Peter Swan, player at heart of first betting scandal, dies at 84
For Peter Swan, the shadow never passed. In his prime, the tall, athletic, speedy centre-half appeared destined for a glorious career, one which, with his passing at 84, should have been celebrated in international caps and trophies won.
Instead, thanks to one catastrophic error of judgment, he will be remembered as the most celebrated member of a group of professional footballers sent to prison for betting against their own teams.
It happened in 1962. Swan, then at the heart of the Sheffield Wednesday side who had been First Division runners-up to Tottenham Hotspur in 1961, had just returned from an unhappy World Cup experience in Chile. A regular in Walter Winterbottom’s England teams, he had contracted dysentery in South America and did not play a game.
As the new season got under way, he was approached by a former Swindon Town footballer called
Jimmy Gauld, who had built up a syndicate of more than 100 players, encouraging them to bet against their own side.
Swan, together with team-mates Tony Kay and David Layne, placed £50 – roughly a week’s wages – on Wednesday to lose at Ipswich that December. They duly did, 2-0, and the threesome cleaned up at the bookies. Swan later insisted the defeat was entirely uncontrived.
The three colleagues thought no more of it after agreeing not to place another bet. However, when the story was later published in the People, the Wednesday trio, along with seven other professionals, were thrust into the middle of the biggest scandal in post-war British football.
Despite pleading not guilty to conspiracy to defraud, Swan was fined £100 and given a four-month prison sentence, which he served in Lincoln jail. He was banned by the FA from football for life.
In 1972, the ban was lifted and, at 35, Swan made an emotional return for Wednesday. He later played for Bury and Matlock Town, where he became manager, taking them to victory in the FA Trophy at Wembley. But his hopes of managing at a higher level were defeated by his reputation. That, however, was not the limit of his punishment. He had been told by Alf Ramsey that he would have been in the 1966 World Cup squad. It was news that cut him to the quick.
When he died, more than a decade after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, there were plenty left to mourn what might have been.