I always enjoy reading about how other fans got involved in following the Swans – especially those from outside the area. This week, Brian Price from Edinburgh tells his tale in the latest Jack Outpost series.
A question I am often asked during my sporadic travels to see the Swans play: What the hell is a Scotsman doing here in Carlisle/Darlington/Rochdale/Chester etc. supporting the Jacks?
Well, the answer lies way back in 1981. An eight-year-old Brian Price is watching Sportscene - Scotland's equivalent to Match of the Day - on television. After the Scottish highlights comes coverage of a match between Swansea City and Leeds United. The commentators basically say that Swansea have done really well to have climbed four divisions in five years but will certainly struggle in this, their first ever match in the top flight. I have no idea what the result of the game is and sit glued to the screen as the events you all know so well unfold.
From that moment I am hooked and Swansea City becomes my adopted team. Fate is sealed a couple of months later when the Boys' Club I play for in Glasgow buys a new kit - the Swans' Patrick number, albeit with black shorts and red socks!
It was about seven and a half years later before I first got to see the Swans play in the flesh. My family had moved to Derby and the Swans had drawn Rotherham in the end of season play-offs. After the 1-0 success in the first leg, I was determined to see the Swans make it through to the next stage, so with the aid of a friend's free rail pass I headed north in search of Millmoor. The whole night is a bit of a blur but the definite highlights were Sean McCarthy's wonder strike in the first half, the amazing Tommy Hutchinson running rings round players half his age, and the late Robbie James bossing the midfield. How I would have loved to have been able to make it to Torquay to see promotion to the third division sealed.
Over the next seven years I saw the Swans play on numerous occasions throughout the midlands area and when I returned to Scotland to go to University, I promised that I would still support the Swans as much as possible. I have kept that promise, venturing to grounds in the north of England, meeting up with some familiar friends in the pubs before the matches and on the terraces.
However, during those times where it's been impossible to see the Swans first-hand, the upsurge in the popularity and availability of the Internet has helped me to keep track of my heroes. From the reproduced newspaper and teletext match reports, to the ever enthusiastic fans-eye reports and stories, I spend many hours in front of the screen catching up with the gossip, taking part in the Perdictascore and Jacks Fantasy League, and exchanging messages with other members of the Internet Mailing List.
Through this list, and the ever-increasing number of Swans-related websites, I can access all the information I need whenever I want. To me - and the countless number of Swans fans living or working abroad - these are an invaluable source of information. On behalf of all those exiled Jacks, I'm sure you'd all like to join me in thanking those who write and maintain the websites. Long may their hard work continue.
So, if on your awayday travels you encounter a Scotsman over-enthusiastically cheering on the Swans, don't be afraid to say hello. If my friends in Scotland are to believed, I may be slightly barking - but I assure you all I don't bite!
It was nice to meet some of you at Darlington last Saturday.
Links to all Official and Unofficial sites are available at my Swansea Internet Web site. The address is http://www2.prestel.co.uk/gmartin or use the easy-to-remember version http://come.to/swanseacity