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MANAGER
SWINDON Town have been blessed with only a handful of eras in which success was commonplace at the County Ground.
As a consequence it is hard to define what qualities contribute towards being the greatest of all Robins managers.
If longevity and loyalty are considered as major factors, the name Sam Allen stands above the rest. Allen, voted in as secretary-manager of the club in 1902, was at the helm of the side in various guises until 1933.
In 1192 games as manager, Allen maintained a win rate of 54 per cent as he guided Town to FA Cup semi-finals in 1910 and 1912 and an 8-4 defeat to Manchester United in the 1911 Charity Shield.
Danny Williams is a name that springs to mind when thinking about the club’s most successful manager in its 131-year history.
He masterminded the League Cup final victory over Arsenal and promotion from the third tier of English football in the 1968/69 season, before leaving the club ahead of the following campaign.
Eight of those who represented the club in the famous final on Wembley’s marshy pitch were his own signings and his legacy was lasting too, as the same group of players went onto European glory the next season.
Synonymous with both triumph and controversy, Lou Macari was widely revered rather than reviled across Swindon.
The former Manchester United star’s tactical and strategic nous were major factors behind the record-breaking 1985/86 promotion campaign.
Gritty and emotionally attached to his work, Macari’s Robins of 1986 managed 102 points as they hauled themselves out of the basement division.
Four years later the County Ground, albeit temporarily, was anticipating top flight football after play-off victory over Sunderland under the stewardship of diminutive Argentine Ossie Ardiles.
As the history books show, Town were denied that opportunity by the heavy-handed punishments of the Football League and the illegal activity of former chairman Brian Hillier and accountant Vince Farrar.
But Ardiles introduced a sparkling, free-flowing style of football to the Wiltshire outfit which wowed the crowds and drew praise from all quarters of the footballing community.
Bert Head ensured a dilapidated club recovered from the brink of extinction in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
After being forced to apply for re-admission to the Football League, the Robins needed on-field stability to support the off-field rehab, and that is exactly what Head provided.
His tenure may have been far from sensational, but it was the perfect tonic for a number of seasons of misery for the Swindon faithful.
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