Newport County travel to the County Ground on Wednesday night (11 Feb) to face Swindon Town in League Two.
Swindon are currently amongst the promotion challengers in the division, standing in 4th after 30 games.
Here is a fact file on our Wiltshire opposition...
The History
Reverend William Pitt of Liddington was the rather unlikely founder of Swindon Town in 1879.
As early as 1910, the club were FA Cup Semi-Finalists, losing to Newcastle United. They even won the inaugural Dubonnet Cup that same year, beating Barnsley at the Parc des Princes.
The team would enter something of a golden age in 1969 after they upset Arsenal to win the League Cup – still the last time a team from the third tier has won a major domestic cup competition.
They then went onto win the first ever Anglo-Italian Cup, beating Juventus and Napoli on the way, the following year.
By 1982, the club had slumped to the Fourth Division, but several promotions through the decade led them to beat Sunderland in the Second Division play-off Final in 1990.
However, Ossie Ardiles’ side were found to have breached league rules in doing so, and found themselves relegated to the Third Division instead.
Glenn Hoddle took over in his first managerial role in 1991, and the team won the play-off Final again in 1993, this time securing promotion to the new Premier League.
They only lasted one season in the top flight, and have not returned since.
In recent history, Swindon have been promoted four times from League Two since 2006, andunderwent a successful spell under Paolo Di Canio at the beginning of the 2010s.
The Robins have not been in the third-tier since 2021.
The Form
A rocky January threatened to burst the promotion bid for Swindon, but two wins in a row have steadied the ship somewhat.
A measure of their early season success could be seen in the reverse fixture, when County’s defeat put Swindon top of the table for a few hours.
The Robins won eight of their first eleven, but dropped points after a run of four draws in five matches shortly afterwards.
Losses to Salford City, Bromley and Notts County dented their ambitions, but Barrow and Harrogate – both close to Newport in the table – have been seen off over the past few days.
They have also been impressive in the EFL Trophy, beating three teams from League One on their way to the Quarter-Finals.
The Manager
They don’t come much more experienced than Ian Holloway, now managing his tenth EFL club.
The Bristolian joined in October 2024, replacing the outgoing Mark Kennedy, and signed a contract to keep him at the County Ground until 2028 last March.
Holloway began his managerial career at Bristol Rovers in 1996, and achieved success at Queens Park Rangers and Plymouth Argyle shortly afterwards.
The stand-outs of his career were his spells at Blackpool and Crystal Palace, where he led both clubs into the Premier League.
Holloway has reached 1,000 league games in his time at Swindon, and has a win percentage of over 50 percent.
The Captain
Ollie Clarke has been in and out of the squad this season, but is in place to captain Swindon on Wednesday evening.
Clarke, who spent 11 years at Bristol Rovers, has already served a seven-game suspension following an incident against Cardiff City last August.
Furthermore, Clarke was penalised again for playing in the EFL Trophy whilst serving a suspension, leading him to miss their league game against Barrow.
On the pitch, Clarke arrived from Mansfield Town, where he also served as captain, in May 2024.
He already has experience finding the net against Newport, scoring a brilliant goal to help Bristol Rovers win 4-1 at Rodney Parade in March 2016.
The Ones to Watch
Swindon’s main threat is the league’s top scorer, Aaron Drinan.
Drinan has bagged 18 goals so far this season, and is four goals clear of his nearest challengers for the Golden Boot.
The Irishman signed from Leyton Orient in February 2024, and was awarded League Two Player of the Month last September.
He also scored the winning penalty against Harrogate Town on Saturday.
Another player likely to be a thorn for Newport is Ollie Palmer.
Palmer scored the only goal in the meeting between the two sides last October, and brings a wealth of experience across the leagues.
He left previous club Wrexham in August 2025, and has scored five times since joining Swindon.
