51 years ago today - Swales became chairman

I'm watching and listening, I still have influence you know.......
 

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Scaring Europe to Death said:
I don't recall anything derogatory about Swales until around the spring of 1982 when the drop in attendances seemed to coincide with strong rumours that the club was losing money.
Up until then I don't think he was perceived as any better or worse than his chum at the FA Bert Millichip.

City's average attendance has been circa 32,000 when Swales became Chairman so naturally he took great pride (albeit slightly overegged) that within five years it had increased to almost 42,000.
He was criticised for an unhealthy obsession with catching United's average attendance, but in mitigation, you could throw the exact same accusation at David Meek who was regularly writing similar articles about City's attendances in the United match programme.

Swales was unlucky that two of his better appointments (Billy McNeill and Howard Kendall) both walked out on the club, but it would appear that by 1986, City's finances were still suffering from the excesses of the late 70s, and in McNeill's case, he'd simply had enough.

However by the early 90s, the club had seemingly recovered, only for Swales to repeat the same mistakes and sanction stupid transfer fees for Keith Curle and Terry Phelan etc.

He also failed to recognise the potential windfall from the emergence of Sky TV and the Premier League.
Consequently, as United launched into a long term reconstruction plan for Old Trafford, the Maine Road capacity was further reduced

Obviously this wasn't all his fault but looking back, there were far too many influential people around the club who refused to criticise him, and this just added to the frustration.
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His decision making was appalling.
 
Swales and Lee became farcical for different reasons . Hated the way Maine road became a Poundland Lego set at the end way more than the bonkers spending sprees that put us on our arse. Saying that the smells and sights of that era remain with me to this day and I wouldn’t change a thing . We were an angry frustrated fanbase but funny as fuck .
 
Damocles said:
My Grandad swears to this day that Swales was ultimately a good thing for the club. He reckons he "modernised" us when he took over and only lost his mind when he became Chairman and solidified his power.
I actually don't know to be honest. Having a conversation about Swales with City fans of the generation above me (so the lads who were there and old enough to have been around a bit unlike me in short pants) is sort of like trying to have a conversation with a miner about Thatcher. The incompetence and viciousness at the end plague any ability to talk about things as a whole.
I recall somebody interviewing him post-City, it might have been @Gary James who said that for all his faults, he genuinely loved the club and desperately wanted it to succeed.
I've never read a pro-Swales detailed history and it's hard to get a true reading on things from an overwhelmingly negative opinion.
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Such a complex area. First Swales Out on record came in 1979 but before that he was seen fairly positively. Personally, I have a lot of negativity towards Ian Niven and the others who did the 1970 takeover (that ultimately led to Swales getting power). Their treatment of Mercer right at the start was disgraceful and Niven was ultimately the one who brought Allison back.

I did do the last recorded interview with Swales. I was very much a Swales Out man and he knew that when he allowed me to interview him. I did leave feeling those who had supported him for years let him down - they changed sides to protect their own positions.
 
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