As we enter the final act in 2014, it’s time to look back at the key moments throughout the past 12 months at Swindon Town.

The events that shaped last season, and possibly this current campaign.

But before we look at those key moments, I have to mention my favourite moment of the year.

It’s easily watching Nathan Thompson run round the pitch and hugging his brother Louis after he scored his first goal for Town.

There is nothing better for a fan to watch two local players showing raw passion for the club they play for and grew up supporting.

#3 Nile Ranger’s Injury/Behavior

In August 2013, despite being involved in an ongoing court case, Town signed former Newcastle striker Nile Ranger.

Whatever your thoughts on him as a person, nobody could doubt his talent on the pitch, with him in the side Town always had a better chance of earning all three points.

His greatest moment in a Town shirt was undoubtedly scoring the winning goal against Bristol City last season.

On 14th February Nile was substituted at half-time after picking up an injury in Town’s 0-0 draw against Colchester, and unfortunately it would be the last time we’d see Ranger in a Swindon shirt.

When we lost the striker to injury, Town sat four points outside the playoff places, within a month that gap doubled to eight points and Mark Cooper’s sides chances of a place in the top six had vanished.

Despite recovering from his injury and being found not guilty in his court case, he found a way to return to the front pages of a national newspaper for more stupid behavior.

After being given plenty of chances to clean up his act, this was the final nail in his coffin and the club sacked him shortly afterwards.

I firmly believe that if Swindon had a fully fit and focused Nile Ranger in the second half of last season, we would have reached the playoffs.

#2 Signing Jack Stephens

When Town faced an injury crisis in March, Lee Power managed to pull off a big cope in signing Jack Stephens on loan.

When he arrived very few fans had heard of this young defender who had played most of his football at academy level for Southampton.

But he showed the Town faithful what he was all about on his debut when Town traveled to Ashton Gate, as he formed a partnership with Troy Archibald-Henville and Swindon left with a clean sheet and a credible point.

After struggling for most of the season with a weak centre half pairing, Town had finally found a solid heart to the defence, but alas it came to late to make any real impact on the league table.

Thankfully on the last day of his season’s summer transfer window with just ten minutes to spare, Town re-signed the young defender, and he’s been an ever-present member of the first team ever since, building a great relationship with Jordan Turnbull and Nathan Thompson at the back.

With his loan deal coming to an end in January, renewing his loan deal is something that has to be done ASAP when the transfer window opens on 1st January.

#1 Swindon 1-0 Bristol City

When looking back at key moments of 2014 it’s hard not to look straight to 15th November.

Despite the game not being a classic derby encounter, it showed Town’s character and persistence in grinding out an important result against one of the best sides in the division, something that had been missing in previous campaigns.

Town knew they had a huge opportunity to stop the league leaders stampede through the league and put themselves in a good position.

As soon as the visitors went down to 10-men, the game was over as a contest, as city stuck 10 men behind the ball and tried to earn a point.

I have no doubt that last season we wouldn’t have taken anything from the game, but Mark Cooper’s side never stopped working or trying to find new ways to break down the opposition.

And eventually they broke through and fully deserved their victory.

This game is the #1 key moment of 2014 because it shows us what this team is capable of going into 2015.

Considering how Swindon’s finances have been cut this season, every fan should appreciate how this side is sitting in second place and achieving the standard of football we get to enjoy each week.

Follow me on Twitter @danwjonson

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here