Everyone at Edgeley Park was saddened to hear of the passing of our former goalkeeper John Swannell (SCAN 627). He died on 17th January, following a heart attack at the age of 84.
John was a legendary goalkeeper who can arguably lay claim to being the finest ever amateur ‘keeper in England’s history. In a long and glittering career, he gained 61 amateur caps for England and took part in two Olympic Games qualifying campaigns with the Great Britain side, in 1968 and 1972.
He was a key player for Hendon FC, where he made 594 appearances, winning the FA Amateur Cup twice in 1965 and 1972. He also appeared in a number of famous FA Cup games with the Greens, including a 1-1 draw at Newcastle United in 1974.
He only made one Football League appearance and this was for County, in our game with Torquay United at Plainmoor on Sept 30th 1959.
As a student at Manchester University he had played for the England University side, signing for County as an amateur and appearing a number of times for the reserve side. With regular keeper Harold Lea unavailable for a midweek fixture, Swannell was drafted in to play for the first team. His debut was an unfortunate 4-0 defeat, but as the Torquay Times reported at the time “Stockport had 20 year old John Swannell, a student at Manchester University, making his League debut in goal; but it is doubtful if a more experienced ‘keeper could have done much to avert the reverses.”
Having finished his degree he returned south and rejoined Corinthian-Casuals. He later chose to focus on a career in engineering rather than play professionally. He continued to play senior football until his early forties and was still playing veterans football fifteen years later.
Whilst John was only at Edgeley Park for a short time, we are proud to have such a well regarded player as one of our former players. We send our condolences to his family and friends at this very sad time.
