Peter Swan

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For other people called Peter Swan see Peter Swan (disambiguation)

Peter Swan (born 8 October 1936, South Elmsall, Yorkshire) was a professional footballer whose career lasted from 1952 until 1974. Swan made 299 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday plus two as substitute, he was a regular in the England national side for two years between May 1960 and May 1962 winning 19 full caps, he also represented England at Under 19 and Under 23 level. However despite his ability as a top class player he will be mostly remembered for his involvement in a betting scandal that led to him being banned from football for eight years between 1964 and 1972.

Peter Swan was born in South Elmsall near Pontefract in West Yorkshire on October 8, 1936. Peter played for Doncaster Schools as a teenager and joined Wednesday as a 15 year old amateur in 1952 and made his first team debut at 19 against Barnsley on 5th November 1955. He quickly became first choice centre half for the club and was a prominent team member in the teams excellent seasons in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During that time Wednesday finished 5th in the 1959-60 season in division one and then runners up to the great double winning Tottenham Hotspur side in 1960-61 and then sixth in the next three seasons.

Swan made his full England debut during this golden period as a 23 year old against Yugoslavia on 11th May 1960, he played the next 19 international matches consecutively for England over the next two years up to his last appearance on 9th May 1962 against Switzerland. These 19 appearances included nine friendly internationals, six Home Internationals and four qualifying matches for the 1962 World Cup finals in Chile. Swan was selected for the squad for the 1962 World Cup finals but he fell ill while there and never played in Chile.

Peter had a son Gary who sadly died of cancer around 1999 aged 39 and this must have been a terrible blow to the family. Gary was extremely popular in the Brimington community in Chesterfield.

The infamous betting scandal which also involved two other Wednesday players, Tony Kay and David Layne happened at the end of 1962, when all three bet on Sheffield Wednesday to lose their away match at Ipswich Town F.C. on Saturday 1st December 1962. Ipswich won the match 2-0 with two goals from Ray Crawford. Swan has said that Ipswich won the match fairly but he’s not sure what he would have done if Wednesday had been winning. In an interview with The Times newspaper in July 2006, Swan said “We lost the game fair and square, but I still don’t know what I’d have done if we’d been winning. It would have been easy for me to give away a penalty or even score an own goal. Who knows?”. Eventually the betting ring was uncovered and Swan received a four month jail sentence in Lincoln jail and a life ban from football. Many people think Peter would have been part of the England squad that won the 1966 World Cup, he was once told by Alf Ramsey that he was "top of the list".

The life ban was lifted in 1972 and Swan returned to play for the Wednesday first team for the start of the 1972 season in a match against Fulham F.C. which Wednesday won 3-0. He made 15 appearances plus two as substitute that season as Wednesday led the Second Division for the opening months, however the teams form faded and Swan was sold to Bury F.C., his final appearance for Wednesday was on 11th November 1972. Ironically Swan scored on his debut for Bury after playing over 300 matches for Sheffield Wednesday and never finding the net. Swan captained Bury for the 1973-74 season and led them to promotion to Division Three.

Swan turned his hand to management in the summer of 1974 when he took charge of non-league Matlock Town. His first season at the helm was a great success, with Matlock getting past the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup for only the second time in the club's history. Better still, Matlock reached the final of the 1975 FA Trophy and faced Scarborough at Wembley. Despite being the underdogs Matlock went on to win the match by a convincing 4-0 margin. Swan resigned at the end of his second season in charge hoping to find a full-time management position elsewhere. He eventually returned as manager in November 1980, with his second spell at the club lasting just over a year after a poor run of results. Peter also had spells as manager at Worksop Town and Buxton F.C..

Peter now runs a pub in Chesterfield, he has a biography coming out in September 2006 called "Setting The Record Straight" written in conjunction with Nick Johnson (ISBN 0-7524-4022-5). Peter has a son Carl who played league football for Doncaster Rovers and Rochdale in the late 1970s and a host of non league teams thereafter.

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