‘Heavens to Murgatroyd’, cried Jack Butty, to no one in particular. ‘What a few months it’s been.’ The Butty Man was not looking his best – dirty, dishevelled, and distraught, he looked like Snagglepuss who’d spent the last year in the denizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, or was it the harbour inns of Perranporth? Wherever it was, it was certainly time to clean up and ship out. A new boat and a new crew await, and Jack Butty is ready.

A season ends, and, for fans, it’s an opportunity to reflect and consider the prospects for the Swans next season. Looking back, the sacking of Luke Williams feels like the inevitability of a car crash, which most could see happening right before our eyes. The position he left us in – dallying with relegation – was quickly improved by caretaker coach Alan Sheehan. He not only moved us to safety but also improved the football playing style and brought us to the edge of the playoffs. That left many thinking about what might have been and what this may signify for next season. The mood is promising with the new ownership group being business savvy and ambitious for success. This, with a much greater alignment between the owners, the Director of Football, and the head coach, combined with shared ambition and the prospect of wiser football investment decisions, bodes well. This is inspiring more confidence than has been seen for many years, possibly since relegation from the Premier League.

The confirmation of Sheehan (below) as head coach is deserved and almost universally approved. The investment by Luka Modric in the club, the prospect of Darren O’Dea joining as assistant coach from Celtic, and the signings of Melker Widell, Bobby Wales, and Zeidane Inoussa have fans licking their lips for what might be expected. The anticipation is that we will have a transfer window the like of which has not been seen for many years, as the recruitment team endeavours to build a promotion-battling squad to back Sheehan’s requirements. The next two months will be exciting.

At the season's end, it’s interesting to look at other clubs and how they worked against the odds. These are always the stories that fans talk about and excite them into dreaming of the possibilities for their club. This is what provides the fascination in football and promotes hope for the future.

The promotion of Wrexham and the relegation of Cardiff means that one Welsh rivalry is exchanged for another. It isn’t easy to imagine Swansea vs Wrexham as a derby game, but it will have a football edge competing for the number one Welsh team. For Wrexham, it’s the stuff of dreams, and it will be interesting to see how they cope with the rough and tumble of the Championship.

Looking at the Championship table at the end of 2024 – roughly the halfway point in the season, several stories tell of strong second-half season performances. Oxford were twenty-third in the table at the end of December with 18 points and facing a struggle to stay in the league. They pulled back to finish in seventeenth position with 53 points. Portsmouth, newly promoted from League 1, had a shaky start up to Christmas but rallied in the second half of the season to finish in sixteenth place.

Probably the most impressive second-half achievement was Coventry City. Mark Robins, a hugely respected Championship coach, was at the Sky Blues for seven years before being sacked in November 2024 after losing form. Frank Lampard was appointed as the replacement head coach and had a positive effect almost immediately. In the new year, the team went on a run of eight wins in nine matches, which quickly moved them up the table. They made the play-offs but were unsuccessful against Sunderland, finishing in fifth place on 69 points.

Sheffield Utd led the table at the end of the year by three points, but ended the season in third place on 90 points, ten points behind Leeds and Burnley. They will be disappointed by the end-of-season outcome, losing to Sunderland in the playoff final. As a football sage used to say, ‘football is a funny ole game.’

What will the league look like next year? Sheffield United will undoubtedly be pushing for automatic promotion. Relegated from the Premier League, Leicester, Ipswich, and Southampton will be strongly backed financially with parachute funding, and are expected to be in the mix. You would also expect Bristol City, Coventry, Blackburn Rovers, Millwall, West Brom, and Middlesbrough, all in the top ten, to aim to push on next season. That is ten teams to watch out for, not including the dark horses that turn up every season.

That may appear daunting, but Swans fans will know we can seriously threaten all teams in the league. The season run-in under Sheehan proved that. New signings are already in place, with more expected. The anticipation is that the squad will be stronger and we will be even more competitive. We will all look forward to Sheehan’s first full season as the Swans’ head coach. How will he set the team up, what will be his preferred eleven, what will be the tactics he uses to change games when needed, how will he get us scoring more goals and strengthening our defence – the holy grail for all successful teams.

That is our hope for the coming season. As one old football philosopher says, ‘It’s the hope that kills you’, but it is also the stuff of dreams.

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Artwork by Swansea Independent