| one for the older fans 13:57 - Apr 16 with 3736 views | shandyjack |
having been born in 1985 and missing the rise and fall in the 80's, can anyone see any similarities between then and now in terms of the squad and state of the club etc. Obviously with the ground and traing base etc we are better off now but did we drop like a stone last time due to poor squad, lack of investment and can we learn from those mistakes now |  |
| |  |
| one for the older fans on 19:49 - Apr 17 with 1067 views | morningstar |
| one for the older fans on 19:43 - Apr 17 by AnotherJohn |
I've read that we hadn't paid most of irwin's transfer fee by the time we went bust in 1984, but I don't know what Liverpool got in the end. I had a skim through Curtis' book and another factor in the relegation season was that we were hit with a transfer embargo because we had not been making payments on the Irwin and Kennedy signings, Our attendances declined alarmingly to about 11,000 in the league and only 5000 for our record high scoring game against Sliema Wanderers. We were 2 million in debt mid-season.
Most of Curt's account of that season appears in the free sample from his book:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=K_h7Yi9erkkC&pg=PT125&lpg=PT125&dq=colin+irw |
I believe we were paid out on the insurance for Irwin, but by that time were in total free fall and that money just disappeared into the black hole of a debt pit that we'd racked up. |  |
| |
| one for the older fans on 19:56 - Apr 17 with 1055 views | oh_tommy_tommy |
We are a small club , what we've achcieved twice is quite incredible to be honest.
We spent what we couldnt afford and it nearly killed us.
You can see why we've been running a tight ship .
we did learn from the previous fall from grace. |  |
| |
| one for the older fans on 19:58 - Apr 17 with 1053 views | morningstar |
| one for the older fans on 19:46 - Apr 17 by Swanseajill |
I was in the YMCA that day when Struel announced what our gates needed to be ( I thought it was higher than 18000) Although I'm older than you Garry, and my marbles are getting a bit chipped nowadays.🙄
I did ask him the question of...."Don't you think that is too high a crowd, considering the current gates we were getting)
That what we need to survive, he said. The new stand had wiped us out. |
Thirty years too late was Malcolm. Had great vision for the club, but unfortunately it wasn't the right time, a poor time for football all round. If he'd had the opportunity that 'this lot' had, he would never have sold us down the river, people will disagree with me and that's fine. But Malcolm Struel was the best chairman our club has ever had. RIP. | |
| |
| one for the older fans on 20:00 - Apr 17 with 1047 views | Loyal |
| one for the older fans on 19:56 - Apr 17 by oh_tommy_tommy |
We are a small club , what we've achcieved twice is quite incredible to be honest.
We spent what we couldnt afford and it nearly killed us.
You can see why we've been running a tight ship .
we did learn from the previous fall from grace. |
All about their own ego. |  |
| Nolan sympathiser, clout expert, personal friend of Leigh Dineen, advocate and enforcer of porridge swallows.
The official inventor of the tit w@nk. | | Poll: | Who should be Swansea number 1 |
| |
| one for the older fans on 20:00 - Apr 17 with 1047 views | Swanseajill |
| one for the older fans on 19:58 - Apr 17 by morningstar |
Thirty years too late was Malcolm. Had great vision for the club, but unfortunately it wasn't the right time, a poor time for football all round. If he'd had the opportunity that 'this lot' had, he would never have sold us down the river, people will disagree with me and that's fine. But Malcolm Struel was the best chairman our club has ever had. RIP. |
Correct.
I can't disagree with that. |  | | |
| one for the older fans on 20:03 - Apr 17 with 1042 views | AnotherJohn |
| one for the older fans on 19:49 - Apr 17 by morningstar |
I believe we were paid out on the insurance for Irwin, but by that time were in total free fall and that money just disappeared into the black hole of a debt pit that we'd racked up. |
Curt says in his book that due to our financial plight we had skimped on the premiums and insured Irwin for much less than the purchase price. I imagine we would have received whatever the pay out was in the season after relegation when Irwin's attempted comeback stalled after three appearances. |  | | |
| one for the older fans on 20:08 - Apr 17 with 1032 views | oh_tommy_tommy |
| one for the older fans on 20:00 - Apr 17 by Loyal |
All about their own ego. |
nah , they run us well enough , greed swayed them in the end.
temtation for us all .
I would have given the trust just enough , but i aint a greedy c@nt.
And they'll always be remembered for that . | |
| |
| one for the older fans on 20:13 - Apr 17 with 1030 views | morningstar |
| one for the older fans on 20:03 - Apr 17 by AnotherJohn |
Curt says in his book that due to our financial plight we had skimped on the premiums and insured Irwin for much less than the purchase price. I imagine we would have received whatever the pay out was in the season after relegation when Irwin's attempted comeback stalled after three appearances. |
I wouldn't argue with that John, though i wouldn't be surprised if we couldn't insure him for the full transfer fee as he'd had underlying issues before he came to us. He failed a medical at Coventry some months before, and they were going too pay a lower transfer fee! Something was dodgy about that deal. | |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| one for the older fans on 22:11 - Apr 17 with 975 views | dameedna |
The Colin Irwin story is interesting and gives a sense of the deal power between us and Liverpool. Good player and let's protect his status as a player.
Toshack Boerzma Callaghan Smith Kennedy etc. Cut a long story short we now have a deal history with Spurs before it was Liverpool.
Detail does not matter, we are a small club no doubts there. Struel was an excellent chairman but he should have stopped the major ground improvements and invested in 2 or 3 more players.
Ahead of our time then by a Country mile but now it is not so hard to pick up a billlionaire owner and we see evidence of that all round the top two leagues.
Spending power is important but I'd say since ML left we have been unlucky. It is not over yet though we have a far stronger squad of established pros so we could scrape out.
We have a manager with good champs experience and probably better than Toshack at the time who was innovative, hard and well connected but not used to a relegation scrap and without his better players who helped him along.
I can't see us doing as bad as last time and I can't see us bouncing back unless the owners are prepared to spend and retain. At least this time we have them whereas last time we did not have a pot to pi55 in. [Post edited 17 Apr 2017 22:14]
|  | | |
| one for the older fans on 10:01 - Apr 18 with 913 views | EasternJack |
I was young at the time, but my recollection is that it was a perfect storm of over-spending/high-wages, ageing key players and most importantly plummeting attendances which were our main revenue stream.
There are some parallels with this time, although I think the current sustainable approach to finances and the 3-year parachute cushion would at least give us a fair shot at not falling further this time around.
A lot depends on how much the owners decide to gamble on trying to return. Long-term I'd rather us do a WBA/Stoke than a Blackburn/Charlton.
Still - I'm holding out for a bit of a miracle in the next a few weeks. |  |
| |
| one for the older fans on 13:34 - Apr 18 with 887 views | andypitt56 |
| one for the older fans on 10:01 - Apr 18 by EasternJack |
I was young at the time, but my recollection is that it was a perfect storm of over-spending/high-wages, ageing key players and most importantly plummeting attendances which were our main revenue stream.
There are some parallels with this time, although I think the current sustainable approach to finances and the 3-year parachute cushion would at least give us a fair shot at not falling further this time around.
A lot depends on how much the owners decide to gamble on trying to return. Long-term I'd rather us do a WBA/Stoke than a Blackburn/Charlton.
Still - I'm holding out for a bit of a miracle in the next a few weeks. |
I am in the same boat as the original poster, I know all about the petty years but nothing really prior to that. I am expecting us to be mid table championship next season. We also have a relatively young squad. Financially we are not screwed unless the Americans do something stupid, so we cant compare ourselves to Portsmouth, Bolton and teams like that, because they were millions in debt before they even got to the championship. | | | |
| one for the older fans on 13:56 - Apr 18 with 876 views | perchrockjack |
Not sure Struel was our best chairman although he didn't have much opposition
In the eighties ,we were pariahs because we failed to pay transfer fees like Ray Kennedy. Liverpool could have busted us . We owe them everything as we wouldn't have a club without them
We were built on sand
Now we re built on concrete but Jenkins has dismantled the brickwork | |
| |
| one for the older fans on 22:51 - Apr 19 with 795 views | bonymine |
| one for the older fans on 19:58 - Apr 17 by morningstar |
Thirty years too late was Malcolm. Had great vision for the club, but unfortunately it wasn't the right time, a poor time for football all round. If he'd had the opportunity that 'this lot' had, he would never have sold us down the river, people will disagree with me and that's fine. But Malcolm Struel was the best chairman our club has ever had. RIP. |
I remember meeting Malcolm & Tosh for the first time with my family at the Holiday Inn in Slough before a game at Brentford back in 1978/9 ; I was 13 years old and a mad Swans fan.
I was in awe as I sat there listening to them all chatting around the table and Tosh asking me about what school I went to etc ; then I went to the 'Games Room' in the hotel (in those days it was pinball machines & Space Invaders 😂) and was delighted to see Curt, Robbie & Charlo all playing these games and having a laugh just as any teenagers of their age at the time would have done .....
Great memories, never to be forgotten !
PS We lost to bloody Brentford 😂😂😂
STID. Together Stronger 💪💪💪 |  |
| |
| one for the older fans on 16:58 - Apr 20 with 734 views | 3swan |
| one for the older fans on 13:56 - Apr 18 by perchrockjack |
Not sure Struel was our best chairman although he didn't have much opposition
In the eighties ,we were pariahs because we failed to pay transfer fees like Ray Kennedy. Liverpool could have busted us . We owe them everything as we wouldn't have a club without them
We were built on sand
Now we re built on concrete but Jenkins has dismantled the brickwork |
Perch while I agree that Liverpool could have gone down the route to bust us, it would have been very bad P.R. for them.
We were bust there was nothing left to give, they wiped the debt but in reality there was no other real option to take as you can't get something from nothing | | | |
| one for the older fans on 19:50 - Apr 20 with 703 views | Wingstandwood |
Then and now? The Premier League Swansea City has had much more loyal support unlike the old Vetch Division 1 days where empty terraces/wide open empty spaces were painfully there to see. The place was half full for quite a few games.
I believe that with expansion Prmeier League SCFC's average attendance would have risen and the club would have grown but sadly the fact the sellouts were no local lads whom truly loved their club Jack Walker style.
Jack Walker was a philanthropist and payed for Ewood Park modernisation/expansion and Blackburn team strengthening out of his own pocket by the ££££'s tens of million. I have pondered how different things could be now if SCFC had real owners that really cared with ££££'s to invest. The similarity then and now?....Struel/board and the Jenkins/board never bankrolled SCFC. Remember the Yanks club overdraught workings!
Of course we have better infrastructure but that means f#ck all with the wrong type of ownership that may be more inclined to pay off debts, sell to recoup investment or to make a profit or get dividend payouts. Time will tell but if SCFC is unable to offload its higher earners in the event of relegation consecutive relegation is not an impossibility IMO.
Last word Jack Walkers 'sell-out' daughter
In 2015 Liberal Democrats leader and Rovers fan Tim Farron publicly criticised Walker's daughter Lynda Matthewman. Farron stated “Part of me is cross with Lynda. I have to ask did they really do due diligence on the Venky's before they sold? This meant everything to her dad and they’ve sold it to a bunch of clowns". Mmmmmmmmmm! |  |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
