George Harold Swift

Infobox Football biography
playername = George Swift
fullname = George Harold Swift


height =
dateofbirth = birth date|1870|02|3
cityofbirth = Oakengates, Shropshire
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = 1956
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
position = Full-back
youthyears =
youthclubs = St George's Swifts
Wellington Town
Wellington St George's
years =

1891–1894
1895–1896
1896–1902
1902–1905
1905–1906
clubs =Stoke
Crewe Alexandra
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Loughborough
Leicester Fosse
Notts County
Leeds City
caps(goals) =

059 (1)
026 (1)
186 (5)
016 (0)
001 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1907–1910
1911–1912
managerclubs = Chesterfield
Southampton

George Harold Swift (born Oakengates, Shropshire 3 February 1870, died 1956) was the first secretary-manager of Southampton Football Club, appointed in April 1911.

Playing career

He was a decent full back in his prime with Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1893, Leicester Fosse, Notts County and Leeds City where he retired in 1906.

He represented England against Ireland in the Inter-League match at the Victoria Ground, Stoke-on-Trent, in November 1895.

Coaching and management career

After retiring from playing, he became trainer at Leeds City where he stayed for two seasons. Swift had a good deal of influence on onfield activities and gave manager Gilbert Gillies great support before taking the post of manager at Chesterfield in summer 1907. He spent three years at Chesterfield, with no conspicuous success. In his first season in charge, Chesterfield finished second from bottom of Football League Second Division but were re-elected. The following season (1908-09) they finished in the same position but this time failed to be re-elected. There then followed a season in the Midland League, where Chesterfield were champions at the end of the 1909-10 season. Swift left Chesterfield in May 1910 before moving south to become secretary-manager at The Dell in April 1911.

Prior to Swift's appointment, The Saints had been "managed" by the board under the company secretary, Mr. E. Arnfield, with W. Dawson as trainer. The board had made a concerted effort to find a manager who could end the team's dreadful run of form (which had seen them drop to 17th place in the Southern League at the end of the 1910-11 season), and interviewed 140 applicants.

Following the appointment of Swift, Dawson (who had been trainer for seventeen years) resigned and Armfield moved to financial secretary. In the first six weeks of Swift's brief reign he spent £820 recruiting 11 new players. Unfortunately, the appointment of a full-time manager failed to stop the rot and the 1911-12 season was another disappointment with the team finishing in 16th place, resulting in Swift's resignation.

Honours

As a player

Wolverhampton Wanderers

* FA Cup winner: 1893

References

*cite book
author=Gary Chalk & Duncan Holley
title=Saints - A complete record
publisher= Breedon Books
year=1987
id=ISBN 0-907969-22-4

External links

*soccerbase (manager)|id=527|name=George Swift (incomplete)
* [http://www.mightyleeds.co.uk/seasons/190506.htm Mention in article about history of Leeds United]
* [http://archive.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/2000/7/15/84402.html Article in Andover Advertiser about auction of medal in July 2000]