May 3 2003 – The day that shaped the future for the Swans

When Hull City arrived at the Vetch on May 3 2003 it was always going to be a pivotal moment in the history of Swansea City but one that we, as fans, hoped was for all the right reasons.

Almost twenty years on now I wonder what the future would have held had the result that day gone against us and we had lost that football league status after so many years.

Thankfully we didn’t and we pretty much haven’t looked backwards much since that day with three promotions, seven years in the Premier League, a League Cup and an European Tour – nobody really envisaged that was a possibility when the final whistle blew on what turned out to be a magical day.

Oddly for someone who cannot remember why he walks into a room on a regular occasion I can remember much of that afternoon as if it happened yesterday.  The Swans took the field to a chorus of noise at just before 3pm and the nerves were kicking in already. A first minute challenge from Burgess on Cutler was quite rightly rewarded with a yellow card for the Hull man and the tone was set for the ninety minutes that was to follow.

I remember that feeling of despair when our defensive frailties were laid bare and Hull took the lead and I remember the feeling of elation when James Thomas scored his second penalty to bring us back level.

Oddly the second half is much more of a blur from the moment Thomas completed his hat-trick, adding to the all important Lenny Johnrose goal, I think at that point the nerves were overtaken by relief and the rest, as they say is history

As we pondered earlier it is difficult to know where defeat on that day would have taken us.  Would we have recovered from any time in the non league ranks?   Wrexham have taken 14 years to try and get back in the league – would we have fared any better?

The Liberty (Swansea.com) Stadium would not have happened in the way that it did had we been relegated and it feels even more inconceivable that we would have bounced back and still had the run that we did over the eight years that followed that game.

It was a season that, for all the trials and tribulations, the City united behind its football club in a way that we had probably never done so before.   We packed the Vetch at times even in the lower divisions and we all moved in the same direction as we slowly and steadily climbed the football league.

Swansea City owe huge debts of gratitudes to the players and management that saw us through that season even though we took it closer to the bone than anyone would have wanted.

The afternoon that shaped a football club and an afternoon we never want to repeat!