Swindon Town F.C. - Supporters

Supporters

As an expanding railway town, the club had attendances of up to 32,000 on match days until the early 1970s. Due to Swindon's low unemployment rate (one of the lowest in the United Kingdom), more people work in the town than live there and so are unlikely to support the team. In addition; poor team performances, the financial instability in the club and the change to an all-seated stadium following the Taylor Report have led to attendances at the County Ground dropping.

With an all-seated capacity of 15,728 at the County Ground, Swindon averaged a home attendance of 5,839 for the 2004–05 season. Only 37% of the grounds seats were occupied at a game on average. This rose to 5,950 (37.8%) in 2005–06 and was reported as 7,109 (45.2%) for the 2006–07 season.

A core group of fans has inhabited the Town End of the stadium since the 1980s, producing past fanzines such as "The 69'er", "Bring the Noise" "Randy Robin" and "The Magic Roundabout" amongst others. Supporters call the team "The Town", "The Reds", "STFC" and also the "Red and White Army". The red and white army is a term the supporters use to identify themselves as well. The Junior Robins is the children's supporters club which operates to provide lower ticket prices, away game activities and transport to young fans. Membership of the club also allows them to be nominated as game mascot and gives them the opportunity to train in one of the many Football Schools run by the club.

The supporters' trust, TrustSTFC, was established in 2000. This organisation is a democratically elected group of fans who raise funds for the club and aim to give supporters access and input into decisions made by the club's board. The group run a number of schemes including the "Loan Note Scheme", the aim of which is to buy shares in the club and assist with investment. Another scheme is the Red Army Fund, the money raised by this fund is given to the club to contribute towards the purchase and wages of new players. TrustSTFC also take part in the Fans' Consortium, who aim to place a supporter with a large stake-holding in the club onto the Board of Directors. The trust is also currently campaigning with the club for the re-development of the County Ground.

The "Football Fever Report" published by statisticians of the Littlewoods Football Pools was released in January 2007. This report researched those teams that were the most stressful to support. Swindon Town were placed 5th out of all 92 League clubs, with the report stating –

"It's only just over a decade ago that Swindon were a Premier League side, but the past 10 years have been tough going for fans at the County Ground. Relegation from the top flight in 1994 was followed by a second successive drop, and although promotion from Division Two was secured a year later, the team struggled in Division One in the next three seasons, finishing 19th, 18th and 17th. In 2000 came relegation, and a year later Swindon avoided another 'double relegation' by just one point. A glimmer of hope came when the play-offs were reached in 2004 – ending in a semi-final loss to Brighton – but last term Town became the first club to drop into the bottom tier of the Football League having once been in the Premier League. We bet Robins' fans can hardly believe it."

With the dwindling support during matches in the 2004–05 season, another fans' group "Red Army Loud and Proud" was formed. Red Army Loud and Proud is a small group of fans attempting to bring back the atmosphere and fun to match days. With the stated aim of being "the 12th man on the pitch", the group sponsors players and also provides large colourful flags to the matches.

However in more recent years 2010/11 Swindon has rapidly increasing attendances with an 8,400 average attendance for the 2010/11 season despite relegation.