SWINDON Town manager Michael Flynn says it is “ridiculous” when football’s governing bodies organise for the transfer window to shut the day before clubs play league matches.

This summer’s transfer deadline day was scheduled for Friday, September 1 when a full fixture list was set to take place across professional football in England less than 24 hours later.

In Swindon’s case, Flynn and his recruitment team remained on the hunt for fresh faces right up until the 11pm deadline while still attempting to prepare for the Robins’ away fixture against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

Both deadline days in 2023 have ended either the night before a game or, in January’s case, around an hour after some rearranged games had taken place, leading to frustration from Flynn.

Discussing the difficulties of trying to prepare for a league fixture and finalising a squad for at least the next four months on deadline day, Flynn said: “I’ve been in a situation a few times where I’ve been trying to sign players right up until the deadline.

“Even January last year, OK, it was a rearranged game, but we were at a disadvantage.

“I remember last January, I was sat in the kit van up at Salford. We had Salford away on the Tuesday, and this needs to be looked at because it’s absolutely crazy.

“I was sitting in the kit van with the chairman of Walsall on the phone to about three different agents, players, the whole lot when I’ve got a game to prepare for.

“It’s got to be looked at. It is mind-boggling, why we would have deadline day the day before a full fixture.

“The 31st was [on Thursday]. The window should have shut then. Everybody has got games to prepare for. It’s not on. It’s ridiculous.”

Swindon take on Doncaster Rovers at 3pm on Saturday, September 2 with full updates and post-match reaction available on the Adver Sport website.