‘They’re terrified’ – Ian Holloway gives Swindon training ground tour to try and prove ghost claim
Ian Holloway has doubled down on his belief that Swindon’s training ground is haunted – and gave talkSPORT a live tour to try and prove it. The Robins have endured a difficult start to the 2024/25 campaign and currently sit in 22nd position in League Two. Ian Holloway had an unusual excuse for Swindon’s struggles of lateRex This is after winning just twice in 16 league fixtures so far this term. As a result of their poor form, Holloway was named as the new Swindon boss at the end of October and he has since been trying to get to grips with life at the County Ground. But while results on the pitch have improved since his appointment, their luck on the training ground is enough to haunt anyone. Most recently, Holloway’s captain Ollie Clarke ruptured his ankle tendon in a training session. On Monday, the veteran manager then went viral for claiming the Beversbrook Sports and Community Facility is haunted by supernatural spirits – tasking his wife, Kim, with removing them. Now, Holloway has taken talkSPORT inside the training ground to prove his point, which you can watch in full at the top of this page. “I’m not saying we’ve lost because of a ghost, you absolute chicken nuggets with double barbecue sauce,” Holloway begins. “What I’m saying is, in my first meeting that I had here, this door behind me, right? I’m walking to it now and I’ll show you how thick it is, yeah? “I shut it, and I heard it, and I walked back in, and it opened on itself, by itself, totally and utterly. “And the lads went, ‘Oh don’t worry Gaffer, that’s just the ghost’. And when you look up this place, there is an Anglo-Saxon burial site about ten yards away from our training ground. Holloway and his players are convinced the training ground is haunted – but they’re not taking it too seriously “So, what I said was, I’ll help our lads in every way I can with the confidence and what have you, and I’ll bring my wife up to try and cleanse the training ground, because they’ve been on such a bad time for such a long time. “But that ghost didn’t head one in on Saturday, we didn’t defend properly you great chicken nuggets! Can you imagine me letting the lads off with that? “But last night, I’m going to walk you over to this window here. It was smashed from the inside. And the poor people who work here on an evening are terrified. “There is CCTV footage of a white apparition coming down the hallway, smashing through a wall, right? “And it’s owned by the council, so the Times, who haven’t made me look a joke, are looking into it and they’re going to get the footage.” At this point, one of Holloway’s Swindon players dons a white sheet and appears in the shot. Holloway returned to management earlier this year after a four-year hiatusRex “I think it’s visiting us now! You idiots,” Holloway jokes. Hosts Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist then pressed the Swindon boss on how his wife intends to resolve the situation. “Well, she’s a pagan,” Holloway explained. “We go to Glastonbury, she believes in pagan rituals. “What you do, you make it an offering and then you burn some sage to get rid of it. So we’re going to say sorry to the people that we might be trampling on in that area and it might help, you never know. “As long as I haven’t got to urinate on the corner of each pitch, that ain’t what I want to do. Barry Fry had to do that. What I’m trying to say is it’s all about bringing a laugh. “The lads are having a laugh today, but I am not ever going to say that my team ain’t no good because a ghost is scoring against us, and I wouldn’t dream of saying that. “But I’m going to help in every way, we’re going to have a bit of fun and we’ve also got to get an awful lot better at what we’re doing.” Holloway has previously claimed that his dad contacted him from the dead by turning up the radio in his car. He told the Life Lessons podcast: “I had this digital music player in my car. I looked at it, and there was something on the steering wheel but I didn’t touch it because my hands were nowhere near it, and the light that came in the car – it totally filled the car up. “And I looked outside and it was sunny outside, so I thought, ‘That’s weird.’ And then Mariah Carey and the song [One Sweet Day] was on and ‘shining down on me from Heaven’ got louder and louder and louder until it was completely top notch. “I saw it go from 10 up to about 35 and it was deafening. And the minute the song finished that went right back down to normal. “And I was looking at myself going, ‘Oh my…’ I was shaking. I thought, ‘Has that really happened or what? Or is that me wishing that?’ Do you get what I mean? And I swear he came and showed me that, ‘Don’t worry son, you’ll be fine.’ Right? Holloway has always had a reputation for speaking his mindRex “Now, I would never have believed that, I wouldn’t have thought for one mi
Ian Holloway has doubled down on his belief that Swindon’s training ground is haunted – and gave talkSPORT a live tour to try and prove it.
The Robins have endured a difficult start to the 2024/25 campaign and currently sit in 22nd position in League Two.
This is after winning just twice in 16 league fixtures so far this term.
As a result of their poor form, Holloway was named as the new Swindon boss at the end of October and he has since been trying to get to grips with life at the County Ground.
But while results on the pitch have improved since his appointment, their luck on the training ground is enough to haunt anyone.
Most recently, Holloway’s captain Ollie Clarke ruptured his ankle tendon in a training session.
On Monday, the veteran manager then went viral for claiming the Beversbrook Sports and Community Facility is haunted by supernatural spirits – tasking his wife, Kim, with removing them.
Now, Holloway has taken talkSPORT inside the training ground to prove his point, which you can watch in full at the top of this page.
“I’m not saying we’ve lost because of a ghost, you absolute chicken nuggets with double barbecue sauce,” Holloway begins.
“What I’m saying is, in my first meeting that I had here, this door behind me, right? I’m walking to it now and I’ll show you how thick it is, yeah?
“I shut it, and I heard it, and I walked back in, and it opened on itself, by itself, totally and utterly.
“And the lads went, ‘Oh don’t worry Gaffer, that’s just the ghost’. And when you look up this place, there is an Anglo-Saxon burial site about ten yards away from our training ground.
“So, what I said was, I’ll help our lads in every way I can with the confidence and what have you, and I’ll bring my wife up to try and cleanse the training ground, because they’ve been on such a bad time for such a long time.
“But that ghost didn’t head one in on Saturday, we didn’t defend properly you great chicken nuggets! Can you imagine me letting the lads off with that?
“But last night, I’m going to walk you over to this window here. It was smashed from the inside. And the poor people who work here on an evening are terrified.
“There is CCTV footage of a white apparition coming down the hallway, smashing through a wall, right?
“And it’s owned by the council, so the Times, who haven’t made me look a joke, are looking into it and they’re going to get the footage.”
At this point, one of Holloway’s Swindon players dons a white sheet and appears in the shot.
“I think it’s visiting us now! You idiots,” Holloway jokes.
Hosts Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist then pressed the Swindon boss on how his wife intends to resolve the situation.
“Well, she’s a pagan,” Holloway explained. “We go to Glastonbury, she believes in pagan rituals.
“What you do, you make it an offering and then you burn some sage to get rid of it. So we’re going to say sorry to the people that we might be trampling on in that area and it might help, you never know.
“As long as I haven’t got to urinate on the corner of each pitch, that ain’t what I want to do. Barry Fry had to do that. What I’m trying to say is it’s all about bringing a laugh.
“The lads are having a laugh today, but I am not ever going to say that my team ain’t no good because a ghost is scoring against us, and I wouldn’t dream of saying that.
“But I’m going to help in every way, we’re going to have a bit of fun and we’ve also got to get an awful lot better at what we’re doing.”
Holloway has previously claimed that his dad contacted him from the dead by turning up the radio in his car.
He told the Life Lessons podcast: “I had this digital music player in my car. I looked at it, and there was something on the steering wheel but I didn’t touch it because my hands were nowhere near it, and the light that came in the car – it totally filled the car up.
“And I looked outside and it was sunny outside, so I thought, ‘That’s weird.’ And then Mariah Carey and the song [One Sweet Day] was on and ‘shining down on me from Heaven’ got louder and louder and louder until it was completely top notch.
“I saw it go from 10 up to about 35 and it was deafening. And the minute the song finished that went right back down to normal.
“And I was looking at myself going, ‘Oh my…’ I was shaking. I thought, ‘Has that really happened or what? Or is that me wishing that?’ Do you get what I mean? And I swear he came and showed me that, ‘Don’t worry son, you’ll be fine.’ Right?
“Now, I would never have believed that, I wouldn’t have thought for one minute that he would have ever have done that because he said it was all a load of garbage.
“So the truth is, I don’t know. And did I feel it? Did I want to feel it? Was it really there? I cannot honestly tell you. But I swear to you, I saw the dial move on its own.”
Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, Holloway’s arrival at Swindon has been a blessing.
In the four games since he’s taken charge the former Crystal Palace, Blackpool and QPR boss has overseen two wins, a draw and a defeat to aid the club’s hopes of avoiding relegation from the EFL.
