This week's guest on undr the cosh is Peter Swan, not watched the whole episode yet so not got to any Burnley stories, but the stories before that especially his dislike of Plymouth and what he used to do to annoy Neil Warnock are brilliant - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ammSJTFJgs

I didn't start watching Burnley until 1999, being born in 1992, so missed out on seeing Swan, what kind of a player was he for us?

Peter Swan! Robust centre back and I think sometime defensive midfielder. I seem to remember him popping up with the odd goal too. Never shaved, he always had “3 day stubble”.

He was one of my favourite players back in the day, although as a (terrible) defender myself, I always favoured those I could try to emulate.

For some reason I seem to recall some antics at Valley Parade one year?

Can't say i saw much of him personally, but from memory and conversations heard in the past, i believe he was primarily a very tough tackling no nonsense defender. Strong player who i think may have played upfront on occasion too.

When i saw his name, the first thing i remembered was the criticism Dario Gradi gave about him after he injured one of their players.

Swan was the ultimate stereotypical journeyman lower league footballer.

He was very much underrated by too many because of his physique - he was immense. Tree trunks for thighs. I think he started off as a centre forward as youngster but became a centreback. He was immense and immovable.

Stan Ternent, who managed him at Bury and here at Burnley would play him up front to snatch an equaliser but he's considered a better CB.

He played for a lot of clubs and would go places for the signing on fee, which was much more important in terms of a footballers income back then. I think we tried to sign him at Burnley before he joined us and he went somewhere else (Plymouth) simply because the signing on fee was bigger.

When Waddle came in, Swan was shipped out. Waddle must have imagined he wanted a more refined player than Swan. I can think of few bigger errors of judgment than his decision to get rid. Swan WAS a good player. Just because he could mix it and play rough meant that Waddle couldn't see it.

We replaced Swan with Blatherwick and Howey. Swan was twice the player of the two of them combined and with infinitely more fight in him. Swan joined Ternent at Bury and enjoyed a successful season in the league above as Bury stayed up, against the odds. Meanwhile back at Burnley we escaped relegation to the fourth tier by a whisker. If Blatherwick and Howey had been actual literal donkeys, it would have been kinder to have them shot than continue to watch them attempting to play football.

Stan bought him back to Burnley (maybe the following season) to shore up the mess at the back but Swan was at the end of his career by then. He was decent.

Swan was a pretty decent player at the level we were playing at the time. A tough, no nonsense, old school type of defender and was weirdly often thrown up front if we were struggling and losing with 10 minutes to go because he was good in the air and had an eye for goal. Lacked pace which is often the reason why good players have decent careers in the lower divisions, but don't break through into the higher echelons.

States on his podcast that he started out as a striker and played up front for Hull with Andy Payton in the early nineties, he says in a season Hull were relegated he and Payton scored more goals than West Ham who were promoted (not checked the stats so cannot be sure.)

He says it was Eddie Gray who moved him to centre back as he saw his potential in that position but some managers, including Stan, liked to play him up front.

Very entertaining .... the story of him at a cashpoint with Robbie Williams made me laugh out loud ! Glen Little, Robbie Blake and perhaps surprisingly Referee Kevin Lynch are the best of these I've watched ...

Glen : Stan was mad, but over the years we'd go to grounds and meet up with ex-Burnley players at other clubs and we'd ask them how they were getting on. The replies were usually along the lines of .... " OK, I suppose " and then they'd look around furtively " I'd walk back to Burnley to play for Stan again ! ...

Clarets4me wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 1:13 pm

Very entertaining .... the story of him at a cashpoint with Robbie Williams made me laugh out loud ! Glen Little, Robbie Blake and perhaps surprisingly Referee Kevin Lynch are the best of these I've watched ...

Glen : Stan was mad, but over the years we'd go to grounds and meet up with ex-Burnley players at other clubs and we'd ask them how they were getting on. The replies were usually along the lines of .... " OK, I suppose " and then they'd look around furtively " I'd walk back to Burnley to play for Stan again ! ...

Listened to the Kevin Ball one last week and he's exactly the same. Had the usual run ins with Stan but calls him a genius.

Clarets4me wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 1:13 pm

Very entertaining .... the story of him at a cashpoint with Robbie Williams made me laugh out loud ! Glen Little, Robbie Blake and perhaps surprisingly Referee Kevin Lynch are the best of these I've watched ...

Glen : Stan was mad, but over the years we'd go to grounds and meet up with ex-Burnley players at other clubs and we'd ask them how they were getting on. The replies were usually along the lines of .... " OK, I suppose " and then they'd look around furtively " I'd walk back to Burnley to play for Stan again ! ...

Love the David May story.

Training ground bust up, Stan head butts David May and he walks off the pitch with Stan shouting "eff off back to United reserves". Players get in changing room and May is ranting "I am off, you'll never see me here again". Next morning come in and May is sitting there, players say we thought you weren't coming back, May replied "Yeah but Stan called me last night and made me captain".

Finished the Peter Swan episode, unfortunately they don't mention much about his time at Burnley, just that it was a relief to sign for us originally to get back up north and away from Plymouth and Warnock.

He then signed for Stan at Bury, as he says in the podcast he signed for managers rather than clubs, and he was at France 98 with Neville Neville and a couple of directors who confirmed Stan was going to Burnley and Warnock was coming to Bury, Swan went straight to Stan and said you need to take me with you, I loved it at Burnley and only signed for Bury because of you.

Warnock comes to Bury and Swan leaves on a free to sign for us.

Pretty much it for the Burnley part of his career.

Peter Swan was hard as nails.

A proper no-nonsense centre half.

I went to a fans forum with Stan being the special guest. There was a lot of heat about Swan signing for us, he stated loud and clear that Peter Swan will not be signing for Burnley Football Club. I think Swan was unveiled a few days later.

He was a decent, honest, tough lower league footballer.

BurnleyFC wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 7:17 pm

Peter Swan was hard as nails.

A proper no-nonsense centre half.

I recall him getting sent off at Reading - Madejski - for a two footed lunge that started about 10 yards from the player he "tackled". Hard as nails but prone to doing stupid things at times.

The story about his time at Plymouth is bizarre, surely the rest of the team didn't hold a grudge because he stopped someone scoring. Something else must have happened for it to be that bad. And the house haunting is crazy.

aclaretinstevenage wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 7:53 pm

I recall him getting sent off at Reading - Madejski - for a two footed lunge that started about 10 yards from the player he "tackled". Hard as nails but prone to doing stupid things at times.

I was at that game and because of traffic we didn't get there until about half time. And when we did get there we heard that Swan had been sent off. So I think the sending off was at the end of the first half.

And very soon after the game had finished I got caught for speeding.

Horrible memories of that game.

Certainly a no nonsense type defender! Remember playing City in a friendly in the mid 90’s and him taking out their striker Carl Griffiths who had just come on the pitch as a sub with a ridiculous challenge!

mkmel wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 05, 2023 3:30 am

I was at that game and because of traffic we didn't get there until about half time. And when we did get there we heard that Swan had been sent off. So I think the sending off was at the end of the first half.

And very soon after the game had finished I got caught for speeding.

Horrible memories of that game.

Oh Dear, You've obviously had better nights out!

Do you remember the horrible smell around the place? The stadium was very new at the time and the earth works were only just completed around the stadium and were really "kicking up"

I'm sure in a different Cosh podcast somebody (might have been Glen) talks about how Mark WInstanley was absolutely useless on his left foot, so Swan was planning to put it on his left right from kick-off. He did and Winstanley duly effed up, the opposition scored straight away and apparently Swan was in absolute hysterics!

Haven’t listened to the podcast but if remember rightly he said in his book that his time at Plymouth got off to a rocky start because he came in and was immediately made captain, which the rest of the team weren’t happy with.

Seem to remember Ternent saying he signed him and (I think Dean West) because they were ‘men’. Which was just as well, because had he said they were ‘footballers’ he might have been done under the Trade Descriptions Act.

Enola Gay wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 05, 2023 5:16 pm

Seem to remember Ternent saying he signed him and (I think Dean West) because they were ‘men’. Which was just as well, because had he said they were ‘footballers’ he might have been done under the Trade Descriptions Act.

That's untrue.

They were journeymen footballers, yes, but they were both pros.

A great listen all the nothern lads they get on can tell a right tale.I’m surprised by the amount on here that classed him as a decent player-I just remember him being a right lump and chucking him up front at the death.Didn’t rate him maybe he was better than I thought.

He made 445 league and cup appearances. So he probably was...