Swales Out!

[JGL07]

What really irked me about Swales was the total mess that he made of Maine Road on his watch. The final insult was the new Kippax Stand that was bequeathed to Francis Lee by Swales. I gather that Lee wanted a redesign to increase its capacity but there was insufficient time (or money) to do so.

 

[Bluemoon dan]

I remember when I was quite young the whole of the kippax turning their backs to the pitch during play for quite some time! I have no recollection of why, even though I joined in! Can anyone enlighten me?

Trying to get the Poznan going 20 odd years ahead of its time?

 

[lancs blue]

does anyone actualy remember when the swales out slogan first appeared,my first recollection of it was after a very depressing one nil defeat at home to notts county in feb 83 when a few windows in the main stand got smashed and the police horses charged us.people seemed to start realising at that point that the slippery slope was leading to relegation,and all swale,s promises and bull was starting to implode.i don,t remember anything happening prior to this .

My recollection is that the disillusionment with Swales started after Allison's ill-fated return and the dismantling of what had been a very good side, with Owen, Barnes, Donachie, Kidd, Hartford etc all leaving in a fairly short space of time and being replaced by untried kids and largely expensive flops. I'm sure we had "Swales Out" chants around 1980-ish if not actual demos, then when Bond arrived and we had those Cup runs it went quiet for a bit.

I do remember not long after Swales became chairman he appointed Ron Saunders with the comment "if he fails I'll resign". Saunders was sacked after about 6 months, Swales stayed for another 20 years!

 

[SuperKevinHorlock]

I still have flashbacks of lying down outside the Main Stand entrance with a big horse towering over me literally feet away from me!

Never thought in a million years I would see city become the champions.

Oh and I still have a Forward with Franny badge......

 

[Vienna_70]

I'm 25, don't remember the Swales era although I do remember the Franny Lee era, Why you old timers wanted him in I'll never know!! Having ex players back as managers/coaches yeah but not as owners, they lead with (in our case) blue tinted glasses. Idiots the lot of you!! ;)

Frannie had been a very popular player and is still many supporters' - including me - favourite player.

He had become a successful businessman, which he started before he even joined City by collecting waste paper in his spare time and recycling it.

Unfortunately, even he didn't realise the mess that City had become under Swales. The owned neither the club crest nor the store, which was run by one of Swales' mates for his own benefit.

And although we were unsuccessful on the pitch, a lot of the things that we see today were put in place under Lee's Chairmanship, including the move to the new stadium and greater use of corporate facilities.

And I know we will never know, but maybe HH Sheikh Mansour would not have bought the club were it not for FHL stepping in when he did.

 

[sinnerman]

I try and blank out Franny as a chairman, and just try and remember Franny as a player. And what a player he was.....

 

[TFC]

Police horse stood on my foot while I was milling around in the background of one of these protests...heavy fucker.

 

[Notinmylifetime]

Swales stayed far, far too long. He tried his best but he was genuinely a fan, which hindered our progress not helped it. I remember being arrested at Villa in 1990 and I wrote to the club asking for their support and advice. Swales personally wrote me a letter and instructed another Director to give me a reference, help where he could, etc. Doesn't sound much but he could easily have ignored a plea from a fan, especially in the circumstances and how all footy fans were loathed as hooligans at that time. He tried his best and his heart was in the right place, despite overall it being a massive failure.

 

[blueste41]

I remember when I was quite young the whole of the kippax turning their backs to the pitch during play for quite some time! I have no recollection of why, even though I joined in! Can anyone enlighten me?

Trying to get the Poznan going 20 odd years ahead of its time?

Lol

Come on someone must remember this, it definitely happened?

 

[Ray78]

I remember when I was quite young the whole of the kippax turning their backs to the pitch during play for quite some time! I have no recollection of why, even though I joined in! Can anyone enlighten me?

Trying to get the Poznan going 20 odd years ahead of its time?

Lol

Come on someone must remember this, it definitely happened?

I think we did that when were plummeting down to Division Three as well.