Kenny Swain is a retired English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer who played in numerous positions, including striker, midfielder and full back.

Football career

Swain began his professional career with Londoners Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

, signing from Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers F.C.

Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

 in the summer of 1973. As he had been a non-contract player with Wycombe, having joined them from college football, his signing-on fee was just £500. He made his League debut for Chelsea in 1974. His most successful season with the club came in 1976-77

1976-77 in English football

The 1976–77 season was the 97th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The Football League revamped the tie-breaking criteria for teams level of points, replacing the traditional goal average tie-breaker with one based on goal difference to try to encourage more scoring...

, when his strike partnership with Steve Finnieston

Steve Finnieston

Steve Finnieston is a retired Scottish footballer who played during the 1970s and 1980s, most notably for Chelsea.A striker, Finnieston first joined Chelsea as a 12-year old. He signed professional forms in December 1971...

 helped Eddie McCreadie

Eddie McCreadie

Edward Graham "Eddie" McCreadie is a former Scottish footballer who played at left-back, mainly for Chelsea. He later became a manager....

's young side win promotion back to the First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

. He remained with Chelsea until 1979, when they were relegated, and then signed for Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 for £100,000.

With Villa, Swain was switched to full-back and won the league championship and European Cup

European Cup 1981-82

The 1981–82 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for the only time by Aston Villa in the final against Bayern Munich. The final is remembered mainly for the performance of young stand-in goalkeeper Nigel Spink who made a host of saves from the experienced Bayern players...

 in consecutive seasons. He left Villa in 1983 and had spells with Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

, Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

 and Crewe Alexandra

Crewe Alexandra F.C.

Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional football club based in Crewe, Cheshire. Nicknamed The Railwaymen due to the town's links with the rail industry, they currently play in Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and are based at the Alexandra Stadium.The club...

. He later moved into management, enjoying stints with Grimsby Town

Grimsby Town F.C.

Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

 and Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic F.C.

Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

, and currently the England under-16s

England national under-16 football team

-Latest squad:The following players were named in the squad for the Victory Shield match against Scotland.-Recent call-ups:The following players have also been called up to the England U-16 squad and remain eligible.-External links:*...

, as well as an assistant coach for England national under-17 football team

England national under-17 football team

-Elite Qualifying Group 3:-Group stage:-Fifth place play-off:-FA International U17 Tournament:-Latest squad:The following players were named in the squad for the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship qualifying round....

Between 2002 and 2004, Swain was Director of Football at Thomas Telford School

Thomas Telford School

Thomas Telford School is a City Technology College in Telford, Shropshire, England. Often referred to as 'TTS', it achieved the highest GCSE pass rate of any comprehensive school in England in 2008 and 2009.-Background:...

.

Aston Villa

Winner

• 1980/81 1st Division
• 1981/82 European Cup
  UEFA Champions League
  The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
  
  

External links