It’s A Family Affair For Swans Boss Rodgers

It’s Swansea City v Cardiff City at the Liberty Stadim on Sunday and Brendan has turned the game into a family affair as he looks to create South Wales football history by plotting the first league double in the clashes.

Marvin Emnes goal at the Cardiff City Stadium back in November has set up that chance and he would be watched by a proud family if his side managed to achieve that feat.

And it would cap the end of an emotional week – Wednesday marked the first anniversary of Brendan’s mother’s passing.

“We had a memorial get-together as a family back in Ireland,” Rodgers told the Evening Post. “My brother Malachy was over for that, so he is staying around for the derby.

“Usually he would be following us on the internet in a bar in Chicago.

“My other brothers have been with me regularly in Swansea, but this is the first trip for my father.

“He is not a great traveller — he has not been here since I was playing for the Northern Ireland Under-16s at the Vetch.

“I think about football 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Rodgers says.

“But the thing I’ve learnt over the past year is that the most important thing in your life is your family.

“Football is fantastic. It’s a great way to make a living and we all have a wonderful life working in this game.

“But there’s nothing more important than your family.

“I have spoken to supporters of the club since I have been here — people who have lost kids, people who have lost their sons at war.

“The one thing you appreciate when you lose someone is how much your family means.

“We have created a lot of terrific moments this year,” Rodgers says.

“Even the other night at Bristol City — I don’t think Swansea have won there for quite a while.

“We have given ourselves a chance of doing the double over Cardiff, but it’s not really about that.

“We want to win the game for our supporters and we want to win because of our own ambitions to move forward.”

“We are all in football because we want big games,” Rodgers declares. “There are not many derby games like this one and it should be a wonderful occasion.

“In the position we’re in, every game from now until the end of the season is big.

“But we know how much this one means to the supporters and we will do all we can to win it.

“We are not just representing the football club tomorrow, we are representing the city.”