As Christmas approaches I thought I would write a Curator’s Wish List of
items I would love to be able to add to the Museum’s Collection. Many may
have ceased to exist but if any reader knows of anything about any item
mentioned below I would love to hear from them.
First up would be Club Minute books. We have two from the turn of the
Century and a complete set from around the late thirties to the sixties.
To fill in the gap and to bring them closer to the present would be my first
wish. While it is true that Minute Books sometimes raise more questions than
they answer, they are at least a starting point for investigations.
The club has in its possession the Dubonnet Trophy. When this was won
individual medals were presented to the players. If any of these still exists we
would love to add it to the Museum’s collection.
Third on my list is Sam Allen memorabilia. The more research I carry out the
less I feel I understand him. Resigning as a director, because he wanted to
become a referee, regarded as the manager, although apparently the
directors picked the team. Telling a trainer he could take on an extra job and
then proposing he be sacked when he did so. A man of endless
contradictions the one thing that is clear is that he was a seminal figure in
the history of the club from before it became a limited company right through
until his death in 1945 when he was still serving as Club Secretary. When
Swindon were relegated in 1965 having played their match in the afternoon
while Portsmouth and Northampton were allowed to play out a draw that
evening which gave Portsmouth the point that kept them up and
Northampton the point that put them up, I remember one old grey beard
saying to me “It would’t have happed if Sam was alive.”
Military medals and caps – I am writing this in the week following Armistice
Day and it has reminded me that many of the Swindon players served in the
Armed Forces. In fact a figure in military uniform appears in one of the
photographs of the immediate post World War One squads.
Commemorative clock – In the past one or two clocks have appeared in the
local press related to the players of the Southern League Championship
teams. One given to Peter Chambers appeared in the press and I thought it
may have related to being a club thank you to someone who had dropped
out of the first team. That my friend, Bill Silto, grandson of the Swindon
players served of the same name remembers one being in his father’s house
makes me think they were in fact presented to the whole team. I have to say
IMO they were the most hideous examples of Victorian/Edwardian Gothic
which I would not want on my mantle piece but they would be a marvellous
display item for a Museum.
Finally can I thank all those who have donated items to the collection in the
last twelve months and wish you all a happy Christmas and a healthy New
Year and may that New Year see our Collection find its first permanent home.