Season 2018-2019
An incredible start to the season sees returning new signing Michael Doughty score two penalties in injury time to beat Macclesfield - but though the months of August and September are entertaining, it soon grinds to a halt - a run of just three goals and one victory in eight league games seeing the Town drop to sixteenth in the table, and Phil Brown's short tenure brought to an abrupt end. New boss Richie Wellens is installed almost immediately, but his reign begins terribly - a 4-0 home defeat by Carlisle followed by an embarrassing home defeat by sixth tier Woking in the FA Cup. Slowly though, Wellens starts to implement a new pressing system, and results gradually improve - and after making changes in the transfer window, improved results have the Town knocking on the door of the play-off places again. Back-to-back victories over Morecambe and promotion chasing Bury at the end of March raise hopes that Swindon will break into the top seven, but a last gasp equaliser against relegation threatened Yeovil seems to take the wind out of the Town's sails - and a run of six games without a win cements the club's lowest league finish for 35 years.
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Season 2017-2018
The return to the basement division prompts chairman Lee Power to totally change his philosophy - appointing David Flitcroft as his new manager, and moving away from the Director of Football model. Flitcroft brings in a number of more experienced professionals, and his side are far more direct than Town sides of the past few seasons - but though the away form is superb, his side struggles at the County Ground - a 5-0 home defeat by Luton on Boxing Day leaving the Town midtable in a very tight division. Though the football is rarely pretty, results pick up over the next few weeks, and by the end of January, Swindon sit in the play-off places - and they remain there until the end of the the following month, when Flitcroft springs a surprise - resigning from his position to take over at fellow promotion challengers Mansfield. Phil Brown is the man chosen to take the hotseat, and he is given a contract until the end of the season - but injuries to key men in defence scupper any chances of maintaining a bid for promotion, and after a run of four successive drawn matches, defeats at Newport and at home to relegation threatened Grimsby end the Town's hopes of a play-off place. Despite this, with the season over, Brown is handed the reins on a permanent basis, signing a two year contract.
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Season 2016-2017
With another large turnover in the playing staff over the close season, including the sale of previous season's top scorer Nicky Ajose, the Town's young squad struggles at the wrong end of the table - and after a 4-1 defeat at Scunthorpe at the end of October drops them into the relegation zone, chairman Lee Power decides to act, bringing old pal Tim Sherwood to the club as Director of Football, to work alongside head coach Luke Williams. Described by Power as "one of the biggest appointments the club has ever made", Sherwood's honeymoon period is short-lived - after winning his first match in charge, the Town are unceremoniously dumped out of the cup by non-league Eastleigh, and then thumped 4-0 at Rochdale. Eight players are brought into the club over the January transfer window, but Sherwood himself is soon conspicuous by his absence - after not turning up at the County Ground for a 2-1 home defeat to local rivals Oxford, he is soon given a fine and two-match stadium ban for a foul-mouthed rant at the referee during a defeat at fellow strugglers Bury. Over the coming weeks, though it is never officially announced, it becomes clear that Williams is back in control of first team affairs - and, though he sticks to his footballing principles, the struggles continue. Back-to-back wins over promotion chasing Millwall and Fleetwood raise the hopes that the Town might pull off an unlikely escape act - but having picked up only one point from three crucial matches against Oldham, Chesterfield and Port Vale, failure to win any of the final five matches of the season saw the Town finish six points from safety. On the day after relegation, Sherwood distanced himself from the failure, stating that the role "wasn't a job" and that he was helping Power out by "doing some deals" to bring players in - the following week, Williams left the club by mutual consent.
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Season 2015-2016
Days after the Wembley defeat, the Town squad is decimated - six loan players return to their parent clubs, goalkeeper Wes Foderingham and top scorer Andy Williams both leave at the end of their contracts, and Massimo Luongo and Ben Gladwin move to QPR in a combined big-money move - but after a long running saga linking him with a role at Sheffield Wednesday, manager Mark Cooper stayed at the helm. With a very different side, the Town make a reasonable start - but after netting a hat-trick on the opening day, Nathan Byrne soon also heads for the exit in another cash deal, and striker Michael Smith is also allowed to leave on loan. The fans are appeased somewhat with the signing of Nicky Ajose, with Jordan Turnbull, Louis Thompson and Gladwin returning on loan - but the squad isn't sufficient enough to cope with a lengthening injury list, and after eight games without a win, boss Cooper is shown the exit door in mid-October, with the Town hovering just outside the relegation places. Chairman Lee Power takes over the reins until he appoints former Town man Martin Ling as his new manager - a brave appointment, after Ling left his previous role at Torquay following a spell of depression - and though Ling's arrival sees an upturn in form, his return is short-lived, resigning his post just after Christmas when his illness returned. Assistant boss Luke Williams is handed the hotseat, and he sees his side discover a knack of coming from behind - in his first two games in charge, the Town come from two goals down to beat both Southend and Crewe. By the beginning of March, the Town sit just four points off an unlikely play-off spot, but any hopes of a late charge for promotion are extinguished over Easter, when the Town concede ten goals in defeats to Wigan and Scunthorpe - the start of a poor run of form which meant that safety was only assured with two games to spare.
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Season 2014-2015
A courtroom battle over the summer initially puts the Town’s preseason preparations on hold, but after Lee Power wins the ownership battle over previous chairman Jed McCrory, even more focus is placed its new strategy – developing young talent in an expansive passing style, with a squad heavily subsidised with loan players. The side that lines up at the start of the season is the second youngest in STFC history, but perhaps surprisingly, they are battling at the top of the table for the whole campaign, with regular recognition on the International front - Yaser Kasim winning call-ups for Iraq, Massimo Luongo becoming an integral part of the Australia squad, and numerous loanees called up for the England under-20 squad before the season is out. Despite missing their full internationals, the Town move into the automatic promotion places with a win over Bristol City in a feisty local derby in November – and when Luongo and Kasim are called up for the AFC Asian Cup in January, they are again absent as the Town move to the top of the table, but they both have excellent tournaments – Kasim named as one of the competition’s top midfielders as Iraq finish third; Luongo scoring in the final before being named as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player; his Australia side lifting the trophy on home soil. When they return, a dip in form sees the Town drop out of the top two ahead of a crucial Easter period – but consecutive 3-0 defeats to fellow promotion candidates MK Dons and a revengeful City all but condemn the Town to a play-off place. Manager Cooper rotates his squad ahead of the play-off campaign, and Swindon win the first leg of the semi-final at Sheffield United - despite going behind and missing a penalty in the first half, Sam Ricketts equalises with a powerful header, and Nathan Byrne snatches a last-gasp winner, deep into injury time. The second leg proves to be one of the most incredible games ever witnessed at a packed County Ground – after the Town race into a three goal lead in just eighteen minutes, United get one back immediately, and grab another one before half-time – the Town restore a three goal lead on aggregate early in the second period through a Michael Smith penalty, only for United to net again five minutes later to make the score 4-3 on the night. When Jon Obika scores with six minutes remaining, the game appears to finally be wrapped up – only for the Blades to net twice in the final three minutes, levelling the second leg at 5-5, and setting up a nervy seven minutes of injury time. The Town hold on for a 7-6 aggregate win to make it to Wembley (breaking the play-off record for goals in the process), but it’s not all good news – Nathan Thompson departing the game through injury, leaving him a race against time to be fit for the final. The skipper is declared ready to lead his team out against Preston, but the injury reoccurs in the opening moments of the game, as he fails to prevent Jermaine Beckford from giving North End the lead – Thompson is carried off the pitch, and his side are never in the game – leaking three more goals, the 4-0 defeat under the arch ending their dreams of promotion.
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Season 2013-2014
After two seasons of overspending, the new regime focus on reducing the wage bill, and many of the club's high earners are allowed to leave - but the Town take on a number of youngsters from Tottenham, thanks to director Lee Power's friendship with Spurs' youth-team boss Tim Sherwood. Less than a month before the season starts though, the club is rocked by the departure of boss Kevin MacDonald for personal reasons - and when assistant boss Mark Cooper takes over the reins, many accuse the board of choosing the cheap option. Cooper continues to implement the club's new strategy though - and his young squad surprise many, flirting with the playoff places and reaching the Area Final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy while playing a neat, patient passing game. At times, the football is sublime, but though the Town's home record is one of the best in the division, they struggle to pick up points away from the County Ground - and any hopes of making the top six seem to be dashed, when a poor run of form at the turn of the year is followed by an injury to controversial striker Nile Ranger. The Town are denied a place at Wembley, when Peterborough win in the JPT Area Final on penalties, but the league form unexpectedly picks up - the Town winning win six out of seven games throughout March and April to keep their unlikely play-off hopes alive - before defeat on the penultimate game of the season finally decides matters - Peterborough again denying the Town by claiming the final top six berth.
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Season 2012-2013
Despite winning the League Two title the previous season, boss Paolo di Canio shows little sentiment - quickly offloading a number of his title winning side, and making seven big-name signings over the summer, followed by another five before the transfer deadline closes. The Town start the season well - not conceding in any of their first four games, and knocking Premier League Stoke out of the Carling Cup - but this doesn't stop di Canio going on the warpath when things go wrong, substituting goalkeeper Wes Foderingham after a mistake at Preston, where the Town record their first defeat of the season. After Foderingham apologises, he is restored to the starting eleven, and after a slight blip, Swindon recover to maintain their promotion push, as well as running Aston Villa close in the Carling Cup, going down to a late goal after pulling back a two goal deficit. The Town really begin to click over Christmas, notching five goals in consecutive games against league leaders Tranmere and struggling Portsmouth, followed by another four against Carlisle - but though everything seems to be going well on the pitch, the Town are soon derailed by events in the boardroom, as majority shareholder and investor Andrew Black decides that he is no longer willing to fund the club. With a condensed timeframe to agree a takeover, and with the threat of administration looming, Black quickly sells the club to a consortium headed by Banbury United owner Jed McCrory - but with cash needed to keep the club afloat during the handover period, the two parties agree to sell star player Matt Ritchie to Bournemouth for a cut-price cash-upfront deal of £500,000. After the Football League fail to ratify three deadline day loan deals, boss di Canio releases a statement threatening to resign - claiming that the sale of Ritchie was made without his knowledge, and claiming breach of contract. The Town's fans try their best to persuade di Canio to stay, but with the Football League failing to rubberstamp the takeover, the Italian tenders his resignation when a self-imposed deadline for the deal to go through passes. The following day, his backroom staff lead the team to a superb 3-1 victory over Tranmere, which takes the Town to the top of the league, before they too resign - leaving the club with no management, and no board to appoint any. Senior players Tommy Miller and Darren Ward share a caretaker role, until the new consortium are able to take control, and decide to appoint former Aston Villa youth team manager Kevin MacDonald as the new boss. MacDonald records a victory in his first game in charge at Coventry, but after winning at fellow promotion chasers Yeovil, the Town take just two points from their next five games to put them out of contention for an automatic slot, and they have to settle for a place in the play-offs, where Brentford cruelly knock the Town out in a penalty shoot-out, after a thrilling two legs that saw the Bees equalise with a last minute penalty in the first leg, and Swindon return the favour with a 95th minute equaliser in the second leg, having twice been two goals down.
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Season 2011-2012
Swindon spring a surprise during the close season, appointing controversial Italian Paolo di Canio as the club's new boss - sparking a media frenzy at the County Ground, with many pundits predicting things to go awry. With much of the squad departing after relegation to League Two, di Canio brings in an almost completely new team - and at first, it looks as though the pundits would be right - despite an opening day victory, Swindon lose their next four league games, including a first home defeat in 38 years to local rivals Oxford. Things come to a head when the Town are knocked out of the Carling Cup by Southampton - after the game, after initially attempting to diffuse a situation with new signing Leon Clarke, di Canio is caught on camera scuffling with the striker. Live on TV a few days later, the Town twice come from behind to beat Rotherham, and things begin to improve - Swindon gradually moving up the table. After a 3-3 draw with Hereford in October, Swindon only concede one more goal at home all season - and after knocking Premiership Wigan out of the FA Cup, a superb 4-1 victory at fellow promotion-chasers Southend in January sees the Town move into the promotion places for the first time since the opening day. That victory is recorded in the middle of a new club record of ten consecutive league victories as Swindon moved to the top of the league, and they also win through to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final, but their second visit to Wembley in three seasons also ends in disappointment, as Chesterfield record a 2-0 victory. That is soon forgotten though as promotion is wrapped up with two games remaining, before a thumping 5-0 win over Port Vale on the penultimate weekend seals the League Two championship in style.
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Season 2010-2011
Despite the summer losses of captain Gordon Greer and top scorer Billy Paynter over the summer, Town fans are still optimistic that their side can build on last season's push for promotion - but after a poor start, Swindon find themselves bottom of the table after five matches, before three successive wins seem to get them back on track. Over the next few months, the Town score many but concede more - and at the turn of the year, they sit just above the relegation spots, but with few points separating all the teams in the division, a play-off spot is still seen as a possibility. A superb 4-2 win at Charlton is seen by many as the game to kickstart the season - but when top scorer Charlie Austin submits a transfer request and soon leaves for Burnley, it proves to be a catalyst of a different kind - as the Town slump to a fourteen game run without a win, manager Danny Wilson leaving the club in the process. New boss Paul Hart is quickly appointed to save the season, but his negative tactics see Swindon score just six times during his short twelve match tenure, sparking an angry reaction from fans - and when relegation is confirmed at the end of April, he too is relieved of his duties.
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Season 2009-2010
After 31 goal striker Simon Cox leaves to join West Brom, most pundits predict a relegation battle for the Town - a 5-0 opening day mauling at Gillingham only strengthening that opinion. The thrashing proves to be a blip though - and, though perhaps lacking firepower upfront, they go unbeaten in their next twelve - winning five and drawing seven, to sit just outside the play-off spots at the end of October. Manager Danny Wilson then takes a gamble on unknown striker Charlie Austin - signed from Wessex League club Poole Town - and he immediately forges a superb partnership with Billy Paynter - after scoring on his full debut at Carlisle, he goes on to notch thirteen goals in his first fifteen games, and with Paynter netting fifteen himself during the same period, the Town catapult themselves into the play-off spots. A tough March programme ends with superb 1-0 victories at Brighton, Southampton and Hartlepool, and amazingly, after the Town record their second 3-0 victory of the season over Leeds at Elland Road, they leapfrog the Yorkshire outfit (who they had trailed by eighteen points at the turn of the year) into the second automatic promotion spot. After beating Tranmere, the promotion jitters then hit though, and Swindon then fail to win two games they dominate - somehow contriving to lose 3-0 at Colchester and drawing 1-1 with Exeter - when they draw twice more against Walsall and Wycombe, automatic promotion looked to be out of their grasp. Results go their way though on the penultimate day, and the Town still have hope on the final day - knowing that If Leeds slip up on the final day, the winner of the Town’s clash at Millwall would snatch second spot. The Town take an early lead at the New Den, but they eventually lose - but it is all made academic when Leeds come from behind to beat Bristol Rovers. The Town go on to meet Charlton in the play-offs, and after winning 2-1 at the County Ground, they lose goalkeeper David Lucas through injury in the opening minute, and then concede twice to go behind on aggregate - the game looks over when captain Gordon Greer is sent off for violent conduct. Somehow though, Danny Ward snatches a goal to level the tie on aggregate, and Charlton are also reduced to ten men at the end of normal time - the Town survive a few scares during extra time, then score all of their penalties in the shootout to reach Wembley. The fairytale ended there though - a poor first half performance seeing Millwall go in 1-0 up before half-time, and though there is some improvement in the second half, it’s not enough to get back into the game.
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