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With the project gathering pace and loads of material and memorabilia coming in, we plan, together with the Supporters Trust, to publish four books to mark the club’s centenary year. The books will be on the theme of ‘My Swans’ and one of them will be a ‘people’s history’ devoted to the thoughts and memories of fans of all ages. We will include material from the project’s fan survey and also short pieces written by school children from across the region.

The project has taken a big step forward in the last 24 hours through the efforts of volunteers. Students in the History department at Swansea recorded our first project video, a conversation between four fans about their supporting experiences – watch out for the edit to be posted on the site. Another of our volunteers, Gorseinon man Gethin Evans, has been interviewing former players, and so far has talked to Leighton James, Jimmy Rimmer and Wendell Morgan. Gethin also brought in a scrapbook complied by Darwell Williams’ son Martin, to be scanned and added to the archive. Again, watch out fro these to be posted on the website.

These are great initiatives – the archive will only reach its potential if the wider community contributes! Get out there and search those lofts again – find out if that old chap across the road really did play for the Swans – come and talk to us if you have any good stories!

Remember, e-mail swans100@swansea.ac.uk if you want to get in touch, or call 01792 606535. 

Another batch of reports on significant games in the Swans’ history has been added to the Historic Games page. Two FA Cup semi-finals, the first League game at the Liberty, and those incredible 2011 play-offs. Can you remember who the Swans played in that first match at the Liberty iin 2005?

Just a quick update to let all our readers know that Gilbard Honey-Jones has got in touch wirh us, following the eralier “Boy of the Year 1964 where are you?” story. Gilbard (not Gilbert, as the “Soccer Star” article spelled his name) is a teacher, currently working in Malaysia, after spells in various other countries. Even so, the passionate support for the Swans revealed in that 1964 report has not been dimmed by time or distance – he made the 3-day trip back to the UK to watch last years’ play-offs. Well done Gilbard, as you say once a Jack always a Jack! (Follow the link to Boy of the Year 1964 if you have not already seen that story)

Contributor Byron Cooze brings 1918 ticket to archive

One of the most interesting pieces of Swans’ memorabilia we have taken into the virtual archive is a ticket from a match between Swansea Town and the Royal Flying Corps at the Vetch on 1st April 1918. Brought in by Byron Cooze, it belonged to his friend Tommy Williams, who probably had it from his father. But when we started researching the match, there was no mention of it in the South Wales Daily Post. They did however plug their own fund-raiser at St. Helen’s, an international rugby match between South Wales and New Zealand. Did the football match actually take place? Was it an elaborate April Fool joke? Was there rivalry betwen the various charitable funds, with the Daily Post only promoting their own War Prisoners’ Fund? Find out by following the link Swansea Town at War, 1918 

The ticket is a great find, so please keep looking in those attics and cellars for any more treasure as good as Byron’s offering.

Brendan and the boys are good for business

After the recent victory over Arsenal, the South Wales Evening Post reported a huge knock-on effect on business and tourism in the city, from the growing success of the football team. Visiting fans are filling city-centre hotels and staying longer within the Swansea area, and even the city pubs are crammed with locals wanting to watch the games on TV. Belonging to the richest league in the world has given Swansea international exposure on a previously unknown scale, and can only be good for business.

Another side of the coin is the attractiveness of the city to players who are being wooed by the club – the beauty of Gower, the seaside location and the warm atmosphere of places like the Mumbles have been used by the club as additional enticements to players potentially moving to the area.  

It is hard to think that the previous (brief) sojourn in the top flight had the same impact on the city’s fortunes, but there can be no doubt that the whole current set-up – the stadium, the club organisation, the team and the football they play – is of a quality sufficient to get world-wide attention. The club is not only bringing pleasure to the hearts of the fans, it is bringing a glamour and a profile to Swansea that could not have been imagined 30 years ago.

The city now needs the team to stay in the Premier League and help defy those gloomy economic predictions! Supporting your Swans is now about more than just football – it’s about taking a pride in Swansea as a whole, and keeping the football team as the beating heart of a city facing huge challenges outside of the Liberty stadium.

In 1964, 12-year-old Gilbert Honey Jones was elected Swansea Town’s Boy of the Year. It was a reward for his devotion to the Swans and his activity with the Junior Supporters’ Club. He got to travel to Crystal Palace, sit with the Swans’ directors and even eat with the team, according to an article in “Soccer Star” magazine. Apart from Gilbert, young fans Stewart Grindley, David Squibb, Paul Bowden and Peter Honey Jones were named in the report – waving their rattles and autograph books and cheering on the Swans through all adversity.

Where are Gilbert and the others now? Still following the Swans? We would love to hear from you, and anyone else who was Boy of the Year. Follow this link to read the whole “Soccer Star” piece:   Boy of the Year 1964

Scrapbook cover from the 1960s

 Two scrapbooks from the 1960s have been donated to the  archive. They mostly contain newspaper cuttings of transfer news, speculation and deals. The unknown compiler also made lists of Swansea players he saw and rated them with his own star-mark system. Are there any more items like this out there? Or a shoebox under the bed or in the attic? It’s all great stuff, and please keep it coming.

                  Follow the link for more images: Scrapbooks

Swansea Town travelled away to play Arsenal on the 28th January 1950, in the 4th Round of the FA Cup. Sadly the Swans lost narrowly to the eventual Cup winners. 57,305 saw the game at the old Highbury stadium, but we don’t know how many went up from Swansea! Were any of you there?

Team lineups for the Arsenal-Swansea Town FA Cup match Jan 1950

Please note that although some material is already up, this website is still under construction in preparation for the project launch in January.

You can take the survey by choosing survey from the menu at the top.

In 1919 a  rail strike resulted in specially chartered passenger steamers being used by supporters from Swansea to watch their team play away at Cardiff City in the Southern League. 5,000 supporters made the journey west.