Can Swansea’s Success Story Continue?
Swansea City won their first major trophy last season after picking up the Capital One Cup in February, and although they are unlikely to win another, it doesn’t mean things can’t get better for the Welsh club. Teams such as Aston Villa and Newcastle United, who have been top half sides for most of the Premiership era, have slipped away over the last few years – the exception being the Toon’s 2011/2012 campaign – so can Michael Laudrup’s establish themselves as a top half club?Even with their European campaign, which will include at least six additional matches in the group stage, they are streets ahead of West Ham and Norwich – two other teams with ambition to become established in the Premier League, in terms of quality, in my opinion.
One other attribute they will benefit from is that many first team regulars have experience of Thursday night football in Europe… just where Birmingham City faltered. It’s clear that Birmingham have never since recovered from that fixture packed campaign in 2011/2012.
This summer is where the Swans have really added to their first team squad, firstly by clearing out dead wood Championship class-players and adding eight new faces – who remarkably have an average age of just 21. Wilfried Bony and Jonjo Shelvey the most notable names amongst that bunch – both of whom have significant experience at the top level. Not forgetting Jordi Amat, a solid Spain U21 and Catalonia defender who may not be the biggest but can certainly handle his own at the back.
Topping it all off, remarkably this small club is now supposedly making a profit as they continue selling out their fixtures with ease and whispers of an 11,000 seating extension now sounds a real possibility. This would take their ground capacity to over 30,000 – bigger than the ‘Cardiff City Stadium’ which will no doubt thrill the Jacks.
New young players, stadium extension plans and a philosophy of passing football are sure to be the spearhead in ensuring Swansea’s success story carry’s long into the future.
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