Swansea

Following an increasing interest in football in the Swansea area, the town's first professional football club, Swansea Town, was established in 1912. John William Thorpe, a local solicitor, was elected the club’s first chairman. Players were recruited from around the United Kingdom and the team joined the Southern League Second Division under the club's first player-manager, Walter Whittaker. Swansea joined several other clubs in the division, including Cardiff City, who were Swansea's first professional league opponents. The match, played on 7 September 1912 at Swansea's Vetch Field, ended in a 1–1 draw with Billy Ball scoring Swansea's first goal.

During their first season, Swansea won the Welsh Cup, the Welsh league and came third in the Southern League Second Division. The following season, the club reached the first round proper of the FA Cup and finished fourth in the league. John William Bartlett took over from Whittaker in 1914. Under his leadership, the club beat reigning English champions Blackburn Rovers 1–0 in the first round of the 1914–15 FA Cup, with Swansea's goal coming from Ben Beynon.

After the First World War, the football leagues were restructured and the club began to compete in the new Third Division of the Football League in 1920. Swansea won their first championship in 1925 under manager Joe Bradshaw after winning the Third Division (South). The following season, they reached the semi-final of the FA Cup and finished fifth in the league. After Bradshaw left the club, Swansea were without a manager until 1927, when James Thompson was appointed. The club experienced financial strain over the next few years, with players being sold for cheaper alternatives; Thompson resigned in 1931. Despite this, Swansea won the Welsh Cup again in the 1931–32 season. The club had further financial difficulties in the 1930s but avoided relegation under manager Neil Harris before the Second World War began.

When football resumed after the war, Swansea were relegated to the Third Division in 1947 but were promoted back to the Second Division as champions in 1949. During the following seasons, Swansea saw several young players break through to the senior team, including the club's eventual captain Ivor Allchurch. The club cultivated strong local support during this period, with high attendances at league games, such as a record home league attendance against Leeds United in 1955. The club continued to struggle financially, however, but they again avoided relegation on the last day of the 1957–58 season.

In 1960, Swansea played their first match in the League Cup and won the Welsh Cup the following year, qualifying for the Cup Winners' Cup. This made Swansea the first Welsh club to enter a European competition. Manager Trevor Morris also led the club to the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1964, following a run which included a 2–1 away win against Liverpool in the quarter-final. Swansea were relegated back to the Third Division the following season and the financial situation at the club became critical.

Despite finishing seventeenth in the league under Glyn Davies, the club won the Welsh Cup again and qualified for their second European adventure. In 1967, however, the club were relegated to the Fourth Division, the first time in the club's history. Despite this, Swansea saw the highest attendance at the Vetch Field (32,796) for their game against Arsenal in the FA Cup in 1968, which Swansea lost. Tragedy struck the club in January 1969 when players Roy Evans and Brian Purcell were killed in a car crash on the way to a game.

After Swansea became a city in 1969, the club changed their name to Swansea City in early 1970. Roy Bentley's side celebrated by securing promotion back to the Third Division. After mid-table finishes at the end of the following two seasons, the club made a poor start to the 1972–73 season, which saw Bentley being replaced by Harry Gregg. Gregg failed to stop the team's decline and the club was back in the Fourth Division for the 1973–74 season. He was replaced by Harry Griffiths, the club's physiotherapist who had also played for Swansea. Financial issues continued to plague the club and Swansea were forced to apply for re-election to the Football League.

Swansea failed to win promotion in 1977, and Griffiths resigned the following year despite a positive start to the season. He was replaced by John Toshack. Swansea were promoted in 1978, and Toshack led the club to the Second Division the following season and the First Division in 1981. They beat Preston North End 3–1 to guarantee their promotion, with goals from Tommy Craig, Leighton James and Jeremy Charles. Swansea's four-year rise to the top division became a record in English football, held jointly with Wimbledon F.C. Swansea also won the Welsh Cup that season, qualifying for Europe for the first time since the 1965–66 season.

The club's first match in the top flight was a 5–1 win against Leeds United, and they also defeated Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United during the season. Swansea were top of the league with twelve games to play, but finished sixth. They won the Welsh Cup again to qualify for Europe. Despite being relegated to the Second Division the following season, Swansea enjoyed success in Europe after defeating Braga and winning 12–0 against Sliema Wanderers, a club record result. Swansea were subsequently defeated by Paris-Saint Germain. Amid financial pressures, Toshack left the club in October 1983, returned eight weeks later, but left Swansea again in 1984 with the team back in the Third Division.

By 1985, the club was battling for its survival and was issued a winding-up order. Local people raised money for the club, and Manchester United played a friendly match which raised £45,000. The club was saved by Peter Howard, Harry Hyde, Bobby Jones, Mel Nurse and Dave Savage (who came to be known as the "Famous Five"), along with local businessman Doug Sharpe, although the change of ownership was not enough to prevent relegation to the Fourth Division in 1986.

Swansea were promoted from the Fourth Division in 1988 after winning the play-offs. The club won the Welsh Cup again in 1989 and 1991 to qualify for Europe. After a period of relative stability, Swansea reached the play-off semi-finals of the new Second Division in 1993 before making their first appearance at Wembley Stadium a year later, when they defeated Huddersfield Town to win the Football League Trophy.

After Jan Mølby became player-manager, the club was relegated to the lowest division, although they made it to another Wembley play-off final in 1997, which they lost. Chairman Sharpe sold the club, and Swansea saw several managers during this period. Following another unsuccessful play-off semi-final in 1999, Swansea won the Third Division in 2000. However, the 1–1 draw at Rotherham United, which confirmed Swansea as Third Division champions, was overshadowed by the death of supporter Terry Coles, who was trampled to death by a police horse before the game.

In July 2001, following relegation back to the Third Division, the club was sold to managing director Mike Lewis for £1. One month later, the Swansea City Supporters' Trust was formed. Lewis subsequently sold his stake to a consortium of Australian businessmen behind the Brisbane Lions football team, fronted by Tony Petty, again for £1. After supporter demonstrations against Petty's management, during which he attempted to sack seven players to cut costs, the club was sold to a local consortium led by Mel Nurse. Huw Jenkins was named chairman in January 2002.

Swansea were also struggling on the pitch. The new ownership sought to keep the team in the Football League, and Brian Flynn was named manager in late 2002. With the signings of new players including Roberto Martínez and Leon Britton, Flynn kept Swansea in the Football League following their victory against Hull City on the last day of the 2002–03 season. Despite a positive start to the following season, Kenny Jackett replaced Flynn in 2004. Jackett led Swansea to League One promotion in the club's final season at the Vetch Field. They also won the FAW Premier Cup on the last day at the Vetch.

The club moved to the new Liberty Stadium in July 2005, with the first league game being a 1–0 win against Tranmere Rovers. In the first season at the stadium, Swansea won the Football League Trophy for the first time since 1994 and the FAW Premier Cup for a second successive year. The club also reached the League One play-off final, but lost to Barnsley.

Roberto Martínez, Swansea's former captain, replaced Jackett as manager in 2007 mid-season. He led Swansea to Championship promotion as League One champions in 2008 while implementing a possession-based style of play at the club. When Martínez left Swansea in 2009, Paulo Sousa replaced him before leaving himself in 2010. Before Sousa's departure, Swansea player Besian Idrizaj suffered a heart attack while on international duty; the club retired the number 40 shirt in his memory.

Brendan Rodgers replaced Sousa and led the club to the Premier League in 2011 after defeating Reading 4–2 in the play-off final, with Scott Sinclair scoring a hat-trick. Swansea became the first Welsh team to play in the Premier League since its formation in 1992. Ahead of their debut season, the club signed Danny Graham from Watford for a then-record fee of £3.5 million. They defeated Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, the eventual champions, at home during the season. Swansea finished eleventh in the league, but Rodgers left to manage Liverpool at the end of the season.

Rodgers was replaced by Michael Laudrup for the 2012–13 season, which was the club's centenary season. Laudrup's first league game ended in a 5–0 victory over Queens Park Rangers away at Loftus Road. Swansea then beat West Ham United 3–0 at the Liberty Stadium, with Michu scoring his third goal in two games. This saw Swansea top of the Premier League; it was the first time since March 1982 the team had been at the summit of the top tier. After cup victories against Liverpool and Chelsea, Swansea beat Bradford City 5–0 in the 2013 Football League Cup final, which was the biggest win in the final of the competition. It was Swansea's first major piece of silverware in England and qualified them for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. Swansea finished the Premier League season in ninth place, and Michu was the club's top scorer in all competitions with 22 goals. That summer, they paid a club record transfer fee of £12 million for striker Wilfried Bony from Vitesse Arnhem.

Swansea enjoyed initial success in Europe, beating Spanish side Valencia 3–0 at the Mestalla Stadium in September 2013. Two months later, they lost the first Welsh derby in the Premier League to Cardiff City following a 1–0 defeat. In February 2014, Laudrup was dismissed after poor form and accusations of financial impropriety involving his agent Bayram Tutumlu. Defender Garry Monk, a Swansea player since 2004, was named as his replacement. In Monk's first game, Swansea beat Cardiff 3–0 at the Liberty Stadium. Despite holding Rafael Benítez's Napoli to a 0–0 draw in the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32, Swansea exited the competition after losing 3–1 in the second leg at the Stadio San Paolo on 27 February 2014.

Bony was sold to Manchester City for a record sale of £25 million in January 2015, with add-ons reportedly leading to £28 million. This deal eclipsed the record fee Swansea received from Liverpool for Joe Allen at £15 million. At the time of the sale, Bony was the club's top scorer with 34 goals in all competitions, and the league's top scorer for the 2014 calendar year, with 20 goals. Swansea finished eighth in the league at the end of the 2014–15 season with 56 points, their highest position and points haul for a Premier League season, and second highest finish in the top flight of all time. During the season, they produced league doubles over Arsenal and Manchester United, becoming only the third team in Premier League history to do so. Monk was sacked the following season after poor form and replaced by Francesco Guidolin.

In July 2016, an American consortium led by Jason Levien and Steven Kaplan bought a controlling interest in the club, but chairman Huw Jenkins remained. Three months later, Guidolin was sacked and replaced by Bob Bradley, which was the first time a Premier League club had hired an American manager. Bradley was sacked after 85 days; he won only two of his eleven games. He was replaced by Paul Clement, who secured Swansea's Premier League status on 14 May. Only three prior teams had escaped relegation after being bottom of the league at Christmas. A poor first half of the 2017–18 season saw Clement sacked and replaced by Carlos Carvalhal.

Despite consecutive league home wins against Liverpool (1–0), Arsenal (3–1), Burnley (1–0), and West Ham (4–1), Swansea were winless in their last nine league games (losing five) under Carvalhal, leaving them in eighteenth place on the final day of the season. They were relegated on 13 May 2018, following a 2–1 defeat to already-relegated Stoke City. During the season, Jenkins and the owners were criticised by supporters and pundits for poor transfer windows, the firing of managers, and moving away from the style of play found under previous managers Rodgers and Martínez.

The first season back in the Championship produced a tenth place finish under new manager Graham Potter, including a quarter-final appearance in the FA Cup. Jenkins resigned as chairman amid increasing criticism over the club's sale to the American consortium in 2016 and relegation from the Premier League. After Potter left to manage Brighton, former England U17 manager Steve Cooper replaced him. In September 2019, Swansea sat at the top of the table after an unbeaten first month; this was the club's best start to a season in 41 years. On the final day of the season, Swansea beat Reading 4–1 to finish sixth, moving into the play-offs ahead of Nottingham Forest on goal difference, but were later defeated by Brentford in the semi-final second leg.

At the end of the 2020–21 season, Swansea finished fourth in the league and secured a play-off place for a second consecutive season. Swansea progressed to the play-off final after defeating Barnsley 2–1 on aggregate, but lost to Brentford at Wembley Stadium. After Cooper left the club, Russell Martin became head coach in 2021, leading the club to mid-table finishes before moving to Southampton in 2023. The 2023–24 season saw new manager Michael Duff dismissed after five months due to poor results and criticism of his tactics; his replacement Luke Williams guided the team to fourteenth place.

Swansea came under new ownership in November 2024, when Levien and Kaplan sold their majority shareholding to American businessmen Andy Coleman, Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, and British businessman Nigel Morris. In the following months, Real Madrid footballer Luka Modrić and American rapper Snoop Dogg joined the club's new ownership group. On the pitch, Alan Sheehan replaced Williams following a successful spell as caretaker manager.