Swindon To Soar?

After just three months of football-less Saturdays, Swindon Town and indeed the rest of the Football League kick off the new season this very weekend. And if last season's League Two was anything to go by, then fans of the Football League are in for a real treat in 2011/12.

Ultimately, last season failed to deliver on the early season promise and expectation gathered from the previous year's successes. A shaky start materialised into an inconsistent season as Town were dragged into a relegation battle, simulataneously seeing their season's aspirations turn from promotion to survival. Two managers failed to stop the rot as relegation was confirmed with two games to spare, leaving fans time aplenty to reflect upon a season to forget. And for a few weeks afterwards, it felt like a crushing disappointment after all the hard work and excitement that had preceded the season.

The appointment of Paolo Di Canio and solid Pre-Season form throughout July and early August has only renewed the expectation now firmly among all Swindon fans. Pre-Season has provided an adequate solution to increasing a previously lethargic squad's fitness levels as well as the general morale of the team. A tour of Italy consisted of two resounding victories over local sides whilst on home soil, two successive 4-0 wins away from home against Swindon Supermarine and Cirencester Town respectively have given the Swindon public chance cure their annual Summer of football withdrawal symptoms.    

The question is, however, can the heartbreak of relegation provide Swindon with the determination and will-power necessary for a successful promotion season?

It's strange to feel optimism around the County Ground again. A memory may last a lifetime but a feeling, an emotion, can be forgotten within weeks. No Swindon fan, at home, or indeed present at The Valley will ever forget the club's play-off victory over Charlton to reach Wembley, on the 14th of May 2010. But that feeling of thousands of Town fans sharing unrestrained joy has been forgotten, or at least it feels longer than a year ago since those emotions were flowing through Swindon supporters.

Optimism is another feeling that, since Andrew Fitton's arrival as Chairman (and indeed continuing with Jeremy Wray), has been a common feature at Swindon Town yet last season’s disaster means that a shared positive outlook about the up-coming season between supporters is an odd one; one which doesn’t feel entirely natural.

For supporters though it is difficult not to look back. Last season hurt. It was supposed to be brilliant. In the end it was awful. Watching the team you support fall apart, gradually, undoing anything achieved in the previous season's successes. At times it was almost impossible; a team that had featured in a Wembley play-off final just twelve months previously was now destined for League Two football. It seems though that those times will be a distant memory again soon, if the team performs to its potential, much like the happy recollections of the play-offs are now. One good season and Swindon Town are back, last season will be un-done, and it will all be forgotten.

However, it won’t be as easy as it seems. There is an argument that the division is stronger this time round than it was before. The signings of Joe Devera from Barnet, holder of over 200 League Two appearances, and indeed 32-year old Italian centre half Alberto Comazzi give the Swindon defence the experience it so desperately lacked last season. In midfield, Namibian international Oliver Risser has been handed the club captaincy, whilst Alan McCormack, previously of Charlton Athletic, Southend United and Preston North End has opted to drop down a division to sign for Town - an indication, surely, of the Di Canio effect. Swindon struggled desperately for goals last season following Charlie Austin's departure in January, scoring just 12 goals after his move to Burnley. In reaction to this, scorer of 25 Blue Square Premier goals last season, Alan Connell, and former Livinston sriker Raffaele De Vita have both signed on, eager to learn from arguably one of the greatest strikers to have graced the Premier League.

Key to any success this season will undoubtedly be Matt Ritchie. The midfielder burst onto the scene last season after signing from Portsmouth, appealing to the better natures of supporters with his mazy runs, willingness to take players on and shoot and never-say-die attitude. One of few highlights during last season's failures, an indication of Ritchie's worth, both in value and fan affections, saw him sweep the board at respective end-of-season awards dinners.

There is little evidence to gauge just how good this squad is though, of course it looks terrific, but it hasn’t played together in a competitive match and it’s easy to get carried away. The 2-1 defeat to Reading in the most recent of Pre-Season friendlies is a signal of just how far the club need to progress to be able to compete at higher levels. However, good performances and resounding victories in each of the four previous friendlies shows the potential that the Swindon squad of 2011/12 has.

It is early to say but promotion is within this Town squad's grasp. The current group of players have a chance to re-write, and effectively erase, history. Belief has now been firmly installed in the players and fans' mindsets alike, belief that Swindon belong further up the Football League ladder, and there will be few better opportunities for this current squad to achieve this than the one which begins 3pm on Saturday afternoon. Last season was important; this season may well be make or break.