George Harold Swift (3 February 1870 – 1956) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, and was later the first secretary-manager of

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Playing career

Swift was born in

Oakengates Oakengates is a historic market town and civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The town's parish population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census. Etymology The name is not derived from "oak" or "gates" b ...

, Shropshire and spent his early club career with

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

and

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, before he joined

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

club

in 1891. He made his Wolves debut on 14 September 1891 in a 5–0 win over

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

, one of four appearances that season. He was an ever-present in the 1892–93 season, which included the club winning their first ever

when they defeated Everton in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. He moved to

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

after the subsequent season and later played at

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English f ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

and Leeds City before retiring in 1906. He represented England against Ireland in the Inter-League match at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

, in November 1895.

Coaching and management career

Chesterfield

After retiring from playing, he became trainer at Leeds City where he stayed for two seasons. Swift had a good deal of influence on onfield activities and gave manager Gilbert Gillies great support before taking the post of manager at Chesterfield in summer 1907. He spent three years at Chesterfield, with no conspicuous success. In his first season in charge, Chesterfield finished second from bottom of

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

but were re-elected. The following season ( 1908–09) they finished in the same position but this time failed to be re-elected. There then followed a season in the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

, where Chesterfield were champions at the end of the 1909–10 season. Swift left Chesterfield in May 1910 before moving south to become secretary-manager at The Dell in April 1911.

Southampton

Prior to Swift's appointment, the Saints had been "managed" by the board under the company secretary, Ernest Arnfield, with Bill Dawson as trainer. The board had made a concerted effort to find a manager who could end the team's dreadful run of form (which had seen them drop to 17th place in the Southern League at the end of the 1910–11 season), and interviewed 140 applicants. Following the appointment of Swift, Dawson (who had been trainer for seventeen years) resigned and Arnfield moved to financial secretary. In the first six weeks of Swift's brief reign he spent £820 recruiting eleven new players. Unfortunately, the appointment of a full-time manager failed to stop the rot and the 1911–12 season was another disappointment with the team finishing in 16th place, resulting in Swift's resignation.

Honours

Player

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

References

External links

*
Biography on Leeds United website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, George 1870 births 1956 deaths People from Oakengates English men's footballers English Football League players Stoke City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Loughborough F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Leeds City F.C. players English football managers Chesterfield F.C. managers Southampton F.C. managers English Football League representative players Southern Football League managers Men's association football defenders