New Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway said he is going to try to bring back “the party times” to The Nigel Eady County Ground.

Following the departure of Mark Kennedy last Friday, the former Blackpool boss Holloway was quickly announced as his replacement, having not been in work since resigning at Grimsby Town in December 2020.

Holloway said that it was during his time at Grimsby when Covid restrictions were in place that he realised the full importance of fans on a team.

He said that, having taken over at Swindon, he would be hoping to bring the good feeling back to the club, with an exciting team that the fans could connect with.

He said: “When I was at Grimsby, the season stopped and then started again and I thought it was crazy because there were no crowds.

“Football without the crowds, what is the point? It doesn’t belong to anyone. Football is such a privilege and it has taught me everything about losing, fighting, and never giving up.

“I need the fans to understand that if things go wrong out there, that is not because we are not trying and I realised how vital that is when I went back in at Blackpool.

“We all started to enjoy it and brought the community into it and I think that this place is completely ready to start to enjoy its own ground and see some lads out there, hopefully homegrown, who will wear that shirt, like [Joel] McGregor does, with pride and fight for the badge.

“Let’s get behind them and try and make it good times, try and make it party times.

“It is going to be tough and I am not the key to it, it is about how quickly we can all change the feeling. It is all about a feeling and I feel really good today.

“I have seven or eight months to prove to these people that I actually am who I think I am.”

Holloway added that he did not intend to reinvent the wheel with Swindon coming in mid-season but to improve upon the foundations which have already been laid.

He said: “Style and identity are really important these days and what is important is what they have been taught already.

“I don’t want to come in and change all of that straight away, what you need to do is embrace what they were doing and try and help them do a little bit better.

“You want to give them a little bit more confidence, change this, change that, and just look around the place and make sure that people are smiling.

“I am sure that I won’t come in here and move mountains; I will keep what we have got, help the team believe in themselves, be consistent, and believe that you can win.

“They showed it at Cheltenham [Town], 3-0 up and then it almost went – it is all about getting the group together and building something.”