Matlock Town F.C.
Season 1974/75

‘GLORIOUS GLADIATORS, MATLOCK SALUTE TO THE GLADIATORS, UNDERDOGS SNAP-UP TROPHY, FAIRY TALE WIN FOR MATLOCK, MIDAS TOUCH BRINGS GLADIATORS CROWN, MATLOCK’S SWAN SONG’..... these were just some of the many local and national newspaper headlines that appeared shortly after Matlock’s superb Wembley win.
‘It was the Swan song supreme at Wembley as Matlock Town rose to their greatest moment in their 90-year history,’ said the Sunday Mercury, adding: ‘They slammed fellow Northern Premier League club Scarborough to take the FA Challenge Trophy by the biggest margin in any final since the competition was launched six years ago. For player-manager Peter Swan it was a triumphant return to Wembley after 13 years. The former Sheffield Wednesday and England international last played there against Sweden in 1962.’
‘Matlock player manager Peter Swan yesterday came out of the long shadows of the soccer bribes scandal of 13 years ago - and walked tall in the centre of Wembley Stadium,’ claimed the Sunday Mirror. They said: ‘Swan, no stranger to Wembley glory, masterminded Matlock’s shock victory - his most famous triumph since his days as an England centre half,’
The Sunday Express stated: ‘Fairy tale win for Matlock - a freak result says Scarborough’s coach.’ Adding: ‘With one of those romantic twists which makes soccer such an irresistible attraction, Peter Swan returned to Wembley and in a perfect story-book ending led Matlock to a staggering 4-0 victory in the FA Challenge Trophy Final.
‘It was an emotional affair, with Wembley’s 21,000 spectators rising to the Matlock player-manager - the former England centre half whose career was wrecked by the soccer bribery scandal of the mid sixties - but this was not compassion. Swan and his opportunist Derbyshire side earned their acclaim.’