Just Like Old Times

Sunday, 7 September 2014, 17:17
3 mins read

It wasn’t long after I took over ownership of this site that we exclusively revealed to the world that Tony Petty was about to take over at Swansea City and it was almost at the exact same time that ‘The War Against Tony’ (T.W.A.T.) was born. They were brilliant times to be a web site owner and they were times that will never be repeated again by any stretch of the imagination.

Personally I only ever had one conversation with Tony Petty. He rang me once on a Saturday morning to ask whey we were posting all these nasty things about him on the website. I forget exactly what I said to him but I remember telling him we had no intention of stopping and to be fair some of the things that we did were relatively mild but I will always be proud of the job that the website did on assisting on getting rid of Petty.

I always remember being told that he once announced on a return to Swansea that he couldn’t believe that even when he was back in Australia that he was amazed how we as Swansea fans would not let it go and we were still on his back all the time with comments on here and other websites. I really wish that we had retained a record of all the forum postings at that point in time because they would have made for fantastic reading.

In the 13 years since we finally got rid of him from Swansea City though I have mellowed massively against him because I now firmly believe that he was the best thing that ever happened to Swansea City. After years of mis-management the club needed a figure that would unite the fanbase together. Up to that time those that dared to criticise were often shouted down by those who were just content to let the club sail along being run by people who cared not about the football club and who thought that they could just run roughshod over the fanbase. Times though changed under Petty and it was a very worrying but absolutely brilliant time to be a Swansea City supporter. It took no time at all but everyone was on the same side and united in getting rid of Petty and that is going to be by far the best thing about watching the film is a visual reminder as to how that happened and how we all (as supporters) got this club back on an even footing and on the way to the Premier League and where we are now.

Make no mistake where we are now would not have happened without Tony Petty as I think we would have carried on as we had done for years and would probably still be scratching around the lower divisions if now lower and probably still mis managed by a windscreen company of equivalent.

It is brilliant to see this story making the big screen as it truly was remarkable and pretty unique in football circles in this modern day game. Ask people inside football what happened and they know the general gist of it this will give them more detail as to just how the fans all rallied around together. When I was piecing together ‘From Graveyard To Ambition’ that tells the story from a Trust perspective, I was told by Dave Boyle from Supporters Direct that Tony Petty’s model ‘was not unusual but in most clubs they fell for it, for some reason in Swansea we didn’t’ and I couldn’t help but feel a huge sense of pride that we were better somehow than everyone else for seeing through it and being able to divert it.

The film comes out on Friday and it will be interesting to see how they capture the key moments of this vital part in our history and how the intimidation of the fans effectively saved this club and the current board took it forward.

I am sure I am not the only one that looks back on that period now with fondness although I can safely say that I did not enjoy a great deal of it at the time. There were surreal moments In time (remember one in the Builders back in the autumn of 2001) and then there were games like the infamous Rushden one at the Vetch that I don’t think I will ever see a similar one and then so many people from so many walks of life all united behind the one common cause. It made us what we are today, make no doubt about it.

And certainly for anyone that was there at that pivotal point in our history I am sure you have your own memories to share – why not share some below or via our forums?

You can watch Jack to a King in selected cinemas in South Wales and London from September 12

If you wish to order a copy of ‘From Graveyard To Ambition’ with all proceeds going to the Supporters’ Trust then you can do so via www.swanstrust.co.uk

http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/images/news/7368_g.jpg

Images courtesy of Getty Images, Athena Picture Agency and Swansea City Football Club.

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