Archived News from February 2005
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STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
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Swansea, one of three Welsh teams in the Football League, are a team which has swapped their names during their league career playing the Stags. The club, best known for the rapid rise from the old 4th to the old 1st division between 1977-78 and 1981-82, were first known as Swansea Town and changed their name to Swansea City due to the place being a city in February 1970.
The first league games between the Stags and the Swans were played in the 1965-66 season, one in which both teams avoided relegation with just a couple of points. And the Stags won at home as well as away. The home tie was played on October 16, 1965 and won 3-0 (scorers Lee (penalty) – his only Stags league goal - , Middleton and Scanlon) in front of 6767, thus ending a poor spell with only two points from seven games. The away one was first due to be played just before Christmas. But with the Stags leading 3-2 after nearly an hour, the game had to be abandoned due to a water-logged pitch. When the game eventually was replayed on March 1, 1966, it proved to be the first Stags away win since the start of that season to the tune of 2-1 (scorers Anderson and Mitchinson, attendance 8887). This proved to be a pointer for the Stags playing at Swansea, as the next two away ties also were won. Both fixtures last season were sadly marred by red cards. The away fixture on August 30, 2003 was surrounded by scandalous circumstances before and during the game. First getting a below-par ticket allocation, Swansea making it all-ticket for Stags fans on very short notice ensuring only 230 Stags fans making the long trek to South Wales, then during the game, a rookie ref who according to the Stagsnet report couldn't handle the game and rated 4 by the reporter, sent two Stags players off (Christie and Williamson) and none from the home side! And on the original scheduled date of the game at Field Mill, January 31, 2004, the game was called off due to the ground being waterlogged. And when that game was rearranged and played on March 23, 2004, yet another Stags player was sent off, this time Vaughan after only seventeen minutes. On the half-hour mark, Swansea took the lead but early on in the second half, Liam Lawrence equalized through a penalty. None of last season's red-carded Stags players against Swansea are no longer at the club - Christie at Kidderminster, Williamson at Northampton and Vaughan at Barnsley. Earlier this season, the Stags lost to a late only goal of the game in which originally the same ref as in the game on August 30, 2003, was to be appointed – but that appointment was changed thanks to Keith Curle. The biggest Stags win was a 4-0 home success on October 24, 1989, when two goals from Stringfellow, one apiece from Christie (Trevor Christie, to be exact!) and Kent contributed to the rout. And the 2-0 on November 3, 1990 with two goals from Steve Wilkinson in front of just 2200 ended the Stags worst-ever home start of a season (just one point from seven games). Note: when the Stags had their home goal famine at the start of the 1971-72 season, they had amassed three points from the first seven home games in comparison. The clubs have also faced each other once in the FA Cup, and that was in the 1950-51 season when the Stags KO'ed the Swans 2-0 at Field Mill in the third round on January 6, 1951 when Freddie Steele scored twice in front of 18000. But the two clubs have something else in common: both sending West Ham crashing out of the FA Cup. The Swans did it 30 years after the Stags' memorable 3-0 show in 1969 – the Swans won a 3rd round home replay 1-0 after drawing 1-1 at Upton Park with the Hammers equalizing in the final minutes in 1998-99 when the Swans then were playing in division 3 and Hammers in the Premier League. Played for both sides: Joe Beresford, Graham Brown (goalie in the 70's), Francis Elliott, Glynn Hurst (on loan for both sides), Allan Livingstone, Owen Marlon, John Tones (on loan for both sides in 1974-75), Alan Waddle. An interesting fact is that Graham Brown, Frances Elliott and Owen Marlon all were goalies! Played for Stags, later assistant manager at Swansea: Billy Ayre. Home stats: P 17, W 9, D 5, L 3, GF 28, GA 12 Away stats: P 18, W 7, D 1, L 10, GF 20, GA 30 FA Cup: P 1, W 1, D 0, L 0, GF 2, GA 0 (FA Cup 3rd round in 1950-51 at Field Mill) Season Home Date Away Date 1965-66 3-0 1965-10-16 2-1 1966-03-01 Div 3 (old) – as Swansea Town 1966-67 1-2 1967-04-08 1-0 1966-11-12 Div 3 (old) – as Swansea Town 1970-71 2-0 1971-04-13 4-2 1970-09-12 Div 3 (old) – as Swansea City from thence onwards 1971-72 0-2 1971-09-11 1-1 1972-03-24 Div 3 (old) 1973-74 2-1 1973-09-15 0-2 1974-01-12 Div 4 (old) 1974-75 3-0 1974-10-07 2-1 1974-10-01 Div 4 (old) 1978-79 2-2 1979-04-23 2-3 1978-10-17 Div 3 (old) 1988-89 0-0 1989-05-02 1-3 1988-11-08 Div 3 (old) 1989-90 4-0 1989-10-24 0-1 1990-03-10 Div 3 (old) 1990-91 2-0 1990-11-10 2-1 1991-02-23 Div 3 (old) 1992-93 3-3 1993-01-30 0-4 1992-08-22 Div 2 1996-97 0-0 1996-10-12 2-3 1997-04-19 Div 3 1997-98 1-0 1998-05-02 1-0 1997-10-21 Div 3 1998-99 1-0 1998-08-29 0-1 1999-02-23 Div 3 1999-2000 0-1 2000-04-24 1-0 1999-10-02 Div 3 2001-02 3-0 2001-12-01 0-2 2002-03-16 Div 3 2003-04 1-1 2004-03-23 1-4 2003-08-30 Div 3 2004-05 (at Swansea) 0-1 2004-10-08 League Two Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured, above right) Player and managerial updates courtesy of the history CD |
Latest | February 2005