Ardwick Green Blue
Well-Known Member
Ah. an example of fake news well before the phrase ever gained currency. This was a LIE spread by the Swales camp to discredit protestors. The matron of the nursing home in question said she was completely unaware of the alleged incident that was widely reported at the time, and if Central Library in town still has its microfiche archive, you can go down there and confirm it.
Still, job done by the vile John Maddock. Blues continue to believe this falsehood nearly 30 years on.
No he fucking wasn't. That piece of shit Swales left the club in such a dire financial state that the decline was almost inevitable without a vast injection of cash that Lee was unable to deliver (through my job, I saw the disclosure files presented to Lee's legal team when he was buying into the club and, believe me, they'd shock you). Lee made many mistakes for which he can justifiably be criticised and, ironically given his background, some of the most telling related to the club's footballing operations.
If we could have hung on without getting relegated from the PL for another couple of years, we may just about have clung on and emerged from the financial crisis. Lee's errors of judgement, most notably appointing Alan Ball, contributed to our taking the drop. But "just as bad as Swales"? No fucking way.
I always knew the story about protestors abusing Swales dieing mother in a nursing home was complete bullshit so it's good to get confirmation after all these years.
Swales had a business empire that consisted entirely of a few electrical goods shops (mainly rental TVs) scattered around Greater Manchester and that was his level. How the fuck he ended up running the club into the ground for as long as he did with his small shareholding is both an eternal mystery and a fucking disgrace.