enter the Fairs Cup after their incredible League Cup win over Arsenal at Wembley in 1969. Because Swindon were not a Division One side, they were barred from entering European competition, with the theory being that they would not be able to hold their own against continental opposition and subsequently embarrass English football as a result. However, it was Roma and Capello who were embarrassed after they suffered a 5-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of Swindon, a victory that lives long in the memory of Swindon fans.

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