Peter Swan: Setting the Record Straight

by Peter Swan

England appearances, a courtroom drama and a spell in prison were just the start. He later returned to Sheffield Wednesday's first team before going into management and guiding Matlock town to the FA Trophy, but since retiring he has faced an increasing battle with Alzheimers. Setting the Record Straight lifts the lid on what was termed 'the biggest sports scandal of the century' and all that happened afterwards for this outstanding footballer.

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Lloyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable in part, but generally quite pedestrian and cliché-ridden. I was hoping for more having had it on my shelves for years; for some reason, I thought I'd read somewhere that it was a corker.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and in some parts very sad story of Peter Swan and the match fixing scandal in the 1960s. While what he did was wrong he would get a far less punishment in today’s football world

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still remember when 'the biggest sports scandal of the century' hit the headlines back in the sixties. After a period of some fifty years all I recalled of this case was that three top players of the day, Peter Swan, David 'Bronco' Layne and Tony Kay were banned from the game for match fixing.
Swan's memoir 'Setting the Record Straight' details the inside story of this incident that brought opprobrium onto the game and wrecked the careers of those involved. Swan himself was a top centre half and an England international.
The revelation in this book is simply that none of the three were ever guilty of match fixing, the tragedy is that after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the three served prison sentences and were banned by the F.A. for eight years.
Swan's biography is certainly a poignant one, both before and after the playing ban. In the 1950's he served his National Service with Eddie Colman, who was best man at Swan's wedding. It was also interesting to read that Matt Busby wanted to sign him in 1957. There but for fortune he could have been in the same plane disaster as Colman at Munich in 1958.
Fortune turned once again for Swan with his ban causing him to miss England's 1966 World Cup squad.
The book, published in 2006 documents his family life with its wins and losses and health battles...but Swanie is still going in 2016 at 80.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was breaking round about the time I was becoming aware of football. Many will have got away with much worse. He served a heavy sentence.