The incredible story of Swindon Town’s rise over a frenetic five-year period under the management of Lou Macari, with exclusive insight and views from Macari himself.

Foreword by 1980s Swindon Town hero David Hockaday.

When former Manchester United midfielder and Scottish international Macari became the Robins’ player-manager in the summer of 1984, he joined a club in the doldrums. But his arrival changed everything. Under Macari, Football League and club records were set, promotion campaigns became almost routine and a feel-good factor gripped the whole town.

This compelling book:

• Charts a magical five years in Swindon Town’s history, highlighting the major matches and key milestones of a period of huge progress and success for the club
• Tells of promotions, play-off excitement, cup semi-final disappointment and constant progression, as players started successful international careers, and local and national heroes were born
• Examines Macari’s career before joining the club, with an appraisal of the position Swindon Town were in before his arrival
• Reviews key players’ careers after the manager left in 1989, including a look at their international and club achievements
• Includes a diary of events resulting from the Football League’s investigation into the financial dealings of Swindon Town over the course of the 1980s
• Assesses the position Swindon Town find themselves in today, comparing 1984 with 2024

A must for all Swindon Town fans, this is a tale of unprecedented success and unfortunate consequences. Forty years after Macari arrived at the County Ground, his legacy at the club still burns brightly.

David Wallis has been a Swindon Town supporter for well over half a century. He started writing about the club during the 1980s. Letters to the local press were followed by football magazine articles, which led to writing an opinion column, match previews and reports, and website filings, plus a quarter of a century contributing to Swindon Town’s matchday programme. He published his first book, Swindon Town: The Fans’ Choice, in 2007.