 | Press cuttings |
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Saturday, June 29, 2002 Swans season tickets d-day moved |
| Evening Post Swansea City have extended the deadline for discounted season tickets by 48 hours. Fans now have until Tuesday to snap up tickets for all parts of Vetch Field with reductions of around 20 per cent. "The original plan was to open the club shop tomorrow and make that the final day for discounted tickets, " explained director David Morgan. "But because of the World Cup Final, which many fans will want to watch, we have decided to put the deadline back until Tuesday." He added: "There is a definite feel-good factor and air of optimism at the club and among supporters at the moment - we want to build on this and will do whatever is in our power to make the club a success. "But we need the supporters to turn up in their numbers and businesses to get involved in advertising and hospitality. If we all pull together, we can all have a club to be proud of." Volunteers from the Prince's Trust have been doing their bit this week, helping to put a fresh coat of paint on the Vetch ahead of the new season. |
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Saturday, June 29, 2002 Target the Saint |
| Evening Post The Premiership striker Nick Cusack is hoping to sign on a season-long loan is Southampton's Scott McDonald, the Evening Post can reveal. But it is understood Swansea City's player-manager may face some late competition from Second Division Swindon in the race to clinch the young Australian's services. The Melbourne-born Saints frontman, 19 in August, has attracted the attention of Swindon boss Andy King who, like Cusack, is working on a tight budget and has confirmed that he is aiming to capture a forward on a year's loan. But with cash-strapped Swindon currently under a transfer embargo, Swansea are hoping to get in first. A product of Southampton's Australian Academy, 5ft 8in McDonald is known for his strength, speed of thought and exceptional pace and is seen as a potential star of the future. With Marian Pahars, James Beattie, Agustin Delgado, Kevin Davies, Brett Ormerod and Jo Tessem ahead of him in the pecking order at St Mary's, McDonald has made just three senior appearances - two as a substitute plus one start in the Worthington Cup. It is believed Saints boss Gordon Strachan sees a season playing in the lower divisions as the ideal way to aid the youngster's development. Meanwhile, staff in Swansea's club shop will work overtime tomorrow ahead of the deadline for discounted season tickets - with a little help from three first-team players. A reduction of around 20 per cent on tickets for all parts of the Vetch Field ground will be available until 5pm, with Kris O'Leary, Andrew Mumford and Michael Howard on hand between 11am and 12noon. Former Swansea loan player Nicolas Fabiano, who spent three months at the club last year, is being linked with a move from Paris St Germain to Scottish Premier side Aberdeen. |
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Friday, June 28, 2002 Shop hours extended |
| Teamtalk Swansea's booming ticket sales have prompted the club to announce the extension of the club shop's opening hours until 5pm on Saturday. Swans director David Morgan yesterday hailed the healthy position that the club finds itself in this summer and was particularly thrilled with the fact that season ticket sales are well up on last season's figure. And with more than 1200 season tickets already sold, the William Street shop will now be open later than usual to allow fans as much time as possible to take advantage of the cut-price offer. Fans are also reminded that season ticket holders are also entitled to a £10 discount on the new home top, sales of which are also booming. |
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Thursday, June 27, 2002 Stadium go-ahead |
| Western Mail THE first joint professional rugby and soccer stadium in Wales is due to open in September next year after final legal hurdles have been overcome. Swansea City and County Council has signed agreements with developers Miller after protracted discussions about the finer details of the £70m stadium project. But now, the council's cabinet member for development, Byron Owen, says a "key milestone" has been reached in the talks with the developers. Among the stumbling blocks was the need for the council to comply with new Best Value guidelines regarding the council's land at Morfa which will be used to house the joint sports complex. But council leader Lawrence Bailey said the signing of legal papers between the two parties now signalled what he called the "green light" for the long-awaited development. Swansea City FC and Swansea RFC plan to share a home at Morfa, around two miles from the city centre, at the start of the 2003-04 season. While the rugby club's St Helen's Ground with its sea view is popular, it has a limited capacity and officials believe its age and design could hold the club back in future competitions. Swansea City's 100-year-old Vetch Field ground has for many years been regarded as outdated and is surrounded by terraced streets with limited parking and spectator capacity. The aim is to establish both clubs at the Morfa complex which would also be used for pop concerts and other major entertainment events as well as for A internationals or under-21 matches as a back-up to the Millennium Stadium. It is proposed that lining up alongside the new facility will be shopping malls, hotels, bars, gyms and entertainment centres such as cinemas and ten-pin bowling alleys. It is expected the new joint stadium, built on the site of the existing Morfa athletics stadium, will have a capacity of 20,000 seats. |
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Wednesday, June 26, 2002 Directors lead by example |
| Teamtalk Swansea's directors are hoping to lead by example by paying for their season tickets for the forthcoming Division Three season. Leigh Dineen, Huw Jenkins and David Morgan all renewed their season tickets today and hope fans will follow their lead and help the club financially next term. Morgan said: "We recognise that there are many other people connected to the club who give their time for no self gain and this is our way of saying to them, as well as our supporters, that our aim is the same as theirs - to do what we can, however little it is, to make our club a viable, thriving part of the community." Morgan also took time to blast the old regime at The Vetch and urged the club to continue to learn from mistakes of the past. "We don't take salaries or expenses for our time and efforts," Morgan added on the club's website. "It would be easy to point to this and take season tickets in return but we don't. "We are working solely for the benefit if the football club, unlike in previous seasons where directors took salaries and expenses, whilst free tickets seemed available in abundance. Look where that got us - in debt and just 24 hours from oblivion!" |
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Wednesday, June 26, 2002 Cyril and Swans fans soak up sun on foreshore walk |
| Evening Post
Swansea City Supporters Trust members soaked up the sun on a sponsored walk yesterday. |
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Wednesday, June 26, 2002 Ready for action |
| Evening Post
Injury-plagued defender Jason Smith has handed Nck Cusack a major pre-season boost by declaring himself fully fit for the new campaign. |
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Monday, June 24, 2002 Morfa stadium goal on target |
| Evening Post
Swansea's new Morfa Stadium is on course for a September 2003 opening after the signing of the long-awaited agreement to deliver the £70 million project. |
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Monday, June 24, 2002 Triple injury boost for Cusack |
| Evening Post
NICK Cusack has received a boost at the start of preseason training with the news that three players are back from injury. |
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Monday, June 24, 2002 Smith confident of success |
| Teamtalk Recent-signing David Smith is confident that the new group of players at The Vetch can gel together quickly. Smith became boss Nick Cusack's seventh summer signing when he joined from Grimsby last week, and also believes that his versatility will prove a valuable asset to The Swans. He said: "Teams with lots of new players sometimes do take a while to gel together, but I'm sure that can happen in all the pre-season matches we've got lined up." Smith - Swans future is bright New signing David Smith says he is delighted to be a Swansea player and claims the future at The Vetch is bright. Smith joined The Swans from Grimsby last week, becoming Nick Cusack's seventh signing of the summer to date. The former England Under-21 international is eagerly awaiting the challenge of reviving the club's fortunes Smith said: "I'm glad to be here and really looking forward to it. "Nick Cusack rang me earlier in the summer and told me what was going on here for next season and I'm delighted to have come. "I know there were turbulent times here last season but with Nick re-building the side and the move to the new Morfa Stadium not far away, I think things are looking up here." |
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Sunday, June 23, 2002 Sidibe does vanishing act |
| Wales on Sunday SWANSEA CITY manager Nick Cusack has hit out at the actions of want-away striker Mamady Sidibe and his advisers. Cusack has dubbed Sidibe as "discourteous" for not picking up the telephone himself to tell the Swans he had no plans to return to the Vetch. And Cusack, in his other role as PFA chairman, has expressed fears for the footballing future of Sidibe as the big striker tries to recover from surgery to a worrying ankle injury. Cusack - who left a number of messages for Sidibe - eventually heard from a third party that the injury-hit striker wasn't accepting the Swans' offer of a month-to-month contract. "We are disappointed with the way things have worked out, although we wish Mamady the best for the future," said Cusack. But the manager admitted: "He's is in France, and I think he should have given us the common courtesy of speaking to us personally. "Instead we've had to chase around to try to find out the exact position with him." Cusack went on: "In my PFA role, I am a little bit concerned because, as a youngster, I don't know who has been advising Mamady. "It would be better for him to come back to the Vetch at least to get the treatment necessary in order to get him back on the road to recovery. "I'm concerned with the way things have been left regarding his fitness, and as a young man I do not want to see him affected as a result of that. "But it is Mamady's choice, he's made the decision, and I would think that is the end of that particular chapter. "His agent informed us that he did not want to play for Swansea any more, and he was not coming back." The Swans were offered £200,000 by Barnsley for Sidibe earlier this year, but the move fell through at the last minute. Ironically, Cusack's No2 Alan Curtis reckoned the Swans could have earned treble that figure for their skilful marksman if he got himself fit again and started scoring once more. But Cusack explained the cash-strapped Swans could only offer Sidibe a month-by-month deal for the time being because they feared he could have a major spell on the sidelines with what the manager says could be "a problematic injury". Cusack explained: "I was not prepared to gamble on him returning fit, and therefore giving him a full contract could mean that he might have had months and months in the treatment room and the club would have to pick up the financial burden. "This point was made clear to him when he was offered the month-by-month deal. "But once we had established he was back to full fitness, we would have been prepared to sit down with him and discuss a new deal. "However, it has transpired that he never had any intention of signing for us. "We are disappointed that he hasn't turned up for medical treatment. "The club had looked after him, made sure he had the best medical treatment, saw one of the top specialists to ensure we could get him fit." But Cusack stressed: "In view of what we're trying to do here, we only want players at The Vetch who want to play for Swansea." Meanwhile Cusack's players have reported for pre-season training in an unofficial capa-city. Squad members turned up for a light session at a nearby beach, the manager explaining: "We just wanted to have a look at the players, see if they have looked after themselves and kept in shape since the end of the season." He went on: "We will be doing a similar thing with a bit more intensity next week before we come in proper for the pre-season start July 1." Among the men in for training were Cus-ack's new signings Paul Reid, James Thomas and Andrew Marsh. |
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