A not so potted history of the Premier League’s newest member

Firstly I’d like to adress our status as a Welsh club playing in the English League system. There have been many xenophobic comments made towards us even at board of director level from other clubs regarding us as a Welsh club and stating that we shouldn’t be allowed to play in the Premiership, so hopefully this briew

Swansea Town was founded in 1912 and after 9 years playing in local and Welsh leagues, we were invited by the Football Association to be FOUNDING members of Division 3 South along with clubs such as QPR, Plymouth Argyle, Palace, Southampton, Watford and Nowrich. So since 1921 Swansea has been an intrinsic part of English Football.

Swansea have won the Divison 3 South title on two occassions in 1924 and in 1948 and won the Divison three title during the 1999/2000 season. Swansea made it to the FA cup Semis in 1964 and have won the Football league trophy on two occassions. As well as wining the league one title in 2008.

John Toshack years-Fom Division 4 to Divison 1 in 4 seasons
Swansea became the first club in English football to be promoted contiunally from the 4th division to the 1st divison without experiencing relegation along the way during the period between 1978 and 1981. In Swanseas first season of top flight football, they led the league for vast swathes of the seaon and were a handful of games away from wining the first divison title. However injuries and lack of depth robbed them of their form and they finished the season in 6th having done the double over Arsenal and United in a dream season in which they had led the league for the majority.

Swansea’s remarkable rise with John Toshack at the helm (the football leagues yougest manager at 28 years old) became the most meteoric of falls and the club found herself back in the 4th divison just 8years after the first promotion.

Swansea then languished in the bottom echalongs of the football league only experiencing limited succsess. A football league trophy final victory at Wembley in 1994 brought some joy, and the 1999/2000 season however was particularly noteable for a third round FA Cup victory over Premiership opponents West Ham United, whose team included Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand and John Hartson. Swansea thus became the first bottom division team to defeat a Premiership club in the FA Cup since the re-organisation of the league structure in 1992. The club was also promoted this season as Division Three champions, following a nail-biting championship decider on the final day of the season against second-placed Rotherham United. Hollins’ side certainly proved to be effective and functional, rather than pretty, seemingly winning 1–0 every week on their way to the title.

Near destruction

In July 2001, following relegation back to Third Division, the club was sold to managing director Mike Lewis for £1. Lewis subsequently sold on his stake to a consortium of Australian businessmen behind the Brisbane Lions (Australian rules football) football team, fronted by Tony Petty. Seven players were sacked and eight others saw their contracts terminated. Supporters were angered, sanctions were threatened by the Football League, and a rival consortium headed by ex-player Mel Nurse sought to buy out the new owners. During this period Hollins was sacked after a poor start to the season, and Colin Addison took over as manager. The turmoil led to the creation of the Swansea City Supporters’ Trust, which sought to save the club and ultimately guarantee supporter representation on the club’s board.The Petty group sold its stake in January 2002 after a bitter stand-off with the Nurse consortium, which was supported by the majority of the club’s fans.

in 2002 season Swansea were one game away from relegation from the football league and probably complete oblivion. The club were in the hands of supporters but the finacies were a mess, players were paid late and the electricity bill was often hard to pay off. Should they fail to beat Hull City in their final game they would be leap froged by Exeter and their fate would be sealed. That game is described as the most important in the history of the club and despite going 2-1 down the club won 4-2 with a hatrick from local boy James Thomas having signed for his hometown club from Blackburn Rovers in the Premiership. That team also conatined Alan Tate who was on loan from Man United and Leon Britton who was loaned from fellow Premier league side West Ham, along with Roberto Martinez. All Three would sign for the club and Tate and Britton would be in the Championship play off final victory that put us in the Premier League. Legends is an understatement.

What followed was a steady rise up the leagues with promotion coming three times in 5 seasons. The Swans’ last season at the Vetch Field saw the club win promotion on the last day of the season, clinching a 3rd-placed finish with a 1–0 win away to Bury in 2005. Their last league game at their old ground was a 1–0 win over Shrewsbury Town, with the last game of any sort being a 2–1 win against Wrexham in the final of the 2005 FAW Premier Cup.

Liberty Stadium era and promotion to Premier League

The club moved to the new Liberty Stadium during the summer of 2005. The first competitive game was a 1–0 victory against Tranmere Rovers in August 2005. In their first season back in League One Swansea finished in sixth place in the league, qualifying for the play-offs. After beating Brentford in the semi-finals, they lost on penalties to Barnsley in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, becoming the first Welsh club to lose at the stadium. The Swans won the Football League Trophy for the first time since 1994 and the FAW Premier Cup for a second successive year. The following season saw manager Jackett resign mid-season to be replaced by Roberto Martinez. Martinez’s arrival saw an improvement in form, but Swansea missed out on the play-offs again.

After an indifferent start to 2007–08 the Swans spent much of the middle of the season near the top of League One with an 18 game unbeaten run from November to March. Swansea were promoted on April 12 following a 2–1 success at Gillingham, and crowned Champions the following week despite a home defeat by Yeovil Town. The club amassed a total of 92 points over the course of the season, the highest ever by a Welsh club in the Football League. Five Swansea players were in the PFA Team of the Year, including the division’s 29-goal top scorer Jason Scotland. That same season Swansea lost on penalties to Milton Keynes Dons in the area final of the Football League Trophy.

On returning to the second tier of English football, Swansea finished the 2008–09 season in eighth place. Roberto Martinez left for Wigan in the Premiership, and in Came two time Chmpions league winner Paulo Sousa as manager. Sousa was criticsed by some for the italian inspired style of defensive possesion football yet despite this the team finished 7th and missed out on the play-offs by a single point. Brendan Rodgers then joined the club as manager and turned the team into a much more pleasing side to watch. With an average posession percentage of 60% and over 540 passes a game, A third place finish in 2010–11 qualified the club for the play-offs. After beating Nottingham Forest 3–1 on aggregate in the semi-final they defeated Reading 4–2 in the final at Wembley Stadium, with Scott Sinclair scoring a hat-trick. Swansea will compete in the 2011–12 Premier League, becoming the first Welsh team to play in the division since its formation in 1992.
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