The 2009–10 season was Swansea City's 81st season in the Football League. It was their second consecutive season in the second tier following an eighth-placed finish in the previous campaign.
Swansea finished the season in seventh place, one place higher than the previous season, having just missed out on a play-off place to Blackpool.[1]
Events
This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2009–10 season, presented in chronological order.
22 May: Swansea City announce the signing of Queen of the South striker Stephen Dobbie. Dobbie put pen to paper on a free transfer that will keep him at the Liberty Stadium on a long-term performance-related deal.[4]
2 June: Swansea City completed the signing of Southampton winger Nathan Dyer for a fee of £400,000.[6]
4 June: Swansea City have given boss Roberto Martínez permission to hold talks with Wigan Athletic following the departure of Steve Bruce to Sunderland.[7] Should the deal go ahead, Wigan will pay a sum close to £2 million in compensation.[8]
11 June: Roberto Martínez was set to be unveiled as the new manager of Wigan Athletic at a press conference, but the deal was halted as Martínez failed to mention that he wanted his backroom staff from Swansea too join him.[9] Huw Jenkins had demanded compensation for the backroom staff, and branded Whelan as "unfair and disrespectful."[10][11]
15 June: Swansea and Wigan agree compensation for the loss of Martínez; the club has now confirmed the compensation package with the Premier League outfit for assistant-manager Graeme Jones, chief scout Kevin Reeves, goalkeeping coach Iñaki Bergara and masseur Oscar Brau.[12]
16 June: Defender Matthew Collins signed a new contract extending his stay at Swansea until 2011.[13]
16 June:Norwich City signed midfielder Owain Tudur Jones on a three-year deal for a sum thought to be in the region of £250,000.[15]
17 June: The fixture list for all championship teams were released on 17 June. Swansea City's first match will be away against newly crowned League One champions Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium. Swansea's first home game will be against relegated Premier League side Middlesbrough.[16]
18 June: Swansea City announced that they had offered the vacant managerial position to the Portuguese two-time Champions League-winning player Paulo Sousa and had verbally agreed a three-year contract. Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins went on to say, "He's young, bright, enthusiastic and a visionary with extensive knowledge and contacts not only throughout Europe, but world football."[17]
23 June:Eredivisie runners-up Twente will be the first team to face Swansea City in pre-season on 18 July, they will then be playing Spanish side Almería on 1 August at the Liberty Stadium.[18]
23 June: Paulo Sousa returned from Portugal and was officially unveiled as the new Swansea City manager at a press conference held at the Liberty Stadium at 13:30 GMT. He signed a three-year deal. Sousa said, "Together with the fans we can build a strong club, a strong city to be on the map not only in Wales and England, but everywhere."[19][20]
25 June: Swansea City unveiled the online casino, 32Red, as their shirt sponsors for the 2009–10 season. The home and away kits were modeled by defenders Alan Tate and Marcos Painter.[21]
26 June: Midfielder Joe Allen signed a new three-year contract with Swansea that will see him stay until 2012.[22]
2 July: Swansea and Neath Athletic agree to face each other in a pre-season friendly match on 20 July at The Gnoll.[24]
9 July: Swansea agreed a fee believed to be £2 million with Wigan Athletic for Jason Scotland after Swansea had initially rejected a £1.25 million bid from Burnley.[25]
13 July:Andrea Orlandi extended his stay at Swansea by signing a new one-year deal with the club.[26]
17 July: Almería were confirmed to meet Swansea City in a pre-season friendly at the Liberty Stadium on 1 August.[27]
18 July: The 2009–10 squad numbers were released. Notable changes were Nathan Dyer being switched from 31 to 12, new striker Stephen Dobbie was given number 14, and Mark Gower loses the "cursed" 11 jersey to number 27.[28]
18 July: Jason Scotland completed his move to Wigan for £2 million and signed a two-year deal after receiving the necessary international clearance.[29]
20 July:UEFA Cup winner Jordi Lopez signed a two-year deal for Swansea City on a free transfer.[30]
25 July:Ipswich Town striker Pablo Couñago turned down the chance to join the Swans, despite both clubs agreeing an undisclosed transfer fee.[31]
8 August: Swansea football league campaign kicked off against Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium, but ended in a 2–1 defeat. However, midfielder Joe Allen suffered a Hamstring injury after 25 minutes.[34]
11 August: Ashley Williams was named in the Championship Team of the Week following his performance against Leicester.[1]
18 August: Swansea City rejected a bid for Ferrie Bodde from previous, and now manager of Wigan Athletic, Roberto Martínez. It was understood that the Wigan had offered £4.5 million. However, Swansea Chairman Huw Jenkins went on to say, "Not only have we rejected the bid, but it's an offer we wouldn't even think twice about considering... In fact, the way it is structured – over such a long period of time and appearance related – it doesn't even constitute an offer."[37][38]
25 August: Swansea City's clash with Scunthorpe ended in controversy as Swansea had captain Garry Monk, Gorka Pintado and Àngel Rangel sent off, whilst striker Stephen Dobbie went off injured. This left Swansea down to just 7 men on the field. Tempers then erupted as debutant Besian Idrizaj was forced to play on despite being injured. The match would have been abandoned according to Football League rules. Football League rules state each side must have at least seven players on the pitch for a game to be played.[40][41]
27 August: Swansea City completed a double swoop and signed club legend Lee Trundle on loan from Bristol City until 1 January 2010 and Craig Beattie joined the Swans from West Bromwich Albion on a three-year deal for a club record deal of £800k.[42]
September
1 September: Swansea sign Trinidad and Tobago centre back Radanfah Abu Bakr on a three-month deal.[43]
10 September: Former Ajax player Cedric van der Gun signed for Swansea on a one-year deal with an option to extend his stay a further 12 months.[45]
28 September: Ferrie Bodde was ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing a cruciate ligament in his left knee for a second time. Bodde lasted just eight minutes in the 2–1 victory against Sheffield United.[46]
October
5 October:Dorus de Vries was named in the Championship Team of the Week.[2]
7 October:Ashley Williams signed a new four-year contract that will keep him at the club until 2013.[47]
Source: [citation needed] Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.
EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); Age = age on the day of the signing; Moving from = only indicate the club the player was playing before start playing for this club in this season, for the type of the moving see Status column; Moving to = only indicates the club the player is going to play next, for the type of the moving see Status column; Ends = when the player's current contract ends; n/a = Not applicable; Apps = Total number of competitive appearances (including substitute appearances) at the club prior to departure; Goals = Total number of competitive goals scored at the club prior to departure.
Sources: For loan start source see "Start source". For loan end source see "End source". EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; No. = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); In/Out = In: The player came in on loan, Out: The player went out on loan; Loan club = the club that the player moved on loan to or the club that the player came from on loan; Started = the date when the player's loan started; Ended = the date when the player's loan ended.
Sources: For loan start source see "Start source". For loan end source see "End source". EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; No. = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); In/Out = In: The player came in on loan, Out: The player went out on loan; Loan club = the club that the player moved on loan to or the club that the player came from on loan; Started = the date when the player's loan started; Ended = the date when the player's loan ended.
