sportynick Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Peter Swan's autobiography available soon.... It is unusual to quote at some length from the foreword of a new book. However, TV commentator and retired footballer, Jimmy Greaves, accurately established a raison d'être for Peter Swan: Setting the Record Straight. He wrote: "I, for one, am glad Peter has decided to commit his story to book form. It is high time he offered his account of things, related the events and story of an international-class centre-back whose career was terminated far too early and who has had to live with the repercussions of having committed one mistake in his salad days. Enjoy this book and his story, it is the story of a great centre-half and wonderful human being. Some cynics might be given to say, but not the story of a great man, but as you will hopefully realise from Peter’s story, there are no great men, only men." Top footballers in today’s game enjoy multi-millionaire status – it is quite remarkable that Swan ruined his career for the sake of winning £100 on a bet… For forty years, former England International Peter Swan has refused to tell his story and put the record straight. You can understand his reluctance. Swan was at the centre of the 'Biggest Sports Scandal of the Century'. He was one of the three Sheffield Wednesday players jailed for defrauding bookmakers after they bet on their own team to loose a game against Ipswich in 1962. The story was first splashed across the front page of The People and Swan has been avoiding the press ever since. Swan served his time but was initially given a lifetime ban from returning to football – he got around it by playing in friendly matches under a different name. The ban was lifted after eight years, with Matt Busby a key figure in the campaign, and Swan made a comeback to professional football with Sheffield Wednesday. No other British player, before or since, has returned after so long out. After playing a season with Bury he moved on to management where he won the FA Trophy with non-league Matlock Town at Wembley, but found that he was effectively frozen out when he attempted a secure job in league management. Peter gracefully retired from football management to run his pub – jokingly dubbed The Crooked Swan by his regulars. In 1997, the BBC screened The Fix – a drama that claimed to tell the truth about the scandal. Swan was to be disappointed. He writes: "To say I was shocked at what I saw is an under-statement. I could hardly take in what I was watching. It was so far away from the truth, it was unbelievable." Nick Johnson, a freelance journalist and broadcaster, won Swan's trust when he wrote up an interview with him which Swan says was "…the first time anyone has written exactly what I’ve said." A decade later, Swan asked Johnson to help write his autobiography. Swan writes: "Writing this book has given me the chance to relive some wonderful moments from my career. There have been so many lies told about the scandal, so I wanted to put that right. As I’m now in my seventieth year, it seemed the right time to tell my story. I’m pleased to have been given the opportunity to set the record straight." Candidly written, Peter Swan: Setting the Record Straight is the engrossing story of a man who made one mistake and has lived with the consequences ever since. Format: Hardback Book ISBN: 0752440225 Publication Date: 16th October 2006 Approximate Number of Pages: 240 Publisher: Tempus Publishing Author: Peter Swan with Nick Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickdalewood Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 There was something in the sunday people about this relating to the bung scandle with big sam etc. He claimed George Graham only got a 12 month ban from managing a club for allegedly taking a 400,000 bung, and he was trying to put Peter Swans case across so if this is so and managers are taking bungs what will be sentence...... band for life, 6 years in jail,and no t.v. work for ever and pay the money back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterw Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 All the bookies at that time must surely have known about it. I well remember losing money — not a lot — through my own mistake. 2/1 on one team 1/2 on the other; can’t remember which was which. In small print it said “score at 90 minutes”) so no thanks, I’ll not bother either buying or reading Peter Swan’s book ‘setting the record straight’. His ‘record’ was set many years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHAIRBOY Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 I went to the game and bought a programme from a week earlier when Ipswich hosted AC Milan in the European Cup -Ipswich's participation being as a result of their being champions of England (Div 1 as it was then). I would have thought that Ipswich, with Crawford and Phillips up front, well capable of beating Wednesday (2-0) even had the Owls' performed to 100 per cent. No bookies would bet 1/2 and 2/1 as there is no percentage profit there. All 90 minute bets include a quote for the draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterw Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 I went to the game and bought a programme from a week earlier when Ipswich hosted AC Milan in the European Cup -Ipswich's participation being as a result of their being champions of England (Div 1 as it was then). I would have thought that Ipswich, with Crawford and Phillips up front, well capable of beating Wednesday (2-0) even had the Owls' performed to 100 per cent. No bookies would bet 1/2 and 2/1 as there is no percentage profit there. All 90 minute bets include a quote for the draw. I think we may be at cross-purpose and I might have got the wrong player. I’m going back to the late 1950s when, if my memory still serves me, Sheffield Wednesday played Newcastle in a mid-week F.A Cup match. I think the game was at Newcastle. I do know the 1/2 and 2/1 were the odds. I didn’t normally bet on anything and was told by colleagues — all of whom rushed out to bet — that somehow, I don’t remember how they worked it out — that it was impossible to lose money. Only put 10 shillings on the outcome (backed Wednesday), but everybody lost because at 90 minutes they were drawing. Despite the general opinion (in my newspaper’s office) that the match had been fixed, It was quite a while before match-fixing was revealed and I do recall several players being charged over some games and that the SW v Newcastle match was not included. If my memory still serves me there was another F.A Cup match on the same day that also ended in a draw at the end of the 90 minutes — and that got the sports writers thinking about match-fixing. The percentage profit you mention? Nobody won — only the bookies, who’d given those odds on “score at 90 minutes”. Fairly obviously, they must collectively have ‘anticipated’ those results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterw Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 P.S. I might buy the book — just to find out whether he mentions it or not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHAIRBOY Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 The Ipswich v S.Wed - the match in question - took place at Portman Road on December 1 1962. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.