Sam Ricketts says he left the Liberty Stadium because he felt Hull were two years ahead of the Swans

Ricketts departed Swansea less than two months after they agonisingly lost the 2006 play off final to Barnsley denying themselves a place in the Championship to boot.

Ricketts had been one of the stars of that season and in his two years at the club had risen from a non league player to a Welsh international.  And it was his goal in the play off semi final that earned the Swans a draw against Brentford before they finished the job at Griffin Park.

And as the club tried to pick itself up from throwing away a fantastic league position to that Millennium Stadium heartbreak, Ricketts was agonising over a decision that meant he swapped South Wales for Humberside.

It was £300,000 that Hull spent to take him to the KC Stadium but it is a decision he now feels is justified especially with Hull enjoying their first Premier League season that has started with them taking four points from the opening six available.

Ricketts told the News of the World "I only left Swansea for my career - that's the only reason I went.

"I felt Hull were a couple of years ahead as a club and I've been proved right.   Two years after I left Swansea they won promotion to the Championship and that's the division Hull were in when I joined them.

"And just as Swansea came up, we won promotion.   It's amazing how things turn out because had we won that play off final I wouldn't have left.

"In a footballer's career, two years is a long time."

Ricketts returns to face his former club on Tuesday night when the Swans take on Hull in the 2nd Round of the Carling Cup.

Photo: Action Images

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