Steve Carroll delves into the SoS fanzine archives to bring us Swans Myths. This was originally published in Issue 56 of Swansea Oh Swansea fanzine, published in February 2020.

As fans we're all guilty of believing certain myths about our football club, but do they actually ring true. Here I will look in greater detail at some of the more well known one's and see what exactly is true about them.

Andy Carroll always scores against us
Certain players always seem to score against some clubs, and there can be no doubt that the current Newcastle striker has been a thorn in our side down the years. But just how often did he find the back of the net against us? His first appearance against us was a decade ago in February 2010 when he scored a late equaliser at the Liberty in a 1-1 draw for Newcastle. By the time we were in the Premier League he'd moved to Liverpool, but he failed to add to his tally in either game that term, even though he missed a guilt edged chance early on in the game at Anfield. The following year he moved to West Ham and it was his header that settled that match at Upton Park in 2013. He only played against us once the following season, and while he didn't score he did set up Kevin Nolan for both of his goals in a 2-0 loss but was later sent off for swinging an arm at Chico. He only made sixteen appearances in 2014/15 but typically played in both games against us and found the net three times. He added to his tally by scoring in a 4-1 win over us on Boxing Day 2016 which takes his tally to six goals against us in ten games, which is by no means as prolific as we probably think. But considering he only scored 26 league goals for the Hammers and five were against us then it's fair to say that is a lot. But in terms of the deadliest striker against us look no further than Diego Costa who found the net against us an astonishing eight times in just five games!

Stoke is a Graveyard for us
We've been in the same division as Stoke for the last nine seasons and it's fair to say there's not much love lost between the sides. Plus a trip to the Potteries is grim to say the least, it always seems to be cold at that hellhole, although I'm pretty sure Messi could do it there in answer to the popular football cliché. In our last nine visits there we have collected an abysmal two points, a 1-1 draw in 2013/14 and a 2-2 in 2015/16 from 2-0 down. Historically it's a place we've always struggled throughout our history. We've only come away with the three points four times, the most famous of those was in 1981 as the win put us top of the first division for the first time in our history. This myth is one that is pretty much true and I can only hope they get relegated so we don't have to play them next season!

Former players always score against us
Ex-players regularly come back to haunt their former clubs and it certainly feels like it happens to us far too often. Whilst it's impossible to go through every season to check this (it isn't impossible, I just don't want to spend days doing so!) I've looked back over recent history to see how often it occurs. Last season saw, Pablo Hernandez, Joe Allen, Gwion Edwards and Tammy Abraham find the net against us, although the last of those were in October, which indicates it doesn't happen as much as we believe. So far this term Sam Clucas has scored against us in both games against Stoke, Danny Graham for Blackburn and Scott Sinclair for Preston, which again indicates although we get stung by former Swans it perhaps isn't that regular. Some players have haunted as more than others, Wilfried Bony springs to mind here, after leaving Swansea in 2015 he only scored twelve goals in the two and a half years until he returned to SA1. In that time he only found the net twelve times and four of them were against us!

Teams end bad runs against us
This is another popular one, and it's fair to say we've achieved a few of these so far this term. The obvious one is Stoke, who hadn't won in sixteen games and were 1-0 down after just a minute at the Liberty last October. But they came back to win 2-1 thanks to a last minute winner which is typical of us. Millwall hadn't won away all season until they came to us in late November, you guessed it though. They ended that run thanks to Jed Wallace's free kick. Even a 0-0 with Barnsley just after Christmas ended a run of not keeping a clean sheet since August. There was also a standout one from last season when QPR secured a first win in eight last April when they thumped us 4-0 at Loftus Road. In the interests of fairness though I will point out a few other stats that actually make us look a bit better. Sheffield United lost at the Liberty last January, but then went on a run that lasted until December without suffering a loss on the road and we are still the last side outside the regular top six to defeat Liverpool which goes back all the way to January 2018. So it's fair to say that although we do seem to be a favourable club to play against if you're struggling, we can also spring a surprise and trip up clubs who are successful.

Swansea Indeoendent would like to thank Steve for this article, he will be featured again in the near future. Another real Swansea asset and top Jack.

You can follow Steve on twitter @StevenSOS1987

The fanzine website is www.sosfanzine.com

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