With David Lloyd’s ‘three year plan’ floundering just one year in: no cash for players, no super stadium and a proposed move to the Boulevard, City fans once again find themselves praying for a new saviour.

Despite Lloyd’s claim at the AGM that “no-one would buy or put money into this club”, one man has expressed a desire to do so and after an inital rebuttal Tom Belton recently entered into a dialogue with the Lloyd regime. Questions however must be asked, starting with…

A farmer from the wrong side of the water. Does he really fit the bill as City’s latest saviour? Well, saviours come in all shapes and sizes: skinny fellows with long hair

and sandals; powerful armour-clad heroes on charging horses bearing broadswords; or basin-haired slips-of-lads with Jedi mind-tricks, big woolly mates and X-wing fighters.

Tom Belton has no beard, he isn’t tall, and a Jedi he is not. He’s stocky, well-fed and he smokes. He speaks in relaxed and faintly polished northern tones and he likes a drink. In fact, he’s a farmer albeit a slightly urbanised farmer. He certainly isn’t a tennis champion and he chose to meet Amber Nectar in one of the noisier bars on Hull Marina.

We spend a summer’s evening straining our voices to be heard above the disco fever and the satellite football commentary and he tells us just why on earth he should be interested in polluting his quiet country life in North Lincolnshire with a proud but rusty old football club. It seems a bit strange to think that the Tigers should be on the lookout for another Messiah just over a year since the last one strode out of the mist. Is this going to be an annual event? David Lloyd was supposed to be our Knight in Wimbledon white hurtling up from the home counties to serve up a three-set passage to the Premiership.

That dream has dwindled. This year City are seeking midtable security on a shoestring. Not a very gracious act for this famous old stage, Boothferry Park, to witness. Then it’s off the Boulevard and what? A couple more frees on the transfer market and maybe the play-offs all on a farmer’s field of a pitch in front of sparse crowds because so many refuse to go. If we don’t like it Mr Lloyd will press the ejector button on his dummy and we could well be abandoned without a home and with huge debts.

What a pretty picture of optimism. Belton says he is a regular visitor to Hull and familiar with the impatience and worry which surrounds the football club and its supporters. He heads a consortium of business people who want to sink their considerable sums of money into a football club. Belton has convinced them that Hull City is the best place to sink the said collateral. It seems that he knows people in the know otherwise he wouldn’t have publicised his sudden interest in our club.

I don’t think anyone really thinks our chairman came to Hull with a hidden agenda but it is becoming increasingly clear that his grandiose plans are crumbling around him. The superstadium dream is a more unlikely occurrence than ever now. We know it is the part of the project where Lloyd was to make his dosh – raking it in from the extra leisure facilities and retail outlets which would become part of the 21st century sporting Mecca. Now what? Without the Kwik Save sale, Boothferry Park would be worth a fraction of its true cost and could that meagre amount really fund a home worthy of our Tigers as well as rebuilding the team.

It’s tempting to agree with those who reckon Lloyd has been sold a fast one and, if that’s really the case, why doesn’t he bail out? Cut his losses. Pride is one reason. Is he reluctant to admit to failure? Maybe, but the businessman in him should tell him to get out before he throws away any money on a scheme he has lost interest in and which will probably never bear fruition without investment of the size he isn’t willing, or able, to commit to.

Well, if Lloyd’s selling, Belton’s buying. Or at least so we’re told. We have read with interest in the Hull Daily Mail that Belton met with Bryan Calam at Boothferry Park to chat about the club while the chairman was in the Caribbean sunning himself. Surely if there’s a no sale policy then the prospective buyer wouldn’t even get his foot through the door.

The Lincolnshire farmer seems too good to be true. He’s a former chairman of Scunthorpe United but he can’t hide his enthusiasm about the potential of City. He said: “Hull City has such tremendous potential. There’s a large population area and in my view they should be involved with the football club. When I left Scunthorpe no one individual owned more than 10 per cent of the shares.”

Belton left Scunthorpe in 1994 and now reckons he has the backing of a consortium who have plenty of cash to sink into a club. Scarborough and Doncaster have just been put up for sale. He didn’t fancy them. Lincoln are up for sale. But apparently it’s Hull he wants. “I would want the people of Hull involved in the football club. The club should be at least in the First Division.”

Now this is the kind of thing we heard just over a year ago when Martin Fish and Christopher Needler were selling the club. Then it was Tim Wilby shouting the odds on behalf of Lloyd. But Belton said: “Myself and my consortium and waiting for David Lloyd to tell us how much he wants for Hull City and, indeed, if he wants to sell at all. If he wants to sell we are very interested. If he categorically doesn’t want to sell then that’s that.

“The price isn’t such a big issue. Unless it’s ridiculous. One thing is for sure. I’m not interested in the rugby club in any way. I don’t think the two can be run as one. Fair enough the teams could share the same pitch but I don’t think they can operate as one club.”
All a bit of a mystery really. Belton admits he is the front man for rich backers from the retail business in the North Midlands. He has some money but the attractive part of this deal is the multi-millionaire backers who he claims are with him. If they are into retail this could meant they have a Lloyd-style retail idea in mind.

Maybe they like Lloyd’s idea but have the money to pull it off. If it’s such a great idea why not plough a few million into a new stadium anyway. And if that’s the case perhaps they can buy into the Lloyd scheme, offering money to develop the stadium and the team at the same time without Lloyd having to lose face and back down. It’s Belton’s expertise in running lower league football clubs that has brought him to front the operation, he said, “I’ll be involved financially. I’ll be running the show from the front. my experience makes me the obvious choice. I was involved at Scunthorpe for more than 20 years. I’ve a lot of experience at the lower levels of football and I know what’s needed but this doesn’t mean that’s where I would want Hull City to stay.”

This club needs a football man to help run the show behind the scenes. We saw Lloyd offer such a job to Scarborough’s former chairman John Russell. Russell said Lloyd asked to run the football club without having a financial stake in the club. Perhaps Belton’s gang could strike a similar agreement but with money. Belton, without saying as much, suggests he would prefer the lock stock and barrel scenario.

Belton is also aware of the controversial plans to sell Boothferry Park and the problems Lloyd faced with Somerfield and Kwik Save. He’s non-committal about the ground’s future. He would have to examine all the details and stuff which has bamboozled Lloyd and Co, But he favours redevelopment of Boothferry Park or a new stadium off Clive Sullivan Way.

At least he has the political sense not to say the Boulevard. He knows if he wants to suddenly win the backing of the supporters he has only to offer a viable alternative to going to play our beloved game in a rugby league ground. The saddest thing is we have a football ground just waiting to be developed here at Boothferry Park. There’s plenty of room, no forseeable planning or police problems and a playing surface that’s the envy of the entire Football League.

If you’re serious Tom then get this show on the road. We’ve taken a blind leap of faith once before and it’s heading for disaster so another one now won’t do much harm. Get your money men to quickly arrange a package which can put this club back in the big time with a stadium worthy of its support. Any crazy retail scheme which accompanies such a deal will be okay as long as it doesn’t stand in the way of the revival of the club. Perhaps we trust too easily but that’s a sign of desperation. If you want to make Hull City great again then get the bucks out. Make Lloyd the offer he wants and give us hope again.

Matt Barlow

The terms ‘cup run’ and ‘Hull City’ are a bit like the Jackson Five, in that they haven’t been seen together in years, which is why a paragraph in a programme reading ‘If Hull City beat Manchester United, tickets for the final will go on sale at Boothferry Park on Thursday’ would be enough to make any City fan cream their pants in excitement. So, just how many teams did the intrepid Tigers overcome to reach a semi-final against such illustrious opposition? Well, just one actually. Confused? Then read on.

The competition was, unfortunately, not the grand old FA Challenge Cup, nor its less coveted cousin the League Cup, but rather the Watney Cup. “The What Cup?” you ask inquisitively. No, the Watney Cup we answer glibly. “What a crap pun” you retort. Anyway, the Watney Mann Invitation Cup, to give the competition its full title, was introduced shortly after the 1970 World Cup Finals, when Pele, Jairzinho and their canary clad pals had dragged football out of defensive darkness and illuminated the way with bold, beautiful attack minded play. The cup took the two highest scoring teams from each of the four divisions (excluding those recently promoted, relegated or those engaged in European competition) and pitted them against each other in a straight knockout tournament.

City had qualified as the second highest scoring Second Division team during the 1969-70 season when they had made the onion bag bulge 72 times in 42 games.

City’s opponents in the first round (essentially the quarter finals) were Fourth Division battlers Peterborough away at London Road. The Posh started brightly, but soon began to buckle as the Tigers moved ominously forward. On the stroke of half-time the irresistible Ken Wagstaff broke into the home side’s box and unleashed a low drive into the bottom corner to break the deadlock. The second half saw ‘Boro washed away by a tide of amber, ‘Waggy’ striking again early on before Chris Chilton grabbed himself a brace to set up the mouthwatering semi-final against Manchester United, who edged past Reading with a 2-3 away win.

And so the day arrived: Wednesday 5th August 1970, warm sunshine heralding the arrival in Hull of (Sir) Matt Busby and a full strength United squad.

Can you imagine Alex Ferguson doing the same? A man who can barely contain his contempt for domestic cups bringing Schmeichel, the Nevilles, Beckham et al to Boothferry Park for a relatively insignificant kickabout. Yet here they were, the backbone of the side that had conquered Europe just two years previous, mixing it with the black and amber. And looking back, it was quite appropriate for an encounter that would make footballing history.

United though, were no longer the dominant force they had been in recent years. A year on from their victorious European Cup campaign, Matt Busby left, and without it’s inspirational leader the club lost its way. Busby’s successor, Wilf McGuiness, transformed the club from title contenders into midtable makeweights. George Best, who McGuiness had suspended for alleged ‘disreputable behaviour’, later said: “You could hear the energy and ambition sighing out of the club.” The final straw came when United were humiliated by arch-rivals Man City in the League Cup semi-final and McGuiness was ousted to make way for Busby’s emotional return to the Salford club. In spite of the worsening league position, United’s squad of household names was still proving to be crowd pullers.

Thirty-four thousand and seven filed into fortress Boothferry for Terry Neill’s second game in charge in which the new player-boss fielded an unchanged side consisting of: McKechnie, Beardsley, Devries, Wilkinson, Simpkin, Neill himself, Lord, Houghton, Chilton, Wagstaff and Butler (with Pearson sub). United boss Busby also plumped for the side that had got him here, choosing: Stepney. Edwards, Dunne, Crerand, Ure, Sadler, Morgan, Law, Charlton, Kidd and Best (with toothy raver Stiles warming the bench).

The Red Devils got the game underway, but it was City who looked the more accomplished of the two sides and just eleven minutes in, Bob Dewhurst lookalike (but not playalike) Chilton volleyed home a ball from tricky winger Ian Butler to give the Tigers a one-nil lead. The home side continued to pile on the pressure after the restart and Stepney in the United goal had many lucky escapes before the halftime whistle. The second half brought no respite and three minutes in Butler rounded the keeper only to see his shot rebound off the woodwork.

The game continued to flow in City’s favour but with twelve of the ninety minutes remaining, disaster struck: a centre from Willie Morgan was brilliantly seized upon Denis Law, who glanced the header home past McKechnie. One-one. Undeterred, the Tigers again pressed forward, and on 88 minutes an advancing Wagstaff was brought crashing down by Stepney in United’s box, penalty!

No said referee Jim Finney waving play on. Moments later the Hereford official blew for full-time. With Derby awaiting the victors for a final showdown, the tie had to be decided. Thirty minutes of extra time passed with neither goal breached and as Finney blew time three times again, he called time on not only extra time, but also sounded a death knell for the ‘umpteenth replay’. The tournaments organisers had declared it would act as a test bed for a pioneering method of deciding games still tied after extra time and by quirk of fate Boothferry Park would host the world’s first penalty shootout.

There was then just as now, arguments against the idea, football ‘purists’ branded the system a mockery of football, claiming that luck and not skill would decided games, which was an incredulous statement considering the previous way of settling games. Surely five unimpeded strikes on goal are infinitely better than drawing lots or…gasp…tossing a coin! The pain of England’s elimination by Argentina was bad enough, but imagine if we had gone out because Alan Shearer. as the gleaming coin flipped in the air, had chosen the ‘tails never fails’ option.

And so, with the ball placed twelve yards from the goalline, the first two personae stepped up for this penalty dramatis as Boothferry Park’s occupants collectively drew breath. The imperilous George Best once said: “I spent a lot of money on fast cars and fast women, the rest I just wasted.” He didn’t however waste this opportunity and scored with a low shot to McKechnie’s right. First up for City was boss Terry Neill, and the ex-Arsenal duly equalised. The following four spot kicks were also dispatched, Kidd, Butler, Charlton and Simpkin making it 3-3.

Regardless of their other endeavours, Messrs Pearce, Waddle, Southgate and Batty, will always be remembered for their shootout failures, an honour which has seemingly eluded Denis Law, who stepped up and saw his right hand strike repelled by a diving McKechnie, a Scot thwarting a Scot. Ken Wagstaff then had the chance to put the Tigers in front but missed. Still 3-3 after eight spot kicks. Willie Morgan then lashed his spot kick away, and McKechnie, picking himself up off the floor, made his way to the penalty spot and placed the ball. A goalkeeper? Taking the final crucial penalty? Yep. But the decision was not as crazed as it now seems, as a year previous City’s number one had, along with Ian Butler, reached the final of a penalty knockout tournament. However, it was not be, and his fierce left foot strike hit the bar and went over.

The game ended and United advanced to the final leaving City to continue preparations for the new season (I suppose I should mention the final, but, hey who cares, we weren’t there). Soon after, the shootout method was adopted by UEFA and then FIFA, cue rejoicing at the Deutscher Fussball Bund and future despair for the English footballing populous in 1990, 1996, 1998…

Les Motherby

It’s twenty past six on a balmy summers evening, we’re sitting in the lobby of a swanky West Yorkshire hotel, pondering titles for this article. “Swan…but not forgotten”, I proffer, punctuating the near silence.

At this point, the man himself breezes in with a confident swagger and greets us with a broad, golden toothed grin and a firm handshake. He turns to the bar and gives a rueful glare to the shutters keeping man from beer. “When’s the bar open?” he enquires, we shrug in ignorance. “I’m just off for a piss, then I’ll get us some beers in.” he utters before retiring to the porcelain commode. True to his word, he returns shortly after clutching three pints and taking a seat.

Physically, Peter Swan hasn’t changed much, the lack of blonde hair an exception, “I don’t why I did that.” he later commented, “Stan [Ternent] once told me if I did it again he’d fine me a week’s wages. I remember going to Brighton once, they’re all faggots down there and they were whistling and that, so…”

We enquire how he picked up his tan. “I was at the World Cup in France.” said Swanaldo, picking up a size five tricolore ball and running with it. “The World Cup was brilliant.” He somehow managed to get caught up in the trouble before the England-Tunisia game. “We were staying in Cannes, so we drove to Marseille for the game. We were walking down the streets and the Tunisians were outnumbering the English and we thought ‘there’s gonna be trouble here, we’ll get battered’ like, and I’d gone in shorts, flip-flops and me England shirt.

When we got nearer the ground itself about 75 per cent of the people there were English. You know that fella who caused the trouble, the bald fella with the tattoo on his stomach, well he knocked me out of the way. You could see his eyes were gone and he was just walking up and down. Then he chucked a sandwich in the middle of all the Tunisians and World War Three broke out…bricks, bottles, chairs… everything’s going crazy and I’m stood watching it all. The missus screamed and ran off somewhere. It spilled over into the reception area where all the VIPs from England were.

Viv Anderson says to us ‘Swanny, you might as well come with us and sit down, but take your shirt off.’ We then got an escort…me, the missus, Bryan Robson and Viv Anderson.

I remember the missus said ‘has it calmed down?’ So I looked out of the window and there’s coppers battering the fuck out of everyone, I just said ‘Yeah, it’s calming down.’ In the ground though there was no problems. I went to the Columbia game, that was brilliant. We went down on a shuttle, got in the arena and there’s Zoe Ball and Dani Behr sat behind us, she’s gorgeous ‘er! She has this big massive hat on and this skimpy beige vest. When the Mexican wave came round I thought ‘something’s going to pop out here, and I’ll be there to help you pack!”

Those three pints are now a distant memory and noticing that we’ve not even mentioned Hull City yet, we remedy that. Peter Edward Swan was born in Leeds on 28th September 1966. He was raised a Leeds United fan (though he held latent feelings for West Ham, for a reason he knows not why) and signed for the White Shite as a lad, principally as a striker. He left Leeds for City in March 1989, Eddie Gray paying out a record fee of £200,000 (a record that still stands) for the 22 year old. “It was a big wrench to leave Leeds, Howard Wilkinson didn’t want me to leave but we didn’t see eye to eye.” The move saw Swanny take on a new role. “I was a striker at Leeds but I occasionally filled in at the back. When I signed for Hull Eddie wanted me as a centre-half, so that’s where I played.”

The move perplexed many City fans who had earlier in the month witnessed Swan playing for Leeds in defence, being taken to the cleaners by the bustling Billy Whitehurst in a midweek game at Boothferry Park. The ordeal has evidently traumatised him as his recalls little of that game. He quickly settled in here and made 11 appearances scoring once before the 1988-89 season came to an end, bringing a close to Gray’s brief stint as manager. “I thought we were going places with Eddie and then he left.” Left, or was he pushed? “A bit of both, I think.”

Following Gray’s departure, Colin Appleton returned to do a spot of light carpentry. “I came in one day for treatment, two or three days before preseason. I walked into the dressing room to get changed and there’s this guy putting veneer up and knocking nail in, and he never said nowt. When I came out I said to someone ‘who’s that fella in there?’ and they didn’t know. Three days later at a press conference he was introduced as the new manager and I thought ‘fucking ‘ell, we’ll struggle here, a carpenters the manager.” Jesus was a carpenter, but he never managed us, whereas Appleton’s second coming saw a new trophy added to our bulging showcase, it was only the Yorkshire Cup mind.

It was while beating a path to the final against Bradford that the legendary ‘Swan Option’ was first unveiled. At a time when big centre-back/forward versatility in the form of Dion Dublin was unheard of, Swan was switched from towering rock in defence to marauding bloody-lusty striker. Against Scunthorpe at the fairly new Glanford Park, the method was used to devastating effect. The yellowbellies took the lead, but Swanny, unfettered from his defensive duties began his rampaging up front the net result being a goal, and an assist, a rattled crossbar and a 3-1 win for us.

The ‘Swan Option’ also proved a success in the League and Swanny became a firm favourite with Boothferry’s baying hordes. No mean feat for an ex-Leeds player. He struck up a fine partnership with Andy Payton and shoved in his fair share of goals. A few were quite memorable, there was two at Portsmouth in a 2-2 draw one of which was a stunning volley from outside the box which flew past Alan Knight in the Pompey goal. There was also a thumping header to equalise in a 1-1 at Bristol Rovers.

Appleton’s stay as manager was brief, his departure possibly due to his disregard for personal hygiene. “He used to train in this light blue tracksuit with a single stripe down it. After training he’d put his suit on, on top of it and then a sheepskin and go out scouting. He’d never get changed, he stunk.”
Alternatively, it may have had to do with his inability to make team selections and see them through. “One game, Colin pulled us in and said ‘Swanny, I’m playing you instead of Billy [Whitehurst] up front today’ and after talking tactics I’d gone to get changed into the number 9 shirt but Bill’s already changed…in the number 9 shirt, so I said nowt and sat down. Colin comes in and looks around, then said ‘here’s the team for today, err, Swanny, you put number 12 on…’ he wouldn’t tell Bill he wasn’t playing.”

Ah, Big Billy, it seems every man and his dog has at least one anecdote regarding the Mexborough born forward. “Billy was a dying breed, he was frightening. He wanted to be the top man and no-one was going to argue…Bill was Bill, great fella. He was fascinated with shit, he would shit in cups and put it in the freezer. He once had a mousse, and after eating it he shit in the pot, then gave it to an apprentice to take back to Grandways. He stood outside laughing while the kid, warm sensation on his hands, took it back saying it was off!”

Are there any other players that he remembers as vividly from his City days? “Dave Bamber, When we signed him Bamber bought a house in Blackpool! He wanted petrol and removal expenses paid for moving from Stoke to Blackpool. The gaffer says ‘no, you’re supposed to move to Hull’ like.” Dave Bamber was just one of the costly (in more ways than one) signings made by Appleton’s successor, Stan Ternent. Swanny’s opinions of Ternent vary a fair bit from our own. “Stan was brilliant. I don’t think he needed to bring anyone in though, but when a new manager starts he wants to bring his own men in to prove he can do it with his own players. He brought in Mail, Bamber, Hockaday and Finnegan but they made no difference. When Finnegan came I thought ‘f*cking hell, he’s hot shit him, but after that he kept tripping over the ball, I’ll never forget that.” (Finnegan later did a different kind of tripping, but I digress). Ternent’s expensive failures achieved only relegation, and the fund-frittering boss’ services were dispensed with.

Swanny left shortly after that, joining Port Vale in August 1991 for £300,000 after having played 88 times for the Tigers, scoring 25 times. The move lost him a little credit with the supporters, who viewed the switch as unambitious. “I thought it was me, and looking back it proved to be. I thought I could play at the level we were at before relegation and I wanted to stay at that level.” There is as well, the Dolan and Lee factor and he was right when he said the move proved ambitious, fortuitous also. “I once met them two. I’m always messing around and I was in the treatment room starkers, wi nowt on. There was two beds and I got underneath one of them for some reason (?!?) and stuck my legs up in the air. I’d never met the manager or his assistant before and they both walked in. I stood up, nowt on and said ‘Pleased to meet you.’ Dolan tried to sell me to Sunderland just after that.”

In addition to Port Vale he’s played for Plymouth, Burnley and Bury since leaving Hull. At Burnley he played alongside City’s midfield hero Warren Joyce. “Joycey is a weirdo. I thought he was bent at first but he’s a great lad, I got on brill with him. He never used to train at Burnley, you’d come into the dressing room after training and he’d be on the floor doing like…yoga! We’d say ‘fucking ‘ell Joyce, what’re’ya doing’ and he’d say ‘I’ve got to do it’, he’d done it at other clubs. He’s a good lad, weird but good.” Upon joining Bury he was reunited with Stan Ternent who was in charge at Gigg Lane.

Now 32, he states he’d like to go on playing until he’s 35 and then? Management may be an option but does he feel he’s qualified? And how do you go about getting into management? “It’s about being in the right place at the right time, innit? I’ve enough experience in the game. I couldn’t manage at Premier League level, though saying that you never know.”
“I’ve had eighteen managers and Stan was the best, for me, cos he knew how to get the best out of me. A lot of players (at Bury) don’t like him after last year, cos he probably says too much to ‘em and they don’t like it.” “The manager’s gotta pick the players he can work with and he can get the best out of. ‘Swanny may not be the best centre-half I’ve got, but I can make him do what I wannim to do.’ I’ve got to get players that’ll do what I want them to, respect me and gerron with the job. You might have the best centre-half in the league but if he don’t like yer he won’t perform.”

“Stan didn’t buy me at Hull, yet I respected him straight away, he’s a hard man and a shouter and bawler. At Bury he had no money, whereas Hull was his first managerial job. I think he learnt from that. Hull was the first chance he had to buy and sell.” Ternent recently left Bury to take the Burnley job. I his place, Bury appointed Neil Warnock with dire consequences for Swanny. “I had problems with him at Plymouth, he’s a prick, we hate each other.” Shortly after Warnock’s installation Bury granted Swan a free transfer. “I’m speaking to clubs, I’ve spoken to Stoke and Halifax. Although Bury have given me a free, I’ve got a year left to run on my contract, so they’ve got to pay me.”

The papers in Bury linked me with a move back to Hull, I thought that’s why you rang me.” Unfortunately not. We didn’t know anything of this, but we did get word to Mark Hateley of his availability after this interview. “I could be on my way back to Burnley with Stan and Andy Payton.” he states. There’s always the possibility of taking up another profession, much to our dismay. “I’ve always wanted to play rugby (NOOOOOOO!!!-Ed) I’ve said to the chief executive at Swinton ‘what contracts could you give me?’”
At this point Swanny’s mobile rings. It’s his agent, ‘Stilesy’. The phone conversation last for about twenty minutes and Swanny sounds unhappy. “He’s fucking crap, he must be the worst agent in the league, he rings me to tell me nothing’s happening,” he sighs. “Me agent’s shit.”

Another round is ordered, we’ve lost count by now though I’m sure the barstaff haven’t, they’ve taken a credit card as assurance. The conversation now becomes more informal, though to tell the truth it’s not been very formal anyway. Yet another round is consumed and we settle the bill, “It’s a shame you didn’t come on another night, we could have gone round Wakey, Wakefield’s brilliant on a Thursday, it’s ladies’ night” he reveals. “We used to go out every Thursday when I was at Leeds.”

Since driving is out of the question for him, we give him a lift home (our driver was sober, of course). A prolonged goodbye and we are on our way home. There’s not many better ways to spend a Sunday evening than interviewing one of your heroes from your schooldays, and whereas some players shatter your deified images of them by being knobheads, Peter Swan is definitely not one of these. Rather, he’s a bloody nice bloke.

NB. Shortly after our interview, Peter Swan signed a 12 month contract with Burnley joining Stan Ternent for a third time.

Les Motherby

With thanks to Mike Scott, Steve Weatherill, Angie Rowe and the staff of the Cedar Court Hotel, Wakefield. Profound apologies to Warren Joyce!