'FIVE OF THE BEST' - Foreign Imports

Casting an eye over three decades of transfers involving players from outside Great Britain and Ireland, there are incredibly few examples which stick out as good business for the club.

In fact, the sides that could be made up of foreign flops who have ‘graced’ Town colours down the years could give even the most brazenly optimistic Robins’ fans a migraine.

But, for every three or four Kim Heiselbergs, Swindon have had a Fjortoft or a Fallon or an Invincibile. True entertainers who held a team together and, by and large, were loved by the terraces.

Here is our top five - for the purpose of the list a foreign import is defined as a player from outside of the British Isles and Ireland who has signed for Town on some kind of permanent contract.

This week’s honourable mentions go to: Sofienne Zaaboub, Miguel Commingues, Rory Fallon, and Dave Mitchell

5. Stefani Miglioranzi, a Brazilian-American-Italian, signed from Portsmouth in July 2002. Having put pen to paper on a month-to-month contract, Miglioranzi soon proved his worth - adding a cool, stylish flair to central midfield.

Derided by a few for his frail physique, Migs suffered from several injuries which may have effected his confidence on the ball, making him play more like an American than a Brazilian. But, when match-fit, his talents were undoubtable.

Town have had few midfielders in recent seasons with the composure Miglioranzi displayed so admirably as he marshalled a classy 11 to the League One Playoff semi-final in 2004. And, but for the series of niggles which plagued his knees, he could well have doubled his 136 appearances.

Not so much the cult hero and an unconventional choice for a top five berth, Migs moulded a midfield during his time at the County Ground

4. Ossie Ardiles was not a great player for Swindon Town. His two substitute appearances for the club in 1989 were understated and ineffectual. But the Argentinean was a revelation in the manager’s hotseat.

Replacing Lou Macari, Swindon’s most successful boss since Danny Williams, was a daunting proposition. But Ardiles sprung at the opportunity - replacing Scottish efficiency for South American ‘samba’ football.

Re-styling the Robins’ attacking strategy, Ardiles employed a diamond formation which encouraged fluid, passing play that entertained the masses.

Within a year he had helped Town to promotion, although the euphoria was tempered massively by the financial scandals which punished players and fans for individual’s irregularities.

Those incidents marked the beginning of the end for Ardiles - the man who had revolutionised football in Swindon. Without a budget, a spine or a collective cohesion, Town plummeted towards relegation. Ardiles jumped ship.

3. Luc Nijholt was a beast of a central midfielder. Bone-crunching in the tackle, the Dutchman's sporadic temperament landed him into trouble with the authorities on several occasions.

But his intense dedication to the cause, and apparent lack of respect for either his own or the opposition’s well being, endeared him to the County Ground crowd.

Nijholt signed from Motherwell for £175,000 in July 1993 and played in most of Town’s Premier League fixtures (when he wasn’t suspended).

His glorious, assisted strike against Manchester United in the 2-2 draw at the County Ground will live long in Robins’ memories.

Although he only spent two seasons in Wiltshire, Nijholt established himself as a talisman and his true Scandinavian grit inspired many a beleaguered Swindon team before his switch to Dutch side FC Volendam in 1995.

2. When Town fans picked up the Adver on July 29th 2000 to read that Danny Invincibile had signed from Marconi Stallions they could have been forgiven to check the paper’s title.

The transfer sounded like something like out of a ‘Roy of the Rovers’ comic, and far from the coup it turned out to be.

An Australian youth international, Invincibile signed onto Colin Todd’s new-look roster with a skip in his step. But his progress was somewhat stalled by both Todd and Andy King playing the exciting attacker out of position.

But the Robins faithful took to the fleet-footed and skilful attacker immediately, and although his performance levels could be a little sporadic and he had the occasional tendency to fade out of a contest, Invincibile repaid the faith shown in him.

His volleyed winner, in the final minute of Swindon’s last game of the season against Peterborough in 2001, kept Town in Division Two and carved his name into history for reasons other than its eccentricity.

Known for many a corkscrewing forrage, Invincibile could comfortably embarrass defenders, but he found goalkeepers a different problem altogether.

Never a natural goalscorer, the Aussie still attracted a host of top European clubs when it emerged that he was to leave the County Ground in 2003. Or so it was assumed.

It seems unlikely in retrospect that Invincibile would have picked Kilmarnock over Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven or Crystal Palace when the time came to make a decision regarding his future.

What is certain is the level or admiration and respect shown to him by Robins fans in the standing ovation he received on his final appearance for the club in a home win over Luton, even if his so-called purple patches were somewhat lilac.

1. It is no surprise that Jan Aage Fjortoft tops this list. It would be near-sacrilege for a Swindon fan to denounce the name of the predatory Norwegian, even if at the start of his spell in Wiltshire Fjortoft was anything but the free-scoring striker he developed into by the time his Swindon Town stint came to an abrupt and unsavoury end.

Fjortoft joined the club from Rapid Vienna for £500,000 in 1993 but failed to score in any of the first 14 games of Town’s Premiership season.

A move to Lillestrom, his home club, was arranged and Keith Scott came into the Town squad as a replacement. But Scott got injured, Fjortoft was thrown into the limelight in an FA Cup replay against Ipswich.

Fjortoft scored, his first in 23 appearances, and that triggered a phenomenal run of 13 goals in 17 games - all of which were in vain as Town suffered relegation back to Division One.

The trademark aeroplane celebration became commonplace at the County Ground throughout that season, and in the following campaign and suitors came knocking.

Fans were reluctant to let their favourite leave but understood that the club could cash in substantially on a presitigous talent.

That Jimmy Greaves valued the striker at between three and four million only persuaded the Robins’ supporters further than his departure, although unfortunate, was best for both player and club.

But Town accepted a miserly bid of £1.3 million from Middlesbrough for the hitman’s services, Steve McMahon insisting that it was “the only offer on the table.”

And, in a moment, Town’s most lethal centre-forward in many years had gone, on the cheap and without explanation.

It was a peculiar and unsatisfactory end to a relationship of mutual affection between player and fanbase.

Fjortoft had a rare knack, after his bizarre start, of finding the net from wherever he chose - frequently at critical moments. He was a natural goalscorer - one of a few in Town’s recent history - and by far the greatest foreign import the club have invested in.

And one who wasn’t so great.....

Kim Heiselberg was one of several impulse buys made by Colin Todd in the summer of 2000.

Small, weak and with the first touch of an elephant, Heiselberg’s crosses were more of a threat to motorists on the Magic Roundabout than opposition centre backs.

After two games in which he played an instrumental role in a pair of desperate Town performances, Heiselberg was gone.

He spent three months training on the very extremities of the first team before retuning to his native Denmark. It was the end of a very long nightmare.

Let us know what you think of our selections below, and suggest your top five for next week’s debate - Swindon Town’s Top Five ‘Hard Men’.