| view Thorpe's match-by-match record |
| Tony THORPE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A striker that Town fans loved to hate after his time at Bristol City, Thorpe signed a one year deal at the County Ground in July 2005 after being released by Queens Park Rangers, and shortly after the Town's top scorer for three seasons, Sam Parkin, was sold to Ipswich Town. Unfortunately, Thorpe's time at the County Ground did little to endear himself to the Swindon supporters. Much was expected of his partnership with fellow signing from Q.P.R., Jamie Cureton, but after they both had forgettable debuts in the opening game of the season at Barnsley, in which Thorpe missed a sitter, things didn't really improve. Despite scoring a late consolation in a home defeat at Oldham in the following game (a strike which proved to be his only goal in a Town shirt), flu kept him out of the next game against Nottingham Forest - and a rejuvenated Rory Fallon took his chance well - relegating Thorpe to the bench upon his return. A poor team performance against Wycombe in the League Cup led to criticism from manager Andy King, which Thorpe took exception to - both parties later admitting they had "had words" amid rumours that Thorpe had refused to appear in a reserve game - and he came close to leaving the club just two months after joining when three bids were received for him from unnamed clubs in Leagues One and Two. A hat-trick for the reserves in a 7-0 victory over Bournemouth prompted King and Thorpe to bury the hatchet, and Thorpe started the next match - ironically at Bournemouth - the Town lost 2-1, Thorpe missed a penalty, and was substituted before the end of the game. Thorpe started the next three matches - a period where King lost his job and Iffy Onuora took over as manager - but after substituting him on October 1st at Milton Keynes Dons, Onuora didn't pick Thorpe again in a league match - instead choosing to bring in the likes of Hameur Bouazza and Petr Mikolanda on loan. Thorpe was given one final chance though - with Christian Roberts and Fallon both out injured, Cureton out on loan and Bouazza cup-tied for the FA Cup tie with Boston, Thorpe was the only recognised senior striker on the books - but another lacklustre performance saw him replaced by youngster Ashan Holgate halfway through the second half, in what proved to be his last appearance for Swindon. Six weeks later, in mid-December, and having not even made the substitutes bench since, Thorpe came to a mutual agreement to end his contract - a move for which he received praise from the Town management team. Thorpe's time at the County Ground ended with him having played in seven league games - all of which had ended in defeat for the Town. PLAYING RECORD:
|
date of birth
usual positions centre forward youth career senior career |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ENGLAND
