The Swans would have been promoted had the result been reversed but the Western Mail were clearly trying to be one step ahead of the game and – like most media outlets – have prepared for a potential Swans promotion this afternoon at Gillingham<\/p>\n
The article even includes the prepared quotes from Roberto and Leon Britton declaring it a great achievement and one that they can be totally be proud of.<\/p>\n
And clearly someone at Western Mail web site HQ pressed the "release" button this morning despite the result for it to appear world wide on their site.<\/p>\n
The article – penned by Paul Abbandonato – reads as follows<\/p>\n
"SWANSEA CITY are celebrating promotion this morning… without even having to kick a ball.<\/i><\/p>\n
Barring a mathematical improbability, Roberto Martinez’s men clinched their place in the Championship courtesy of promotion rivals Doncaster losing at home to Swindon last night.<\/i><\/p>\n
Technically, Southend can still catch the Swans if they won every one of their remaining four games and Martinez’s team lost theirs.<\/i><\/p>\n
But Southend would still need to make up a goal difference of 21, which simply isn’t going to happen.<\/i><\/p>\n
It is the first time since 1984 that the Swans have clinched a place in the second tier of the league.<\/i><\/p>\n
Instead of meeting the likes of Port Vale, Gillingham and Cheltenham next season, the Swans will be playing sides such as Derby, Crystal Palace and Coventry.<\/i><\/p>\n
There will also be, of course, two mouthwatering Welsh derby showdowns with arch-rivals Cardiff City.<\/i><\/p>\n
Doncaster’s shock home defeat to Swindon means they can only reach a total of 82 points by winning their remaining three matches.<\/i><\/p>\n
The Swans already have a tally of 83 points, even before they go into today’s clash with Gillingham.<\/i><\/p>\n
Martinez’s men will still be seeking three points from that game as they look to home in on the title.<\/i><\/p>\n
Carlisle are their only rivals for that crown, but they face a tough trip to Leeds this afternoon.<\/i><\/p>\n
A delighted Martinez said: “Going to the Championship gives us the recognition we deserve. The club’s status is going to change.<\/i><\/p>\n
“We’ve been waiting for 24 years to get to that level and it’s a dream achieved. We know we have got 1,500 fans coming to Gillingham and, having won promotion, it will be perfect to share it with them.<\/i><\/p>\n
“In football you want to achieve your targets as soon as possible. Promotion at this stage means you have been working really hard for the past 10 months.<\/i><\/p>\n
“Promotion to the Championship, especially when people expect it from you, is extremely difficult. Just look at Leeds and Nottingham Forest.<\/i><\/p>\n
“They are two massive clubs competing at this level. Their seasons show you how hard it is to get out of this division.<\/i><\/p>\n
“But we’ve managed it and everyone should be proud that we have taken this club to the next level.<\/i><\/p>\n
“But we don’t want to stop here. We are trying to get into the Premiership in the end.”<\/i><\/p>\n
Emphasising the need for the Swans to go on and lift the title, midfield star Leon Britton said: “When you have been top of the league since November, it would be a big shame to lose it right at the end.<\/i><\/p>\n
“With four games left the last thing we want to do is let it slip away.<\/i><\/p>\n
“Promotion comes first, then we want to win the league. Having been there for so long, we’ve earned it.”"<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Swans would have been promoted had the result been reversed but the Western Mail were clearly trying to be one step ahead of the game and – like most media outlets – have prepared for a potential Swans promotion this afternoon at Gillingham The article even includes the prepared quotes from Roberto and Leon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":453,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/453"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}