Now history is repeating itself, this time at relegation rivals Exeter City, and it is another story of treachery, greed and deceit.
Lewis became Vice Chairman of Exeter last season, as part of a consortium involving John Russell and celebrity spoon-bender Uri Geller, with Russell and Lewis assuming day-to-day control of the club. Unfortunately for the Grecians, Lewis has failed to learn any of the lessons after his torrid spell in Swansea and has once again taken a football club to the brink of financial ruin.
I heard the first rumblings of discontent about six months ago and so I logged on to Exeweb (http://www.ecfc.co.uk/), the largest Exeter fan site on the net, more out of curiosity than concern. What I found was a football club tearing itself apart. The message board was alive with irate fans calling for the heads of Russell and Lewis - or Pinky and Perky, as they prefer to call them. It is no exaggeration to say that Exeter's plight is an action replay of the horrific scenario played out at Vetch Field; only this time the ending may be distinctly less than happy!
When it comes to killing football clubs, both Russell and Lewis have "previous form"; Russell at Scarborough (where he was Chairman) and Lewis at Newport and then Swansea. It is worth noting that both Scarborough and Newport are now non-league outfits. Russell also has "previous" in the legal sense having been convicted of fraud a few years ago in a hire purchase scam. It's not a track record to inspire confidence…and so it proved when Russell and Lewis entered into negotiations with Lincoln City, their initial target. Within a few days Lincoln's owners had seen the light and sent them packing.
Still eager to be involved with a football club, Lewis turned to his old friend Geller, whose son Daniel is a keen Exeter fan. With financial problems already crippling the club, Chairman Ivor Doble quickly struck a deal. Mike Lewis was back on the "gravy train".
What has happened in the nine months since then would be hard to believe - if we hadn't seen it all before at Swansea. History truly is repeating itself with rumours of extortionate salaries, fiddled expenses and missing gate money. The result of all this is a club over £2million in debt and bottom of the entire Football League.
Matters came to a head earlier this month when one irate creditor finally lost patience. Queensway Publishing Ltd had been chasing payment of an invoice for £4170.96 since last June. Eight months and one County Court judgement later, the bill still hadn't been paid. This led the London-based printers to take drastic action; a letter was sent to Exeter's Board of Directors, with copies sent to both the Football League and Football Association, threatening to issue a winding-up order if payment in full was not received by February 19th. In typical fashion, Mike Lewis appeared on Devon television proclaiming proper procedures for a winding-up petition had not been followed, and that the club would therefore sue Queensway… the threat was quickly revoked and a cheque has been sent to clear the debt.
Things are just as unstable in the Boardroom. For starters, Uri Geller has, on a number of occasions, publicly stated he is the owner of Exeter City Football Club. However, a quick visit to the Companies House website shows that Geller is not even listed as a director. This in turn has led to intense speculation that Ivor Doble still legally owns the club and is set to regain control in the very near future.
In the meantime Russell and Lewis have been attempting to consolidate their positions by removing "dissenters". It seems some of the other Board members have been asking some awkward questions with regards the club's finances. Two directors in particular, Bernard Frowd and Peter Carter, have proved to be an inconvenience and so an EGM has been called for March 12th with the intention of removing them. A Board meeting to discuss this issue, planned for February 20th, was cancelled at the last minute as both Russell and Lewis announced: "information would be given out that could be used against us" - are these the words of men with nothing to hide???
The Grecian fans' reaction has left me with a real feeling of déjà vu. At first they greeted Lewis and his consortium with cautious optimism. This turned to real hope with the arrival of billionaire singer Michael Jackson as an "honorary" director (no jokes about the youth team, please). However, despite Jackson presence, the club was slipping further into the red and questions were being raised about the handling of the club's finances. Cautious optimism was rapidly giving way to suspicion as more revelations came to light.
As the financial noose tightened, suspicion developed into bitter hatred. More and more dissenting voice could be heard and everything they said pointed to a club heading for administration - at the very least! It was time for more direct action and so the Exeter City Supporters Trust was formed, with the initial aims of claiming a seat on the Board, and the removal of Russell and Lewis in the process.
The Trust's development has taken a very similar path to our own. The same questions are being asked, the same statements made and the same leaders are being forged. After a difficult birth, the Supporters Trust is fast becoming a major player in the battle for Exeter's survival, just as our Trust was instrumental in securing the Swans' survival.
Of course, from a Swansea City point of view all of this is pretty good news. As much as I have sympathy for Exeter's plight my primary concern is the Swans' survival in the Football League. The fact remains that one of our main rivals in the relegation battle is being torn apart off the field and is falling apart on it. Having slumped to the foot of the table, Exeter's fans are deserting their team in droves and the attendance fell below two thousand for their last home game, a disastrous 2-5 defeat at the hands of Kidderminster.
Although we are still in trouble at the bottom, we have the advantage of stability behind the scenes and a magnificent 5,000 strong Jack Army roaring their support. But the biggest advantage we hold over Exeter is that, for us, Mike Lewis is just another hated name from the past…for Exeter he represents an unwanted part of the present that seriously threatens their future. | 
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