MEL NURSE, the man who rescued Swansea City from the clutches of Tony Petty, has spoken for the first time about why he has dramatically stepped aside from involvement with the club.

Nurse was seen as the next chairman after his NEWCO group - made up of local businessmen and Swans supporters - bought out controversial Petty.

But after leading the High Court court battle to rid the Swans of Petty, major shareholder Nurse has suddenly distanced himself from his NEWCO colleagues running the club.

He has not been seen at The Vetch, other than for Swans matches, for weeks.

Keen to ensure the Swans don't receive yet more bad publicity, Nurse chose his words carefully, saying he was standing aside because of commitments to his own private business. He runs hotels and other properties in Swansea.

There are suggestions from others, however, that Nurse is unhappy with the way the club is being run on a day-to-day basis.

Nurse would not be drawn on that though, insisting: "I'm taking a back seat to address my own business.

"I have been at this non-stop for nine months and inevitably my private business had to be put on the back burner.

"Certain things are going on down The Vetch and my need is to address my own houses and hotels.

"For example, I've got five houses which need modernising which alone could net £500 a week in rent. Yet I've not got around to doing it because my whole focus has been on doing the best for Swansea City.

"I would get up in the morning, go straight to see my lawyers.

"I would be dealing with them from 10am until 11pm at times as we tried to work out the strategy to get control of the club."

Nurse went on: "Remember, I have been involved with football clubs throughout my career, first as a player, then when I joined the Swans as a director in the mid-1980s.

"As such, I have seen so many business people become involved with clubs and throw in so much commitment that they forget their own private business, the very business which made them their money in the first place.

"It is so easy for it to happen because football takes over, you just get dragged into it.

"It was necessary for me to become so heavily involved in the Swans this time because of the position the club were in.

"However, I feel it's not necessary for me to carry on any more - not at this moment in time, anyway."

Nurse paid £801,000 to previous owners Ninth Floor to take on the club's debts and, in effect, wrest control away from Petty.

As the figurehead behind the takeover, everyone assumed he would become chairman when the new board of directors was formed.

Nurse has not taken up that post though and, in fact, the Swans have yet to fill the position.

Nurse still has access to the boardroom and says he is made welcome when he goes there.

But he insisted: "I have always said I didn't want to become chairman."

Nurse does feel, however, that Swansea should have appointed someone else the moment he made it clear he wasn't interested.

As for the future, Nurse said: "If there comes a time when the club needs my help again, I will do everything I can to assist - as I did on this occasion and back in 1984 when the club was on the verge of going under.

"I'm just hoping these people in charge at the moment will do things properly and correctly and be successful.

"As for myself, I'm welcome in the boardroom because I've put my share of money in, like the other directors.

"But while I'm entitled to sit in the directors' box, I prefer my old seat at the back of the main stand - hopefully watching the Swans win again next season."

Swansea City Director David Morgan reveals the behind-the scenes dealings with Tony Petty

IF somebody had written a diary during Tony Petty's reign at the Vetch, nobody would have believed it for all the twists and turns involved.

Some of what happened will never come out, but this should give an insight into what went on behind the scenes in the battle to rid Swansea City of the man from Down Under.

Supporters could tell from the very beginning that something was not quite right. They were happy to have a new owner and Petty was given the benefit of the doubt, but there was caution in the back of people's minds.

It was a case of wait and see. We did not have to wait long for initial concerns to be proved justified. After one week, that day arrived.

Word spread fast about what he was doing to our club, and by lunchtime I was down at the Vetch. I did not know any of the players to talk to then, but I got chatting to Stuart Roberts and told him that Petty would not win. We would not let it happen.

Within hours a meeting was called of potential investors, and because my name was known from the Independent Travelling Swans, I ended up helping to coordinate it.

Mel Nurse, David Bradshaw, Gareth Keen and members of the Supporters Trust were among those there. It was decided to offer Petty £50,000 to go.

I phoned the club's communications manager Peter Owen - who I knew - to register the offer, and he told me to stop having him on. Eventually he believed me.

Next financial director Martin Burgess tried to talk me out of making the offer, saying Petty did not deserve the money, but we stuck with it.

Later that night I got the first of many phone calls from Petty. He said he would sell, but for £500,000. The whole conversation was very jocular to him.

We were talking about what people thought of him in Swansea. He said the people who had reacted angrily to the attempted player-sackings were just a few hotheads, and that he would get his West Ham boys to come down and sort them out.

Wycombe offered £100,000 for Robbo and, rather than ask for more, Petty just took the money to keep the wolves from the door.

Just like all Swans fans, I was gutted when he left, but you couldn't blame him for going. I had got to know Robbo a bit and the next day he sent me a text message saying 'Sorry, I hope you can understand and remember I'm always a Jack'.

That brought a tear to my eye. I think it was the culmination of a lot of pressure that I and many others were under.

You would go to bed thinking of Swansea City and get up thinking of Swansea City. Dealing with Petty has put years on people.

Within a few days Martin had left the club - not long before the Rushden & Diamonds home game, when Petty had to run for safety from angry fans.

I have since been told that Petty's legs gave way in the boardroom because he was shaking so much with fright.

Martin and I started speaking regularly on the phone and I went to his house to compare notes on possible investors.

A meeting was soon arranged between the two of us, Gareth and Brian Katzen. We had dinner at the Norton House Hotel with the intention of selling the Swans to Katzen.

The wine flowed until the early hours and our mission was accomplished. While I spent the next day recovering in bed, Martin and Brian stood on the away end at Torquay and watched Swansea win 2-1. Petty contacted Brian after he bought the Swans to find out if he wanted to get involved, but fortunately Martin briefed him not to.

Brian had first looked at the club when Mike Lewis put a for sale advert in the Financial Times last summer, and has said since that he was due to fly over and complete a deal just after the September 11 disaster.

The cancellation of planes meant he could not come - Osama Bin Laden caused Petty to happen. The solicitor Steve Penny, who I did not know, phoned me and said he was a Swansea fan and that if he could do anything to help he would.

Around the same time, Mel resigned from the board and bought Ninth Floor's debt and I it was decided to form a legally-recognised consortium.

Regular meetings were held at Mel's hotel involving Mel, Martin, Gareth, Leigh Dineen of the Trust, myself and others.

Then came the court case, the first time I had ever come face to face with Petty. We felt he was messing with our club, with 90 years of history, and there was no way he was going to kill it.

We were all convinced we were going to win because we knew we were in the right, so it was very, very annoying when he pulled out a load of unfounded pledges and acted all innocent.

We knew he had no money, and we knew he used  £100,000 of Swansea City's money - not his own - to pay into the court. We were devastated and did not know where to turn next.

The consortium were in regular contact with Swansea Council - few people realise what an ally it is to Swansea City. The likes of Lawrence Bailey were very concerned about the possible demise of the club. Martin was working his fingers to the bone, while everyone stayed in constant touch.

'It was not unusual for me and Brian, in America, to exchange around 20 e-mails a night, while the phone never stopped ringing.

Nick Cusack was also heavily involved, acting as a good go-between with the Professional Footballers' Association and other football authorities, as was Steve Hamer.

Petty once told me that if any harm came to his best friend Shuttleworth, he would be devastated. Yet whenever things got a bit rough, he would jet off to Australia and leave Shuttleworth holding the baby. Funny way to treat your best mate, I thought.

Back came Petty, and because he knew I was involved with the consortium, he came round to see me at my home.

He claimed he had been misunderstood and had good intentions, and I have to admit he was very persuasive.

The Football League was on-side, but could not guarantee that Swansea would be readmitted if the club slipped into liquidation. The only option was to buy the shares - we had to pander to Petty. Thankfully, Don Goss managed to keep the club afloat after Shuttleworth disappeared while the players formed a bond.

With the exception of Matthew Bound, who left for Oxford, the squad was united.

Petty, rather than Colin Addison, played 16-year-old Richard Duffy in the FA Cup thrashing at Macclesfield purely in an attempt to secure another sale.

That defeat hit Petty hard. His car was vandalised outside the ground and the prospects of a lucrative cup run had gone down the drain.

He rang me the next day from a golf course in Essex and said he was devastated by the defeat because of all the money Swansea could have made.

The damage to his car had made him very angry, as did the leaflet produced by the North Bank Alliance and some of the abuse which appeared on the internet.

It seemed the time might be coming for him to go. Because Martin had a good idea of what cash was in the club, we knew there was hardly anything left and it was not a surprise when the wages were not paid over Christmas.

Then, on December 28, Petty said he was off.

Nobody was sure whether to believe him. By this time VAT representatives had been to the Vetch to make a list of the items they could seize, and the fear was that Petty was just grabbing a bit of breathing space. The next day he phoned me and said he wanted £250,000 to go and that he wanted to keep some of the shares as he was convinced he would still be able to make money from the Morfa.

Then, out of the blue, came Mel Griffin's consortium, who were interested in buying the club. Petty tried to play us off against them, but what he did not realise was that Griffin and Mel Nurse's solicitor, Tim Jones, were old acquaintances.

For a while it seemed Griffin's group would take over, but eventually he pulled out because he could not deal with Petty anymore. Griffin said he had never come across anyone quite like it in his life. We were the only option left.

I believe the Football League were on the brink of seizing control of the club when, all of a sudden, Petty started saying he wanted to deal with us because we cared about the future of Swansea City.

If a deal could not be struck within days, the club would be dead, and I got a little bit frightened. If I made a mistake, it could mean the end.

I told Petty to speak with Steve Penny from then on. Petty was shacked up in his solicitors in Bristol and was getting desperate.

Two days before we eventually took over, he rang to offer all his shares for £100,000. We rejected, on the grounds that we did not know what we were buying - Petty had not produced the books when requested.

At the same time, Martin was talking with the Inland Revenue and VAT to keep them happy, as we tried to keep every angle covered.

Petty had a number of heated phone conversations with Steve, one of which prompted him to sack his Bristol solicitors.

The next day, Steve rang him to offer £20,000. Petty put the phone down initially, but soon rang back because he knew he had nowhere else to go.

A meeting was arranged at the Vetch between Petty, Mel, Tim, Steve and myself. Huw Jenkins was also part of our team by this stage.

We shook on the deal, and agreed that Petty would come back to Swansea the following day with all the paperwork to complete the takeover.

But the next morning he started messing about again, trying to get us to increase the bid. A meeting was arranged that night in the Copthorne Hotel in Cardiff - Petty said he was too scared to come to Swansea.

We knew the club had 24 hours to live. Petty wanted to be paid in cash, so Steve and I headed up the M4 armed with £20,000.

Petty had hired a bare room with a couple of sofas and a table. We sat down and were soon joined by Mel and Tim.

The two solicitors, Steve and Tim, were like good cop and bad cop and it threw Petty off guard. We spoke for over two hours, with Petty still saying how he had been misunderstood and had had the best interests of Swansea City at heart.

All we were interested in was that bit of paper that said the dub was in our hands. There was a lot of running up and down stairs to the hotel's fax machine because Shuttleworth was in London and the forms needed his signature.

Petty handed the papers to me and told me where to sign. I turned to Steve to check it was the right place. Petty said: "Take my word for it David, I have been involved in enough failed businesses to know where you have to sign."

Eventually the deal was done, and we headed for the hotel bar where Martin was waiting.

He could not come up to the room because there was no love lost between him and Petty to say the least. Tim came up with the idea of giving Petty back the money he had paid Lewis for the club in October. We all emptied our pockets and made up £1 in coppers and 5p pieces, and I presented it to him. He took a look at it, laughed and threw it on the floor, but I felt we had had the last laugh.

Looking back, I think owning a football club may have been a boyhood dream for Petty, but that he was only in it for personal gain.

In a strange sort of way you have to admire him, because he set out to do something - to make money - and he succeeded.

But he was calculating, cunning and playing with something very dear to me and a lot of other people, and I never want to see him again.

Petty phoned me just a couple of weeks ago at 8am on a Monday morning. "Hello David, it's Tony Petty here," he said in that London-Aussie accent, the voice I had hoped I would never hear again.

He was complaining because we had said he had taken money out of the club, but this time I did not have to be nice to him. I told him that I was not going to get into a slanging match and that accounts did not lie. Then I said goodbye and hung up.

Nick Cusack is free to wheel and deal in the transfer market after receiving official confirmation that the embargo on the club has been lifted.

The news comes after certain final payments were made and the 28-day period since the club's company voluntary arrangement was finalised.

Cusack said: "It is great news that I can now get on with the major changes in personnel I'm planning for the close season.

"I have already spoken to many other managers but won't be naming any of my targets until things are sorted out."

Swans duo look back

Nick Cusack and Roger Freestone have been looking back on a traumatic season for City which has seen then go through every possible emotion.

"I have been in the game for 15 years and I have never know anything like it, it has been uncertain, unpredictable and at some times, very difficult," Cusack said. "The day Tony Petty told players they were being sacked and contracts ripped up was a black day - the players though responded magnificently to ensure the club pulled through - it simply had to."

Freestone, who has been acting along Cusack said: "Nick was superb through all the Petty Saga, it was such a relief when that man went. "We also have to applaud Mel Nurse and his consortium for saving the club." Freestone recalled another black day when the side were told on Christmas Eve they would not be paid. Cusack concluded by saying: "We have to learn lessons especially in the handling out of contract. We have to make sure overheads do not exceed income, for example if we have a bad run and gates drop."

Boss not chasing mystery player

Nick Cusack has been setting the record straight about Welsh-born striker Robert Folland, who played in Tuesday's game with Hereford.

Reports said Cusack was 'chasing' the player as a target but he said that is not the case. The Swans boss admitted: "That was all a misunderstanding. Robert came and asked if I would have a look at him, which I did.

"So we played him at Hereford and it isn't a case of me chasing him, it is players like him who want to impress me.

"Robert is a local boy who just wanted a chance and there will be other players like him - but I am not chasing him."

SWANSEA CITY player-coach Nick Cusack breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday when the club's transfer embargo was lifted.

The embargo had been in place since December 29 last year - fallout from Tony Petty's controversial three-and-a-half month Vetch Field reign.

"This news is important for Swansea City," said Cusack. "It's well known that I want to make changes and now I can get on with the job in hand."

Cusack plans to announced his retained list after the FAW Premier Cup final with Cardiff City at Ninian Park on May 13 and could release as many as eight players.

That will prompt a major summer recruitment campaign at Swansea with Cusack and new assistant Alan Curtis drawing up targets.

Meanwhile, the prospect of two teams being promoted to the Football League from the Conference moved closer to reality yesterday as Third Division clubs unanimously backed the proposals.

The change in the promotion-relegation structure would also mean two teams being demoted to the Conference instead of the current one.

The key issue to be agreed was a funding package and now that has met with the approval of Third Division clubs.

All 72 Football League members will still have to vote on the plans at their annual general meeting in June.

Chairman of the Football Conference Bill King said, "We welcome this decision by the Third Division clubs as a major step forward for the whole of football. I also acknowledge the supportive involvment of the Football Association."

Football League chief executive David Burns said, "A package which should satisfy all Third Division clubs has now been secured. This proposal is in the best interests of our national game."

The Conference are now planning a play-off system at the end of the 2002-03 season to decide the second promotion place.

The transfer embargo hanging over Swansea City was finally lifted today, clearing the way for player-coach Nick Cusack to kick-off his summer rebuilding plans.

The block on incoming players, in place since December 29, has been removed after certain club debts were cleared ad the 28-day cooling off period following last month's Company Voluntary Arrangement elapsed.

''This news is crucially important for Swansea City, '' said Cusack.

''It's been well documented since I took charge that I plan to make considerable changes during the close season, and now we can get on with the job in hand.'' Cusack kept his transfer-target cards close to his chest, but admitted that new signings could arrive at any time.

''It's difficult to say exactly when people will be coming in, '' he said, ''but if a player becomes available who other clubs are looking at and I have to move quickly, that's what I'll do.

''I have spoken to numerous managers about numerous players and I have also spoken directly to particular players.

''I won't give any names, because in many cases players have things to sort out at the other end.'' Cusack is due to issue his end-of-season retained list some time between the FAW Premier Cup final on May 13 and the May 18 deadline.

The majority of his summer signings - which could total six or even eight depending on how many are released - are likely to come after that.

Cusack declined to comment on speculation linking him with Oxford's former Swansea midfielder Martin Thomas.

The transfer embargo was slapped on Swansea by the Football League because of the club's failure to meet players' pension contributions during Tony Petty's reign.

Meanwhile, the new Vetch Field board of directors are believed to be eyeing up four possible new training bases for next season.

It is understood they are looking for improved facilities compared to the club's current set-up at Jersey Marine, with the Glamorgan Racquet and Health Club - formerly BP Llandarcy - being touted as one possible option.

Swansea could face double trouble if they finish near the bottom of the table again next season, with the Football League likely to introduce a twoup, two-down system with the Nationwide Conference before August.

ALAN CURTIS spoke of his delight at being appointed as Nick Cusack's No.2 Swansea City's assistant coach on the weekend - and then vowed to help player-coach Nick Cusack remove the "dead wood" at the Vetch Field.

As revealed in The Western Mail on Saturday, Cusack had chosen former Swans player and assistant manager Curtis as his assistant for next season. Curtis, who has been working as a sales rep for kit manufacturers Bergoni since he was controversially sacked by former Swans chairman Mike Lewis last September, will take up his post in two weeks' time. And the 48-year-old, who has signed a 12-month contract with the Swans, said, "We've got to get rid of the dead wood at this club, but we've also got to make sure the players we bring in are of a better standard.

"Without doubt, there are a few players at Swansea who are a bit long in the tooth. With 12 contracts expiring at the end of this season, it's an ideal opportunity to change things in the dressing room.

"But I've spoken to Nick and it's not just out-of-contract play-ers who will be going. We're looking to get rid of some play-ers who are under contract. We're going to be as harsh as we possibly can.

"Before 1 left last year I was a coach at this club for five years and we never had the opportunity to do a clear-out because we inherited players who were under contract.

"Nick has drawn up a list of who he wants to go. I've sort of half looked at it. There are a couple of doubts, but we'll sort that out after the FAW Premier Cup final game against Cardiff next month."

Curtis, who has also worked as a radio pundit since he left the Vetch seven months ago, added, "I don't think the team is physically strong enough or powerful enough at the moment. There is a fair amount of work to do here, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

"Swansea City can be a different club. I think Nick and I can turn it around."

Asked which areas of the team need strengthening, Curtis explained, "I'm a big believer in getting it right at the back. We did that two years ago when we won the Third Division championship. We were strong and very tight.

"The budget for next season is not great. It doesn't take a genius to work that one out, but it's going to be the same for other clubs in the Third and Second Division, possibly the First as well.

"We've got to cut our cloth accordingly but with ITV Digital going and with 1,000 players looking for new clubs in the summer I feel the clubs have got some of the power back."

Slapdash Swansea ended a tormented season on a dismal note as they squandered a two-goal lead.

It means the Swans have now failed to win any of their last six games.

But at least this time they managed to escape a verbal blast from player-boss Nick Cusack, who had been so hyper-critical of his players after their gutless seven-goal humiliation at Hartlepool the previous weekend.

"At least they displayed some real determination and effort this time," said Cusack.

"But our fitness levels were left open to question once again. We were off the pace for much of the game - and that's something we can't allow next season.

"That's why I will be addressing the problem with my players during the summer."

Cusack confirmed that he will be joined at the helm by former Vetch Field hero Alan Curtis, who will return to the club as assistant coach just seven months after he was fired along with former manager John Hollins.

It will be a hugely popular move, and Cusack said: "I'm really delighted to have Alan back.

"There is no doubt that his heart is in this club and his experience and qualities are something that have not always been used to best effect in the past.

"But I will certainly be drawing on them. We speak the same language and I'm looking forward to working with him."

But the real upheaval at The Vetch this summer will come in the players’ dressing room, with up to 10 of their current staff being released and half-a-dozen new faces coming in.

"There have to be big changes here," warned Cusack.

"We want to mount a real push next season and that means there will be changes."

For a while yesterday, it seemed the Swans were going to end their season in style.

They were ahead after just 42 seconds - and it was Andrew Mumford who made up for lost time after the game had kicked off five minutes late.

The 20-year-old midfielder took a pass from Jonathan Coates and stunned Torquay by blasting home a fierce 25-yard drive.

Nobody was shocked more than visiting goalkeeper Kevin Dearden - it was a rude welcome back to Wales for the former Wrexham man.

But even worse followed for him when Swansea doubled their lead after 16 minutes.

Poor Dearden was left totally exposed again as Swansea defender Kris O'Leary was allowed to move unmarked into Torquay's penalty area and head in Coates' free kick.

At this stage, the men from Devon looked as wide open as a Dartmoor plain.

But they were far more positive going forward and Swansea were forced into some desperate defence to protect their lead.

David Graham came close to pulling a goal back when his curling 25th-minute shot struck a post.

But two minutes later the West Country side did pull themselves back into contention when Marcus Richardson shrugged off a tackle and expertly steered the ball past Swansea’s young keeper Jason Jones.

From that stage on, Torquay virtually laid seige to Swansea's goal.

The Welsh club almost restored their two-goal advantage in the 57th minute when Mumford's free kick was flicked on by Steve Watkin to the far post, where Neil Sharp’s firm header grazed the crossbar.

But a goal then, while it would have given Swansea welcome breathing space, would have been an injustice on their visitors.

It needed a diving save by Jones to prevent Jim Benefield from equalising with a fierce drive.

And nobody could grumble when all Torquay's pressure finally paid off in the 77th minute, as sub Tony Bedeau beat Sharp to a cross and headed powerfully home.

It could have been even worse for Swansea. Torquay defender Sean Hankin sent a header flashing inches wide six minutes from the end.

SWANSEA City threw away a dream start and a two-goal lead and allowed Torquay United to bounce back and grab a share of the spoils at the Vetch Field this afternoon

Jason Jones, on the wrong end of last week's 7-1 thrashing at Hartlepool, kept his place in the Swans' goal while Neil Sharp returned to the centre of the defence.

Nick Cusack and Steve Watkin were also in the starting line-up and a goal after just 38 seconds could scarcely have given the Swans a better start.

Jonathan Coates made ground down the left before playing the ball into the middle to Andrew Mumford, whose keenly-struck first-time shot from 25 yards flashed past Torquay goalkeeper Kevin Dearden.

Torquay forced three corners in quick succession, but the Swans held firm and increased their lead in the 14th minute.

A foul on Watkin brought Swansea a free kick wide of the penalty area and when Coates swung the ball in, Kris O'Leary got up well to power home a header from six yards.

But Torquay hit back to cut the deficit through Marcus Richardson after 26 minutes.

Andrew Martin played the ball through and Richardson rounded O'Leary before beating Jones from 12 yards.

Kevin Hill headed inches wide from a Sean Hankin corner in the first minute of the second half and it needed a good tackle by Coates to dispossess Martin.

Swansea responded with a free kick by Mumford that Watkin flicked on but Sharp, at the far post, headed onto the top of the bar.

A 63rd minute free kick by Sharp caused problems in the Torquay penalty area, but when it came back out to Mumford, the midfielder's shot was charged down.

Torquay stepped up their search for the equaliser and substitute Tony Beddau and midfielder Jimmy Benefield both went close, only a brilliant save by Jones denying Benefield.

But Benefield played a major part when Torquay did draw level in the 77th minute.

His cross from the right should have been cleared but Beddau out-jumped Sharp to head home from 12 yards.

WHAT began with a promising 3-1 victory at Maccles-field Town on August 11 can only be described as an annus horribilis in the history of Swansea City Football Club.

When Mike Lewis paid former chairman Neil McClure £1 for the Third Division club last summer, few could have imagined the turbulent sequence of events which would unfold at the Vetch over the next nine months.

That Swansea have had three managers this season - John Hollins, Colin Addison and Nick Cusack - is only part of a very long story.

Indeed, were it the basis of a drama series it probably wouldn't get commissioned on the grounds of sounding too far-fetched.

Swansea seem to have experienced all the problems of the 92 Football League clubs rolled into one season; barely a week has passed without one crisis ending and another beginning.

"This season has been unprecedented in my 15-year career," said Cusack. "I've never known a year with so much turbulence.

"It has been one thing after another - uncertainty, instability and some very, very difficult times."

Barely two weeks after John Hollins and Alan Curtis were sacked in September and replaced by Colin Addison and Peter Nicholas, Lewis sold the club for £1 to Australia-based businessman Tony Petty.

What happened next shook the club and its supporters to the core. Petty provoked enormous outrage by trying to sack seven players and slash the contracts of eight others.

And of all the low points which followed over the course of the season - wages not being paid, the club facing bankruptcy, the controversial departure of Addison and Nicholas - Cusack is in no doubt that Petty's bombshell was the lowest.

He said, "For the players to effectively be told they were being sacked, their contracts being ripped up...it was a sad day in the history of the club and I've never known anything like it.

"The players deserve a lot of credit for coming through the Petty era. And the supporters have helped pull this club through difficult times when possibly other clubs would have folded under the pressure.

"That we have come through it is a credit to everyone involved. But it was incumbent upon on everyone to ensure the club did get through."

Goalkeeper Roger Freestone, who took charge of first-team affairs along with Cusack when Addison and Nicholas left in March, believes the PFA chairman was instrumental in getting the club through the Petty crisis.

"Nick was a tower of strength in his role with the PFA," said Freestone. He was superb.

"The Petty era was an on-off saga and it seemed we just wouldn't get rid of him. It was a massive relief when he did go.

"Mel Nurse and his consortium deserve a lot of credit for rescuing the club - without them I think it would have folded."

Petty tried - and failed - to find a solution to Swansea's cash crisis after winning a vitriolic court battle for the control of the club with Mel Nurse, but the situation got worse just as results on the pitch were improving.

"Christmas was a period of mixed emotions," said Freestone. "On Christmas Eve the players were told there were no wages for them which was devastating.

"But on Boxing Day we went down to Exeter and won 3-0, a magnificent result considering the bombshell which landed on the players two days earlier."

Things were looking up in January when London-based property developer Mel Griffin was on the verge of buying the Swans from Petty and keeping the ailing club afloat.

But the deal fell through acrimoniously and Petty - who claimed the club had a maximum of two weeks to find a new buyer before folding - was issuing the last rites.

In stepped Nurse and his consortium of Swans supporters with a rescue package which finally ended Petty's turbulent - most would say nightmarish - 17-week reign at the helm.

The club was far from out of the woods and had to call a Company Voluntary Arrangement meeting to persuade its creditors to accept a five pence in the pound offer to wipe its financial slate clean.

But that was not before the Swans shrouded themselves in further controversy by sacking Addison and Nicholas - the club claiming it could no longer afford them - just as the side was enjoying an improved run of results.

Cusack and Freestone took over and have overseen five defeats - including last weekend's 7-1 thrashing at Hartlepool - one win and one draw in seven league matches.

The last chapter in an amazing season was the club's two failed attempts to appoint Brian Flynn as director of football, instead handing Cusack a 12-month player-coach contract with Curtis preparing for a return to the Vetch as his assistant.

Torquay's visit to the Vetch today brings down the curtain on the most dramatic nine months in Swansea's history and for most associated with the club it can't come a moment too soon.

"There are certainly a few lessons to be learned," said Cusack, who now has the unenviable task of deciding the future of 12 out-of-contract players.

"In the past there has been a degree of over-exuberance in the way contracts have been handed out.

"Planning needs to take into account scenarios where we are not successful on the field rather than scenarios where things go from strength to strength.

"We have to make sure that if we have a poor run of results and gates drop and income falls, our overheads are not such that we find it difficult to keep going." Cusack will welcome a touch of exuberance on the pitch after last Saturday's humiliation at Hartlepool.

He said, "This has all been said before, but the players must show more commitment and spirit than they have in recent matches.

"Sometimes it's difficult to say what's going through players' minds. Perhaps some can use the uncertainty about contracts as an excuse.

"But for their own sake - and for the supporters on the last game of the season - they need to go out and prove they are better players than their recent performances have suggested."

SWANSEA CITY idol Alan Curtis will be unveiled as Nick Cusack's No 2 next week.

Curtis was sacked as Swansea's assistant manager last September following a 3-1 defeat at Plymouth - and is set for a dramatic return to the Vetch Field as Cusack's assistant.

The board of directors will offer Curtis, who had three spells at the Vetch as a player, a 12-month contract and The Western Mail understands the 48-year-old will accept the job.

If the former Swansea, Leeds, Southampton and Cardiff midfielder agrees to a Vetch return, it will finally end speculation regarding who will be sitting in the Swansea dug-out next season.

It will also raise questions over whether the club will appoint a director of football after talks with former Wrexham manager Brian Flynn collapsed for the second time this week.

Former Swans chairman Mike Lewis showed both Curtis and John Hollins, then Swans manager, the door after an indifferent start to the 2001-02 season, but the decision to sack Curtis, a favourite with the North Bank, proved controversial.

But Rhondda-born Curtis never criticised the club's decision and has always made it clear that he would love to return.

Since he was sacked seven months ago Curtis has been working as a sales rep for kit manufacturers Bergoni as well as a pundit for Real Radio.

He turned down the manager's job at Dr Martens outfit Merthyr Tydfil earlier this season, as well as posts with several League of Wales clubs. He also declined an invitation to work alongside Tim Harris at Newport County.

But Curtis is itching to return to football coaching and will jump at the chance to return to his beloved Swansea City.

Curtis met with Swansea City's directors yesterday and spent two hours discussing the club's aims and budget for next season.

The Swans board offered Cusack a 12-month player-coach contract eight days ago and it has left the final decision on who should be his No 2 with the 36-year-old midfielder.

Cusack was a great admirer of Curtis's training methods when he was assistant manager and he has decided that the former Wales international would be the ideal man to help him rebuild for next season.

The club declined to make any comment last night with director David Morgan saying, "When an announcement needs to be made it will be made via the appropriate channels."

But with 12 players' contracts expiring at the end of this season, Curtis should be installed at the Vetch early next week so he can start helping Cu-sack draw up plans for the new season.