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If That Was The End……….. |
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Roger Freestone first joined the Swans in 1989 when he was signed on loan by Ian Evans. Ironically, the game, against Notts County ended in a 0-0 draw. His permanent move in 1991 was followed by a game against Spurs in the Rumbelows Cup where Roger walked off with the man of the match award after keeping the top flight’s strikers at bay as the Swans won 1-0. A clean sheet yesterday follows many, many of them in between but was that the end of one of the true Swansea greats at the Vetch? You would like to think not. You would like to think that if he is to be released then the least the club owed him was the chance of one final send off in front of the supporters that he holds so dear to his heart? Surely the way for a legend to depart is by giving those fans that have enjoyed him so much for 13 years the chance to say one final goodbye to someone that gave so much, and in return asked so little? Roger Freestone has spurned chance after chance to leave the Vetch for pastures new. Bolton, Bristol City even Man Utd came sniffing once (ended up with Andy Goram) but Roger is a different type of footballer. His heart remains in Wales with his friends and family and that is more important to him than the riches that the Premiership and higher divisions could bring. He has done the top flight, away from his native Wales, and he didn’t like it. His heart belonged to Wales, and for the last 13 years solid, Swansea City. If his name is one of the released players that we are expecting to see at some stage over the next few days then I will be disappointed. Disappointed that we didn’t give him the Vetch Field send off that he deserved and disappointed that he did not get the chance to say goodbye to those people that he has shared the highs and lows with.
I have been privileged enough to be close to Roger since the turn of the millennium. Since the first time that Keith Haynes and I sat down in his living room in Risca and started the foundations of what ended up as ‘Another Day at the Office ‘ Roger’s own biography. Roger had just been granted a testimonial by the club and it was there and then that Keith and I were asked to be involved in it’s running. We have shared the highs and lows during the last four years together. The moments of believing that Chelsea would never say yes to his testimonial, the joy of a championship win, the heartache of relegation. And that never to be forgotten morning in 2001 when Roger rang me to tell me that the players, himself included, had been sacked by Tony Petty. I have seen him at close quarters when he was part of the Welsh International Side and even then the humble man remained just that. We wanted a nice pose of him with Ryan Giggs “But it’s Ryan Giggs” he said, same as most of us would. He looked embarrassed as John Hartson lavished praise after praise on him. This literally was the local man come good. All good things will always come to an end and we all know/knew that Roger’s career was in the twilight years. There were Swans fans that hoped he may take Wilf Milne’s record of appearances for the club – a record that we also know will never be beaten if Roger doesn’t get there. But we all guessed that one day that we would have the chance to stand in unison, be it at the Vetch or White Rock, and say an emotional goodbye to the man that has served the club so well over the past 13 years. But has that chance been taken away from us. In my personal opinion, if Roger doesn’t feature in Kenny’s plans for next season then, as an exception, could he have been told? Could we have been told so that we appreciated that on Saturday we really were seeing the end of a Swansea legend? We deserved that chance, and more importantly so did Roger? Time of course will tell us whether we have witnessed the end of a Swansea era and if we have then I hope that the football club have the decency to ask him and his family back to the first game of next season so that we, as a set of loyal fans, have the chance to say thank you to the man who taught us that there is a space for loyalty in the professional game, even now. |
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Why not check out the latest Vetch Verdict on the BBC site? |
