December 27 2009

Crystal Palace

Matches against Swansea City are like return journeys with Eurostar, few and far between, writes Simon Pophale.

Up until last season, it had a 25 years gap since we last had to make the trip.

In England, one of the anomalies of our great league system is that we can have the chance to go abroad and while Swansea is not exactly like playing in Europe, it does give us the chance to visit another country.

Swansea City have had two homes (and two names) and their most recent one, the Liberty Stadium saw us visit last season and we came away with a 1-3 victory.

This was notable as it has started a 100 per cent record there but it was our first ever win in Wales against the Swans. Matches date back to our first season in the Third Division, back in 1920/21 so it might not be an often played match, but we do go back a long way.

Swansea City were originally named Swansea Town and played at the Vetch Field. So, this is where the story begins. Our first visit in 1920 saw a 0-0 draw, which saw us take the only point of the Vetch Field era, as despite Swansea playing there for 93 years, that was as good as it got.

We did not play Swansea Town again until after the Second World War in Division Three South, when we lost in November 1947 by 2-0. The following season we went one worse as the early season exchanges saw us lost 3-0 at the Vetch. This was the only time that we have played Swansea in consecutive seasons, until the present day.

One of the reasons why we have not often met each other is that when one club goes in an upward direction, the other follows in the opposite direction.

We were mainly a club which, despite a brief adventure with the Second Division in the 1920s, saw us ensconced in the lower half of the footballing pyramid, while Swansea had spent more time in the Second Division than anywhere else when we crossed paths again, this time in 1964 and once again, Swansea managed to dish out another defeat for us, but at least we got on the score sheet, as we went down by 2-1.

It would be 19 years until our next league meeting which, unbeknownst to us at the time, would be the last trip to Swansea City (as they changed their name in 1969) and it came at a time where both clubs were in the doldrums following an unsuccessful tilt at the big time.

For us, the break up of the “Team of the Eighties” and the financial problems which saw Ron Noades come to power, were all things to come for Swansea when we travelled up to the Vetch in 1983 and lost once again, but by a solitary goal. Swansea won six other matches all season, so it showed not only how bad our record is, but how bad the situation was financially and in a football sense, at the time.

It took Swansea a lot longer to recover in terms of league position and it would be 26 years before we met in the league again. This time it would be at Swansea’s new ground of the Liberty Stadium and despite Swansea having a fantastic season, recording an 8th place finish, we managed to break our duck in Swansea.

Goals from Victor Moses, Jose Fonte and Shefki Kuqi saw us score three for the first time, win for the first time and while Gorka Pintado spoilt a clean sheet it was not enough to stop those Eagles fans going back East with a victory to celebrate.

History has shown that we have not had the best of it in Swansea, so another win is well overdue. It might be the last time that the team, with its current staff, may play together, so even more reason to sign off this year with a win.