Dave Deacon Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Yes Bradley Swiggs is still playing despite turning 50! He reaches his 50th birthday today and is still playing in the Plymouth & District League, having only recently notching a double hat-trick for his current side Old Suttonians. As quoted in the Plymouth Evening Herald, Swiggs revealed he could have followed in the footsteps of goalscoring Plymouth Argyle icons like Paul Mariner and Tommy Tynan, but couldn't afford to take the risk of becoming a full-time professional. He still keeps fit by running two miles each way every day from his home to his job at Devonport dockyard and said about the Plymouth approach in the Herald : "I went to Argyle in 1983 or 1984 with an injury. I wasn't there for very long and I was always trying to prove myself. The season after, the then Argyle manager, John Hore, asked if I was interested in joining. But what they offered me in wages just wasn't enough. I was working full-time, we'd just got a mortgage and Teresa, my wife, was expecting a child. We couldn't keep the mortgage and feed the kids, so I decided to play it safe, which is something I've never regretted." So possibly Argyle's loss, became one of the hottest strikers in the west, playing in the Western and South Western Leagues, for the likes of St Blazey, Liskeard and Saltash. I hadn't realised until reading the piece in the Plymouth Evening Herald that he is in fact the son of Robert, who was also at Argyle for a spell before playing and scoring many a goal st St Blazey. And apparantly they have an ongoing dispute over who scored the most goals for St Blazey in a single match! Swiggs junior reckons it's him, with seven, but Swiggs senior claims to have scored more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzie Chow Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Yes Bradley Swiggs is still playing despite turning 50! He reaches his 50th birthday today and is still playing in the Plymouth & District League, having only recently notching a double hat-trick for his current side Old Suttonians. As quoted in the Plymouth Evening Herald, Swiggs revealed he could have followed in the footsteps of goalscoring Plymouth Argyle icons like Paul Mariner and Tommy Tynan, but couldn't afford to take the risk of becoming a full-time professional. He still keeps fit by running two miles each way every day from his home to his job at Devonport dockyard and said about the Plymouth approach in the Herald : "I went to Argyle in 1983 or 1984 with an injury. I wasn't there for very long and I was always trying to prove myself. The season after, the then Argyle manager, John Hore, asked if I was interested in joining. But what they offered me in wages just wasn't enough. I was working full-time, we'd just got a mortgage and Teresa, my wife, was expecting a child. We couldn't keep the mortgage and feed the kids, so I decided to play it safe, which is something I've never regretted." So possibly Argyle's loss, became one of the hottest strikers in the west, playing in the Western and South Western Leagues, for the likes of St Blazey, Liskeard and Saltash. I hadn't realised until reading the piece in the Plymouth Evening Herald that he is in fact the son of Robert, who was also at Argyle for a spell before playing and scoring many a goal st St Blazey. And apparantly they have an ongoing dispute over who scored the most goals for St Blazey in a single match! Swiggs junior reckons it's him, with seven, but Swiggs senior claims to have scored more! wow old chap then!! nice to see he is still putting them away !! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Jones Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 I can only just remember swiggs playing and he was one hell of a player! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest legend2 Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 i had the pleasure of playing with him at launceston when i was a wee lad,quality player and man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachKT Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Swiggsy still playing (and scoring) at 50!! Testament to the mans fitness and dedication. I remember back when they still used to run the FULL marathon in Plymouth.....Swiggsy played for Saltash (may have been Liskeard) up at Clevedon in a Western League match, came back and played up at the Mayflower Centre in a 5-a-side cup match....last game on at 10pm!!.....got up next morning and ran the marathon in around 3 hours!!! Truly a goalscoring legend over the past 30 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave S (MUFC) Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Bradley Swiggs! Now there's a name I remember from the past when we Mangos were a Western League side. I started watching MUFC in 1987, so had 13 seasons of Western League action before we finally went up in 2000. But yes, I remember Bradley well, playing against us for Liskeard & probably for Saltash at some stage as well. Occasionally, I have even mentioned him in our programme in the past because I would still spot his name somewhere each week in the Sunday Independent. It was always a fun task of mine to try & spot who he was playing for each August when the Indie's pre-season pull-out with all the team pictures in it came out! To hear that he's still playing at 50 is incredible. Thanks for mentioning the story, I'll look up the relevant newspaper article & write about it in one of our forthcoming programmes. One chap I also remember from Liskeard's visits in the early 90s was Ted Brown, who was very well known wherever Liskeard went in those days. I met him several times at Mangotsfield & still have a signed copy of his book, "100 years of football in Liskeard". Lovely chap, I recall...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Deacon Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Lovely chap, I recall...... .... and headmaster at Liskeard Primary School when I was there many years ago!!!! Regrettably passed away a few years back :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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