50 years after the greatest cup upset of all time: Swindon vs Arsenal

On March 15^th most students were probably saying tearful goodbyes to their flatmates before an all too long Easter break, thinking of nothing more than chocolate eggs and the impending doom of exam season. However, they could be forgiven for not being aware of the significance of this date, for it marks 50 years since the greatest cup shock in British football history which took place at Wembley in 1969. This isn’t some random non-league side sneaking past a higher division side in the third round, this was a third division side who didn’t own their stadium or their training ground. And yet they managed to beat Arsenal in the League Cup final and win. Swindon Town may not be a name most casual football fans have heard of but 50 years ago they faced up against Arsenal FC at Wembley with seemingly no chance of success. Such was the deemed formality of the fixture that there was almost no media coverage of the team leading up to the match, no players were interviewed and even no cameras had been set up on the Swindon side of the dressing rooms.

Arsenal fans will forever protest that their squad had been hit with the flu before this final, which had caused their previous league fixture to be postponed, or that an equine show had taken place on the pitch in the week before the match that had torn up the pitch to create conditions that suited the division three side. In his famous football novel  ‘Fever Pitch’, author Nick Hornby speaks of his memories as an Arsenal fan at this final and refers to the Swindon fans and team as the ‘Loathed Strangers’ that appeared from nowhere to create a football memory that he could never forget.

For the majority of the game, Arsenal trailed 1-0 to the team two tiers below them

This was a strong Arsenal side, one that would win the then equivalent of the Europa League the very next season and finished 4^th (of course, this is Arsenal) in the first division that year. But for the majority of the game, Arsenal trailed 1-0 to the team two tiers below them, grabbing a lucky equaliser in the 86^th minute to force extra time. But would these top professionals have the stamina and endurance to come from behind and grab the win? No chance. Two goals from Don Rogers in extra time saw Swindon lift what is still their only major trophy in English football and write their name into football folklore as the most improbable champions in the game’s history.

The Swindon team was robbed of the glory of competing in Europe the following year, as they were not a first division side they weren’t allowed to enter European competition by UEFA rules.  However, to prove them wrong the Anglo-Italian cup was established in 1970, allowing this small Wiltshire side to take on Italian giants like Roma, Napoli and Juventus. Swindon Town defeated all of them, in Italy, to lift the inaugural trophy and until Manchester City spent over £500m on their squad and beat Napoli in 2016 they remained the only English team to ever win in Naples.

The memory of 1969 is an important one for all football fans

This feat will never be repeated in modern football, it is a relic of the past to be marvelled at and sadly not replicated. Leicester winning the Premier League funded by a Thai billionaire is one thing, but today third division sides run their clubs on an entire budget that wouldn’t pay for Aaron Ramsey’s wages for one season, showing that there is an impossible financial gap that separates the teams.

A few years ago, Bradford City reached the League Cup final to face Swansea, only to be beaten 5-0 by a team that only just finished in the top half of the Premier League that season, which illustrates the gulf. As a Swindon fan 50 years later, I daren’t even dream of getting to a cup semi-final, let alone winning silverware. The memory of 1969 is an important one for all football fans and stands as a monument to the dreamers and the football romantics, that once upon a time things like this were possible outside of a FIFA career mode and maybe, just maybe, the day will dawn that a team will overcome all odds to be English champions once again.