It seems a lifetime ago but it really is only three years since the sh t hit the Fan at the Vetch and the Swans were pushed into a major crisis. It was October 10th 2001, and daylight had barely broken when the news started to filter out of the Vetch that things were afoot.
Glan Letherhan and Ron Walton were sacked – the first I was told of nine sackings at the club that day. Even when I received that phone call I never in my wildest dreams believed that the other seven would be players.
For me the day was the day that shaped the future of Swansea City as we know it right now. It was the day that, pretty much to a man (and woman), we united behind our football club and showed the world that if the fans want it enough and are prepared to fight for it, a club can be removed from the evil that controls it and delivered back into the hands of those that care about it’s existence.
When the confirmation came that Boundy, Roger and others had all faced the chop it was hard to comprehend that the man, we had revealed to be taking charge just ten days before, was seriously trying to sack players from a football club en masse. Roger phoned me personally that morning to tell me and being a family web-site I won’t repeat his comments word for word but you just knew he wasn’t happy.
For the rest of the day it was a constant stream of phone calls from the Vetch to keep the fans updated. Peter Owen had his hands tied in terms of what he could print on the official site but as a fan he wanted us all to know what was happening and he did so by picking up the phone, giving me the lowdown and we printed exactly what went on.
Almost immediately there were fans camped outside the Vetch demanding to know what the hell Petty thought he was doing and even the national media were taking an interest in events at the Vetch as reporters arrived from the capital wanting the news as it broke. Swansea City was in turmoil and didn’t we all know it.
October 2001 will live with me for ever. It was at the beginning of October that I was given the name Tony Petty whilst everyone else was chasing a different man – a man that was named first on here and claimed by one Sunday newspaper as their own exclusive a few days later.
A little bit of digging was immediate and it was clear that Petty was not the answer to our hopes and dreams and almost from the off it led to the mistrust that was eventually justified. What was hard at that time was digging up information on Tony Petty and his involvement in football. What gives me satisfaction now is if he ever tried to get involved in football again, a google search on his name and Swansea City would throw out a host of articles showing exactly what the man was about. Quite simply, Swansea City and it’s fans rid not just their club of this man but football as a whole. And for that every one of us has the right to feel proud.
The three and a bit months he was here was a torrid time for Swansea supporters everywhere but I met people during that period that I remain in contact with today. Friendships were borne out of those troubled times and they have stood us in good stead over the past three years.
Three years on from that dreadful day and we have a team that sits on top of the League Two table. We have a club that is no longer in debt and we have owners that are lifelong Swans fans. Our fanbase has a % share of the club and we have the second highest gates in our division. The night before Petty sacked the players, 3500 saw us lose 1-0 to Rochdale at the Vetch, last Friday almost 9000 saw us beat Mansfield. That is a great indication of how far we have come.
We have a 20,000 all seater stadium around the corner and we have players that would walk into many League Two, and some League One sides. The ironic part is that Tony Petty helped this club but only in such a way that many realised what it would mean if the club were not there. And although it is impossible to show the t t any gratitude as well, he was a kind of catalyst to take us to where we are now and for that everyone involved (bar the obvious suspects) should be proud of whatever part they played.
Swansea City exists now because of the fans and in spite of the likes of Petty, Mike Lewis and all their cohorts that tried to finish us. They just never bargained for the power of the JackArmy.
