Swansea City AFC
The Swans
Founded 1912, Stadium: Liberty Stadium, Capacity: 21,088
Swansea City was founded in 1912 as Swansea Town and played their first professional match in 1912 against their eternal rivals Cardiff. They joined the Football League in 1921 and changed their name in 1969, when they adopted the name Swansea City to reflect Swansea’s new status as city. Swansea have played their home matches at the Liberty Stadium since 2005, having previously played at the Vetch Field since the club was founded. Promoted to the Premier League in 2011, they were the first Welsh club at this level since the establishment of the new English league. Their supporters own 20 percent of the club. Swansea City’s main rivals are Cardiff City with the rivalry described as among the most hostile in British football. Matches between these two clubs are known as the South Wales derbiesand are usually one of the highlights of the season for both sets of supporters. Swansea City’s other rivals are Newpourt Countyand to a lesser extent Bristol City and Bristol Rovers. Their first emblem was the coat of arms, granted in 1922. The original device of Swansea seems to have been an osprey, now used as a crest in the arms.In the Eighties and the majority of the Nineties Swansea City’s emblem was a duck-like swan, spreading its wings and perched on Henry de Beaumont’s castle, with the sea in the background. In 1998 the club adopted a new badge, inspired by the new crest of the newly formed local authority – the City and County of Swansea. When the club changed ownership at the start of 2002 one of the first things that the new board did was to change the club colours back to white with a black trim. The board kept the club crest but to the delight of the fans decided that the colours should return to their rightful black and white.
