Town fan Nick Judd on new teams and new faces at the County Ground in 2009/10...
Friends reunited
Take a look at the 1993/94 Premier League table and you can see next seasonâÂÂs League One line-up starting to take shape.
WeâÂÂre the ones propping everybody up at the bottom - yes, the ones with 100 goals conceded (stop laughing).
But in 2009/10 weâÂÂre going to be joined by Norwich and Southampton, relegated from the Championship, Leeds United and MK Dons, who failed to get out of the League One play-offs, and Oldham.
This makes for a mouth-watering division, and is great news for the club that should experience an increase in attendances.
Leeds always bring a healthy away following, while Southampton and Charlton are both fairly local and boast healthy supports.
And then thereâÂÂs Norwich, who have made a huge statement of intent by selling 18,000 season tickets, Wycombe, who consider us something of a derby, and Brentford, just down the road and another good away day for both sets of fans.
I canâÂÂt waitâ¦
Canaries come out in force for League One campaign
Say hello, wave goodbye?
Swindon have already released 13 players, which tells you something about the state of lower league football.
Managers have the power, not the players, and there will be a large number of lads out of work in the close-season as clubs tighten their belts.
Our chairman has told us the squad is going to be smaller next year, so hopefully it will be about quality, not quantity.
To that end, the future of Simon Cox would appear to be away from the County Ground. ThereâÂÂs a different story about him in the local rag every day, while weâÂÂre told we rejected bids from Leicester City and Celtic last week.
HeâÂÂll go with our blessing as long as the club gets the right amount for him. Then we can add to the already impressive signing of loan star Gordon Greer, who will join us in July.
Chin up
As a fan of a club who have been through administration twice, my thoughts are with any fan whoâÂÂs club is experiencing tough times.
Fisher Athletic and Chester City have joined Stockport County as the latest casualties. Two weeks ago I lambasted the FAâÂÂs decision to dock the Hatters 10 points this season, which I felt was inconsistent with the way theyâÂÂd treated other teams.
County, it seems, have far bigger things to worry about. Last week they made boss Jim Gannon redundant alongside a number of members of his staff, which doesnâÂÂt bode well.
I hope the club lives to fight another season, and beyond. No fan deserves what theyâÂÂre experiencing, especially those that have attempted to keep the club afloat.
Revenge is a dish best served with studs
I recently used my tenuous link as programme contributor to help make up the numbers for the clubâÂÂs staff team â unbeaten in 10 years apparently â against the local press.
IâÂÂd played with the team when I worked there, but there was only one survivor from those glorious days.
Paul BodinâÂÂs still got it â he scored four â while Adi Williams, our departing coach, and assistant manager David Byrne both impressed (Byrne albeit for about 12 minutes before he suffered groin knack).
It was entertaining seeing the local hacks find out that itâÂÂs not as easy as it looks, as well as seeing who the coaching staff were singling out for âÂÂagriculturalâ challenges.
Bodin strokes home at Wembley
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