Peter Swan Setting the Record Straight

Still remembered as one of the biggest scandals in English football, the match-fixing case of the early 1960s robbed Sheffield Wednesday and England center half Peter Swan of the best years of his career. A four-month prison sentence was just the start of it; upon his release, Peter found he had been banned sine die–that is, indefinitely–by the FA. Forced into a succession of low-paid jobs to make ends meet for himself and his young family, Peter eventually returned to football eight years later after the ban was lifted. No player had ever spent so long out of the game. How had it come to this? Before the People newspaper ran its sensational story, Peter had been one of English football’s brightest young stars, featuring in a Wednesday team that was one of the strongest in the country and making 19 consecutive appearances for the national side. Here he speaks openly about his life, his career, and the scandal that rocked the nation, debunking many of the myths and half-truths that have surrounded the affair. With many rare photographs and a foreword by Jimmy Greaves, it is the inside story of one of football’s most controversial episodes.