Their first season in the Down Area League proved to be eventful as well as successful for the 1st.XI. A few weeks into the season, the Swifts travelled to play Churchill United in a farmers field off the Crannyreagh Road outside Donaghadee. Unexpectedly the match was full of acrimony and after a Swift’s player was sent off, an unsavoury incident occurred outside the barn that doubled as a changing room.

Unfortunately for the Swifts, certain elements in the Down Area league management committee loved this type of controversy and it led to much toing and froing and many committee meetings before the situation was resolved. With threats of dismissal being bandied about, one stage it looked as if the 1st.XI’s career in the Down Area League would be over before it had really started. It also gave rise to the perception that some elements in the Down Area League were less than happy that the 1st.XI had switched leagues. Fortunately, the whole incident blew over and the Swifts were able to concentrate on football matters.

Although they did not progress past the 1st Round of the McCaw Section Shield’s knock-out stages, the lst.XI were the main challengers in the league championship which was eventually won by Ballywalter Rec. The 1st.XI’s Runners-Up position in their first season competing in the Down Area League was to prove to be a solid foundation on which the Club would build for the next few seasons.