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.
No comments:
Post a Comment