15 April 2016

SWANSEA CITY FC

Since 2005, Swansea City has been playing their home matches at the Liberty Stadium, which they share with the Ospreys Rugby Union FC. The previous 93 years were spent at the Vetch Field.

Early years

The area around Swansea, in south-west Wales, has always been thought of as more of a rugby playing area, but in the summer of 1912, Swansea Town AFC was formed. Initially joining the 2nd Division of the Southern League, the club progressed to becoming members of the Football League in 1920.

The Vetch Field

Previous to Swansea Town’s existence, local children used to play on a piece of land, close to the town centre, which was used for growing a cabbage-like, legume plant called vetch. This land was actually owned by the Swansea Gaslight company, but was deemed surplus to requirements and consequently this vetch field was rented to Swansea Town AFC for use as a football ground to play their matches.


The first professional match held at the venue was on the 7th September 1912, against arch Welsh rivals Cardiff City, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Early matches at the Vetch were played on concrete and for the first full season the players had to wear knee pads.

Originally having a capacity of just 12,000, the record attendance of 32,786 was achieved at the ground in 1967, when playing against Arsenal in a 5th round FA Cup tie.

In 1971, Swansea Town changed their name to Swansea City to coincide with the town becoming a city.

Last match at the stadium in 2005
Over the years, the ground had deteriorated considerably and it became a burning issue that the club would need to relocate to progress. In 2005, Swansea City finally left the Vetch Field.


The Liberty Stadium

With neither Swansea City nor the Ospreys Rugby Union FC having the capital to invest in essential new facilities, it fell upon Swansea council and a consortium of developers to propose a new venue, to be located on the site of the council owned Morfa Stadium.


The Liberty Stadium was built at a construction cost of £27million, funded by a 355,000 ft retail park on land to the east of the river. The stadium has a capacity of 20,532 and gets its name from its sponsors, Swansea based Liberty Properties PLC

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