Planet Swans ArchivesCurtis was a member of the Swansea squad that rose through the divisions in the late 1970s and early 1980s before topping the first division and taking on – and beating – the very best in their two seasons in the top flight. And, whilst he is refusing to get carried away with the situation, he does believe that the Swans have what it takes to go further and believes that the nucleus is already there to make and sustain a Championship challenge.
Talking after the Swans secured a one-nil win over Walsall at the Liberty Stadium, Curtis told the Western Mail “We are currently watching the best football a Swansea side has played for over 25 years
“You can never be certain of anything in this game but I’m confident they’ll be promoted.
“They still have some tricky games to come and haven’t really had a blip yet. But I suspect the clubs below them are already talking about the fight for second place.
“If we go up, Roberto will need to tweak things a bit, bring in three or four new faces for what will be a much more demanding environment. But the potential is there to get right back to the highest level.
“I was just 18 when I first started playing at the Vetch Field.
“It was a wrench to leave but it had to happen. Financially the club is much more secure and the new stadium helps generate income. The atmosphere throughout the club is very optimistic.
“A lot of former players had drifted away but they are coming back now and feel like me that this is the start of something big.”
“Looking back, I sometimes ask myself: ’Did we really achieve all that?’" he says, in relation to his part in the Swans rise of almost 30 years ago, "And while people always talk about the two seasons in Division One, I prefer to look back on the whole journey from Division Four.
“In 1975 we’d had to apply for re-election and the club’s existence was in doubt. Six years later we were playing against Liverpool, Manchester United and the rest. It was a fairy tale.”
