2001–02 Swansea City A.F.C. season explained

Club:Swansea City
Season:2001–02
Manager:John Hollins (until 12 September)
Colin Addison (from 13 September until 7 March)
Nick Cusack and Roger Freestone (joint caretakers from 8 March until April 20)
Nick Cusack (sole caretaker from 20 April)
Stadium:Vetch Field
League:Third Division
League Result:20th
Cup1:FA Cup
Cup1 Result:Second round
Cup2:League Cup
Cup2 Result:First round
Cup3:Football League Trophy
Cup3 Result:First round
Cup4:FAW Premier Cup
Cup4 Result:Runners-up
League Topscorer:Steve Watkin
Season Topscorer:Steve Watkin (11)
Prevseason:2000–01
Nextseason:2002–03

During the 2001–02 English football season, Swansea City competed in the Third Division.

Season summary

In July, the club was sold to managing director Mike Lewis for £1. Lewis subsequently sold on his stake to a consortium of Australian businessmen behind the Brisbane Lions AFL team, fronted by Tony Petty. Seven players were sacked and eight others saw their contracts terminated, angering supporters. Sanctions were threatened by the Football League, with a rival consortium headed by ex-player Mel Nurse seeking to buy out the new owners. During this period, manager John Hollins was sacked after a poor start to the season, and Colin Addison took over as manager. The turmoil led to the creation of the Swansea City Supporters' Trust, which sought to save the club and ultimately guarantee supporter representation on the club's board.

The Petty group sold its stake in January 2002 after a bitter stand-off with the Nurse consortium, which was supported by the majority of the club's fans. Jim Moore and Mel Griffin, previously rescuers of Hull City, stepped into the breach and persuaded Petty to sell to them (as he had promised to bankrupt the club & make it extinct rather than sell to Nurse). From there Moore became chairman for three weeks, giving the Nurse consortium time to organize its finances. Having successfully reorganized the finances of Hull City, both Moore and Griffin were believers in clubs belonging in the hands of local people, and so, believing Nurse's group were best for the Swans, the two sold the club to Nurse's consortium for £1.

Despite problems off the pitch, the team had managed a mid-table position, but lack of funds led to Addison's dismissal in early March, and under caretakers Nick Cusack and Roger Freestone the club slumped to a 20th placed-finish.

Kit

Swansea City's kit was manufactured by Bergoni and sponsored by The Travel House.

First-team squad

Squad at end of season[1]

Left club during season

Notes and References

  1. Web site: FootballSquads - Swansea City - 2001/02.