Raymond Swallow is a former 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...

 cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er and football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er. He played football for Arsenal between 1955 and 1957 and cricket for MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 in 1957. He then played football for Derby County between 1958 and 1963 and cricket for Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

 between 1959 and 1963.

Football career

Swallow was born in Southwark

Southwark

Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

, and started his footballing career at Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 as a trainee in 1952. After three years in Arsenal's youth and reserve sides (interrupted by a bout of National Service

National service

National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...

) he made his Arsenal first-team debut on April 8, 1955 against Cardiff City

Cardiff City F.C.

Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

. He was only a bit-part player at Arsenal and made a total of 13 appearances at wing half or inside forward, scoring four goals, over the course of four seasons.

In September 1958 he moved to Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

; over the course of five years he played 118 times and scored 21 goals in the league, before leaving the game in 1963.

Cricket career

Swallow played a one-off game for MCC against Scotland in 1957. He made his debut for Derbyshire in the 1959 season

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1959

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1959 represents the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing eighty-eight years. It was their fifty-fifth season in the County Championship and they won thirteen matches to finish seventh in the County Championship.-1959 season:Derbyshire...

 in a single game against the touring Indians, playing otherwise in the second XI. His first County Championship appearance came in the 1960 season

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1960

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1960 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for eighty nine years. It was their fifty-sixth season in the County Championship and they won ten matches and lost ten to finish eighth in the County Championship.-1960...

. During this first season he scored heavily, making two half-centuries, the first on his debut performance. In the 1962 season

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1962

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1962 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for ninety-one years. It was their fifty-eighth season in the County Championship and they won 9 championship matches and lost six to finish seventh in the County Championship.-1962...

 he made his top score of 145 against Oxford University

Oxford University Cricket Club

Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...

.

Throughout his career, Swallow played extensively in the opening order, though in his last season, supplemented by the continual presence of Ian Hall

Ian Hall (cricketer)

Ian William Hall is a former English cricketer and professional footballer. He played cricket for Derbyshire between 1959 and 1972, and played football for Derby County F.C. from 1959 to 1962 and for Mansfield Town F.C. from 1962 to 1968.Hall was born at Sutton Scarsdale, Derbyshire...

, he moved to the middle-order.

Swallow was a right-handed batsman and played 68 innings in 38 first class games with an average of 20.04 and a top score of 115. He bowled four overs without taking a wicket.

External links

• Raymond Swallow at Gunnermania