Roger Released

Tuesday, 11 May 2004, 0:00
1 min read

Roger Freestone – The Swansea Story

A Swansea story that was started by Ian Evans way back in September 1989 was ended by Kenny Jackett this morning in a ten minute meeting at the Vetch. It was a career at the Vetch that included a third division championship, an autoglass final win and possibly the proudest moment of his career when he won his only Welsh senior cap against Brazil at the Millennium Stadium.

He signed permanently for the club in 1991 when Frank Burrows bought him back to his native Wales from a largely unhappy spell at Chelsea, paying ร‚ยฃ45,000 for his services. The highlight of the career at Stamford Bridge was an old second division title win in 1989.

Roger was widely recognised as one, if not the, best keeper in the lower divisions and attracted interest from higher division clubs during his time at the Vetch but always turned down potential moves away from the Vetch – his love for the club and his country keeping him this side of the Severn Bridge.

Standing second in the list of league appearances for the Swans, Roger was also part of the most successful defence that Swansea have ever had – keeping 22 league clean sheets in the championship season of 1990.

He was also on target 3 times for the Swans in the 1990s when he took over penalty duties under Frank Burrows making him the most prolific goalkeeper Swansea have ever had on the books.

The likes of Roger Freestone will not be repeated in a hurry and I suspect that his record of appearances for the club will be bettered by very few over the course of the next 100 years and, indeed have been bettered by very few of his fellow professionals in the modern game.

Roger Freestone is, and will always remain, a Swansea legend.

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Roger Freestone Swansea Appearances

Season League League Cup FA Cup Welsh Cup LDV Play Offs FAW
1989/90 14 0 0 1 1 0 0
1991/92 42 2 3 3 2 0 0
1992/93 46 2 5 1 3 2 0
1993/94 46 4 2 6 8 0 0
1994/95 44+1 4 5 5 4 0 0
1995/96 45 2 1 0 3 0 0
1996/97 45 2 2 0 2 3 0
1997/98 43 2 1 0 1 0 3
1998/99 38 2 5 0 2 2 4
1999/00 46 4 2 0 2 0 0
2000/01 43 2 1 0 3 0 5
2001/02 43 1 2 0 1 0 3
2002/03 33 1 1 0 1 0 1
2003/04 35+2 0 5 0 0 0 1
Totals 563+3 28 35 16 33 7 17

Clean Sheets And Goals (Not including FAW Cup)

Season League Clean Sheets Other Clean Sheets Goals
1989/90 6 0 0
1991/92 6 4 0
1992/93 19 3 0
1993/94 11 8 0
1994/95 17 9 1
1995/96 10 1 2
1996/97 13 1 0
1997/98 14 0 0
1998/99 12 6 0
1999/00 22 2 0
2000/01 10 3 0
2001/02 12 1 0
2002/03 7 0 0
2003/04 11 1 0

Total Swansea Appearances: 699 & 3 as sub

Total Swansea Goals: 3

League Clean Sheets: 170

Total Career Appearances: 773 & 3 as sub

Why not check out the latest Vetch Verdict on the BBC site?

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

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