2001–02 Swansea City A.F.C. season

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]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Roger Freestone 2 DF Lee Jenkins 3 DF Michael Howard 4 MF Nick Cusack 5 DF Jason Smith 8 MF David Romo 9 FW John Williams 10 FW Steve Watkin 11 MF Jonathan Coates 12 MF Gareth Phillips 13 GK Jason Jones 14 MF Kristian O'Leary 15 MF Damien Lacey 16 MF Michael Keegan

No. Position Player 17 FW Mamady Sidibé 18 DF Chris Todd 19 DF Ryan Casey[notes 1] 20 DF Leigh De-Vulgt 21 DF Stephen Healey 22 MF Chris O'Sullivan 23 MF Craig Draper 25 MF Andrew Mumford 26 DF Jered Stirling 27 DF Neil Sharp 28 DF Terry Evans 30 FW Steve Brodie 31 DF Richard Duffy

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 6 DF Matthew Bound (to Oxford United) 7 MF Nicolás Mazzina (released) 24 FW Nathan Tyson (on loan from Reading) 26 DF Richard Appleby (to Kidderminster Harriers)

No. Position Player 27 MF Stuart Roberts (to Wycombe Wanderers) 28 GK Simon Cole (released) 29 DF Stephen Evans (on loan from Crystal Palace)

References

Notes