SWINDON Town were in the football doldrums this time 40 years ago.

The club had been relegated to the fourth division the previous season for the first time in their history. They would stay there for the next three years.

For a while it looked as though they might win promotion and there were some spectacular results, including the 7-0 victory over Aldershot. But a series of defeats followed.

The fans were not happy and John Trollope, who had been made an MBE following a record 770 appearances for the club during 20 years as a player, was dumped as first team manager.

Assistant manager Ken Beamish, one of the players stepped into the role and the team eventually managed a top 10 finish in the league. But money troubles saw the sale of top scorer Paul Rideout to Aston Villa for £175k as the season closed.

Rideout later returned but it was just for a season. Trollope returned in 1985 as assistant manager to Lou Macari.

That year was a record breaker. The club finally won promotion, taking the division championship after 14 consecutive home wins - and they still had games to spare.

We've dug out a few pictures from the time, featuring some familiar faces.