Swindon Town’s sojourn in the newly-renamed FA Carling Premiership was a short one but it was also memorable.
The first one-season wonders – the first of 13 clubs to be relegated from the Premier League and not yet make it back – conceded exactly 100 goals as they finished 13 points from safety.
Among the high points was a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester United – the day when Eric Cantona mistook John Moncur for a mat on which to wipe his boots – while they drew at Arsenal and Liverpool.
They also set a bit of squad numbers history in the inaugural season of the new system as goalkeeper Jon Sheffield, signed on loan from Cambridge United, became the first player to wear number 40 when he made his debut away to Aston Villa in February.
As can be seen below, Sheffield was one of six goalkeepers assigned numbers by Swindon and one of four to see game-time. The second-lowest number in the squad was 34 – given to another custodian signed on loan, Paul Heald – and I recall reading some explanation in Shoot! that spare high numbers were used by the Swindon reserve team, with 40 the one that happened to be the goalkeeper’s one.
Whatever the reason, Sheffield – who was forced off injured in the next game against Norwich City and didn’t appear again – has his bit of heritage.
Swindon’s squad numbers were based on the play-off final win over Leicester City, with three absentees. Player-manager Glenn Hoddle had departed for a similar role at Chelsea – where he allocated himself the number 20 shirt – while centre-back Colin Calderwood was now wearing 5 for Tottenham Hotspur. Australia international striker Dave Mitchell had moved to Turkish club Altay Izmir.
Hoddle was replaced as manager by his former assistant John Gorman and, for the Premiership opener away to Sheffield United, he dispensed with the sweeper system and opted for an adventurous three-man attack, featuring Steve White – who wore 12 at Wembley – and new signing Jan Åge Fjørtoft, who inherited the number 9.
Micky Hazard, who came on wearing 14 in the play-off final, was given number 4 but he returned his old club Tottenham in November, while versatile Dutchman Luc Nijholt took 5. Fittingly for his nationality, he was left-back at Bramall Lane in the absence of Paul Bodin but Nijholt played a lot of the season in midfield as well as central defence.
While Hazard and number 11 Craig Maskell left during the season (the latter for Southampton), neither number was recycled, even though Swindon did sign a number of players as the campaign went on.
The Robins were one of only two clubs not to allocate the number 13 shirt, with Wimbledon the other – as the remaining 20 sides gave it to a goalkeeper, we must assume that that was a rule in the first couple of seasons.
Equally, Swindon and Wimbledon gave 23 to player who was second-choice goalkeeper at the start of the campaign, meaning no goalkeeper wore 12 or 14-21 inclusive.
Swindon’s squad in full was:
I think the no.13 for a sub goalkeeper was more of a force of habit from the previous season rather than a rule, as substitute goalkeepers would feature in the match day squads from 1992/93 onwards, and given that substitutes were almost always given 12 or 14, the substitute goalkeeper was given the “gap” number 13 shirt, though there were some exceptions, possibly due to triskaidekaphobia… though whilst Alan Miller wore 15 as a substitute goalkeeper for Arsenal in 1992/93, he was given squad number 13 for 1993/94.
I do recall seeing a comment in Shoot! or Match around the time of squad numbers being introduced that Nicky Hammond opted to wear 23 for Swindon as his squad number as he had suffered two leg breaks whilst wearing number 13, so went against wearing that number.
Wimbledon had often used 13 for an outfield substitute number a lot during the late 1980’s – I remember Alan Cork often wore it whenever he’d been named as a sub. I seem to remember Neil Sullivan was second-choice goalkeeper and he wore 23.