It’s been a quandary for some for six years. Numerous Swansea City Trust board members have come and gone, some gone more than once, and the talking really never stopped. By talking I mean never ending, complicated and at times profound. You would expect that during an intended legal action, despite the timeframe.
The settlement news on Tuesday wasn’t a surprise. Over time we have seen the introduction of Jake Silverstein and Martin Morgan to the board, the former predictable the latter slightly surprising. I say that as Martin Morgan has long been a master of disguise when he has involvement in Swansea City matters. He tends to keep out of the spotlight but very much remains in it, well, in the darker corners of the same room that is. That has always been his modus operandi ever since his name was known and connected to the club.
It’s a clever tactic, it works, and that’s as clear as any manoeuvre you will have seen since the uprising that took Swansea City by the neck in 2001. More may come from this, a long game is sometimes the best one to play. Like the Ryder cup it’s not over in a few hours, and then of course Silverstein has been patient as well.
It’s almost as if there was a plan all along.
2001 was twenty one years ago, but you have to go back to 1997 to get the full picture. A murky and tainted time of self agenda, and a vision of property development and big bucks. That year was possibly the first time that Swansea fans started to see the difference between the North Bank and the corridors of a Swansea boardroom soaked in good wine and smoke stained oak.
The focus then was a piece of land holding an athletics stadium in an area that was known as white rock. The owners or custodians more like of Swansea City and it’s future were Silver Shield. The club was just a commodity and a pathway back then to a new stadium, and it was never going to happen. Swansea is a parochial city, it was even more so back then. That was twenty five years ago. The Internet was new, the communication levels were basic but it drove matters forwards. Fans could get news far quicker than the evening post, and the actions leading up to 2001 by certain fans groups determined a future we see today.
Despite some seriously questionable underhand actions back then by Swansea City’s designated owners it was all to end in tears, they bit off far more than they could chew. The next four years saw a slow to understand swans support still hoping ‘Johnny Hollins Barmy Army’ could flourish. Despite a promotion from the bottom league and one season above, the inevitable fall from grace would happen. No investment, no desire and absolutely no intention to do anything other than the very basic saw the swans relegated.
It was inevitable, and that’s when the penny did seem to drop.
It was clear that local councillors, influential whatever’s and talkers on the periphery had no desire to assist, fund or even agree to working with Silver Shield who would become ninth floor. They quickly scurried away leaving a string of fall guys in the firing line. The last chancer would be Tony Petty, and of course that story, however skewed and clouded has been told already. You believe what you choose to believe, but it shouldn’t be forgotten some of us were there, we saw, and many made sure we influenced what was to be the next phase.
The most brilliant phase in Swansea City’s history.
Sadly some have since departed who formed and worked tirelessly for the inception of the (Swansea City Supporters Society Ltd ) Swansea City Trust. Those of us that knew them and still remember them today still hold serious grievances of their non inclusion in the Swansea City story. Remember these people worked for free, they were supporters of one of the worst football teams in the four divisions. There was no premier league glory or an expectation the swans would win any game they played in. It was day to day survival, and that was a year before the local business men and fans took the club to a level that was unimaginable.
The endorsed information of that time is as follows : There were e-mails flying thick and fast from Llanelli to Moscow, Cardiff to Swansea, Gloucester to Kingston-Upon-Thames, between fans who were Accountants, Solicitors, Financial Advisers and Businessmen, all determined to ensure the survival of our Club. The Model Rules of the Swansea City Supporters’ Society Ltd were registered on 4 October 2001 and as the Supporters Trust was now a full constitutional body we became the nerve centre of information for the way forwards
Someone seems to have dropped the ball since then.
When I read on Monday night the agreed statements from the trust and the club I felt little emotion. In fact I couldn’t care. What happened nearly thirty years ago has resulted in a million dollar business and a present but inactive supporters trust. I don’t care about the figures, the percentages or the intentions of those now involved. I see a few faces around from yesteryear, in those darker corners of this new Swansea era. There will no doubt be something to all that in the future, who knows, or in my case who cares.
What did make me smile this week was the actual reasoning for the trust taking action against a variety of people who presided over this mess in 2016. The whole crux of the action was the non inclusion of the swans trust when the club was negotiated to be sold. A group with a 21.1% interest in Swansea City completely disregarded. You could see their point. What made that smile turn to laughter was the announcement by the trust that there was an agreement between all parties and any legal action had been halted.
It’s an odd, odd world that in 2016 the swans trust felt obliged to commence an action against today’s current majority owners due to their non inclusion when the club was sold to them. Yet on Tuesday afternoon that same trust announced that it has been agreed that the action had stopped. That’s a supporters trust with hundreds of paid members. Those members who themselves only found out about the conclusion ‘after’ discussions and agreements had taken place. They were not involved, not consulted, and kept apart from any decision making.
I’m pretty certain this morning the irony will not be lost on you.