Planet Swans ArchivesStarting August with a trip to Charlton and ending with a home game against Sheffield Wednesday gave out a clear message to Swansea fans and players alike who have become sadly too accustomed to lower league football for more than 20 years.
It was 1984 the last time the Swans played at this level and it is something that everyone is savouring with plans already being made by fans everywhere on which grounds they want to go to – many of them for the first time for so many. Places like St Andrews, The Valley and Hillsborough have not seen a Swansea team play a league fixture for far too long and that is something that everyone is relishing not least Swans midfielder Leon Britton.
Britton first arrived in Swansea back in 2002 with the club in the middle of what ended as a successful fight to stay in the football league. Only a last day victory over Hull preserved that status and now – just five years later – the Swans will kick off a season in the second tier. Ironically their opponents in that game will be a Premiership side next season, potentially the ultimate dream at the moment for the club.
“The day the fixtures come out is when it really hits home, when I first joined, and it’s not said with any disrespect, we were used to going to places like Bury and Rochdale and it’s not where you want to be as a footballer with aims and ambitions." Britton told the Western Mail
“Now you can just look at the teams we will be playing against and that will come to the Liberty and the difference is huge and a reward for the hard work that’s gone one at the club.
“It’s been a big turnaround, especially for the lads like me who’ve come all the way through, and there’s huge excitement already.
“And from the first day the challenge is on for us because going to a side like Charlton and all their recent Premiership experience really rams it home that we will have to be ready from week one.
“But every game will be a test and like a cup game for us in many ways. We’ve had great one-off days like going to Sheffield United and winning up there in the cup, but the reality is now we will play them twice this year and it’s part of our bread and butter now. It’s a big test and a step into the unknown for a lot of us – but it’s exciting times.”
