A Time For Reflection

It’s not very often that we get the chance to do that. Generally there is something for us to think about in the present. Be it the next game and who we will manage to get fit in time or it’s the Mansfield fans who are blaming us for cheating, their lack of away support, the noisy atmosphere or the ailing health of Pope John Paul II. But none of that today.

I found my mind wandering back two years. To October 6 2001. I remember the day well, it was the result of months of planning by myself, Keith Haynes and a guy called Ian Williams who worked with Glamorgan cricket captain Steve James. It was the night of the join dinner between Roger and Steve at the Marriott Hotel. A night that had taken so much of our time but a night that went well. It was attended by over 100 people including the Swansea City squad of that time thanks in the main to Nick Cusack who I think ordered them to be there but nonetheless they seemed to enjoy themselves.

Ironically a couple of our current board members were there. Not that we should be surprised as they are Swans fans after all. And as all of these people (in fairness there were very few non Swans fans there) drunk themselves silly there was a name under discussion but a name that to us at that moment in time we did not know exactly how much we would grow to hate it. The name? You’ll have guessed by now – Tony Petty.

It was a Saturday night and it pissed down with rain all night. Strange how I should remember that. Reason I do is because our beloved goalkeeper decided that he would trash my room before he left the Marriott and had propped the window open with my shoes which of course in a drunken state I never noticed. Until the following morning when my shoes were, shall we say, not overly comfortable. Little did I know then what was around the corner. A week that I know I will never forget and likewise most of you never will at all.

I remember the week for other reasons too. The following Friday I had an interview for a promotion at work and the Wednesday and Thursday were marked out in my diary for preparation – hah! I remember sitting down at my desk at home on that Wednesday and staring at all the figures I had to work through and thinking that time was against me but I would get there – you always do don’t you?

And then it happened. A call from Keith Haynes. Not an unusual way for a day to start. Generally it would mean something was rumoured to be happening at the Vetch. Never in the wildest depths of my imagination did I expect to hear what I was about to. And the day had started. And of course it got worse. Interview preparation seemed to take a back seat as calls came in from players, club officials and even the press for opinions, news and views (of course the club were waiting for carefully prepared statements) Fans gathered outside the Vetch as the players headed off for a private meeting of their own – somewhere down Wind Street I seem to remember.

Of course we know the rest and the next three months mentally drained myself. At times it seemed like a hot line between myself and Dave Morgan as he kept me informed on what he could regards the consortium takeover. And of course there were the others – the Reecos of this world et al who arranged meetings and those that arranged protest marches and it worked – three months later we got our club back.

And now, two years on from the start we can reflect on what happened and I defy anyone not to have a little smile when they realise how far we have come. Think about it – owners that are fans and not hell bent on new stadiums and the income they can generate. Who make decisions for the good of the club. A club that lives within it’s means but also a club, as we saw last season, that has the ability to change things when they need to be changed.

It may be a quiet day at the Vetch but it is certainly time to sit back and remember what happened two years ago this week. And offer a prayer of thanks that we still have a club. And a club that future generations can enjoy too. It certainly is a quiet time but sometimes quiet is nice.