"The Swansea Way" - Swansea & Wales' Premier Sports Blog: All Time Swansea XI - Left Forward

Place in All Time XI always assured for man they simply call "Legend"

Alan Curtis. A name which will mean a lot to any Swansea City fan who has followed the club since the 1970s, and one which has become synonymous with the club over the last few decades. His inclusion also marks the point where I start to get creative with the formation in a bid to fit who I consider to be my All Time XI players into the team - I think I'm going to be going with an old school 4-3-3 by the looks of it. We'll see.

Alan Curtis. They don't celebrate like they did in the 70's
any more.

Nephew of former Swansea, Man City & Welsh international Roy Paul, Curtis came through the ranks at the Vetch before making his debut in the last game of the 1972-73 season against Charlton, but his first season as a Swans' player sadly saw the club being relegated to the old Fourth Division. He wouldn't have to wait long for things to start to improve though; by the 1976/77 season the Swans were a team on the up, and missed out on promotion by one point. Harry Griffiths was by this point in charge, and Malcolm Struel had been appointed Chairman - stating he wouldn't sell the best young players (as had become the norm for the Swans over the years).

Harry Griffiths resigned in the February of 1978, claiming he felt he couldn't take the club any further, but his replacement is a name every Swansea fan will be familiar with - John Toshack. Despite the mid-season upheaval, Curtis enjoyed a prolific season (scoring 32 goals in 39 games) and his contribution was crucial in seeing the Swans promoted out of the basement division. The next season the Swans were again promoted as they embarked on their yo-yo run to the First Division and back, but at the end of the season Curtis was the subject of a big-money bid from Leeds (to the tune of £350,000).

Sadly for Curtis (but excellently for the Swans) it didn't work out for him in Yorkshire and within 7 months he was back in South Wales - and we only paid £165,000 to bring him back. Excellent bit of business that, and he went on to help the club gain promotion to the First Division the following season, the culmination of a run which included three promotions in four seasons. What happened next is quite brilliant, as the opening day of the new season pitted Swansea (and Curtis) against his old club Leeds at the Vetch Field. Leeds, with all their pomp and history, were surefire favourites and Curtis had been somewhat harshly judged during his short stint there, so he no doubt had a point to prove. I can't possibly do justice to what unfolded next, so I'll use Youtube. It's also worth noting the debut-day hat-trick from another All Time XI inclusion - Bob Latchford:

Not good enough for Leeds? Good enough to do that!

The Swans famously hovered around the top of the table for most of that first season with the elite, before falling away to sixth as the season ended. Sadly, the next season saw them embark on a fall which was just as spectacular as their previous rise, and Curtis was sold a year later to Southampton for £85,000 with the club's financial situation critical. By this point (either side of that brief spell at Leeds where he'd scored 5 goals in 28 games) he'd already amassed 72 goals in 248 games for the Swans, but he had another trip home in him before he finished his playing career.

He stayed at the Dell for three seasons, making 50 appearances and scoring 5 goals, before a short loan to Stoke (where he only played 3 games) preceded a move to, would you believe it, Cardiff City. Curtis was clearly keen to return to Wales, and it should be taken as a mark of the man that Swansea fans simply brush over this portion of his career. Many players legacies with Swansea fans would be severely dented by playing 125 games (scoring 10 goals) for our bitter rivals, but Curt is so clearly Swansea through and through I've not once heard someone mention this disparagingly. I have, however, heard an outstanding rumour that Curtis has a Cardiff City tattoo... highly unlikely one feels.

Alan Curtis alongside current Swansea manager
Michael Laudrup

After his spell at the (now consigned to history) Bluebirds, Curtis managed one final sojourn at the Swans, rejoining not long after the start of the 1989/90 season. We went on to make 31 appearances in all competitions (scoring 4 goals) before bowing out after the last game of the season against Bolton, which took him to 482 appearances for the Swans, scoring 110 goals. All in all he scored 137 goals in 670 career games, so it would seem that in the other 200 games(ish) away from the Vetch he was never quite as prolific as when he was playing in SA1. He also gained 35 Welsh caps, scoring 6 goals, playing in a Welsh team that included many Swansea players at the time.

He went on to have roles at Barry Town and Haverfordwest before returning to the Swans where he's been ever since, enjoying almost every role it's possible to enjoy behind the scenes. Coach, first-team coach, assistant manager, caretaker manager, matchday host, possibly scout as well, you can tell when he speaks that his passion for the club will never die - he's an excellent man to have around the younger players in the team. In the last year or two a story has emerged surrounding the Hull game in 2003, where the Swans needed to win to ensure league status was preserved. Normally a man of few words, Curt "laid it on the line" (Leon Britton's words, not mine) and reminded the players just what the game, and the team, meant to the fans and the community - Curtis reflected afterwards that if he hadn't said anything, and the club had been relegated, he'd never have forgiven himself for not trying to make a difference.

As a fan from a younger generation, it pains me that I was never able to see Curtis play competitively, however I was able to see him pull on his boots during a testimonial match for Keith Walker where Aston Villa came to town. His cameo put him in direct competition with (then Wales right-back) Mark Delaney, and all I remember is watching the elder player glide past his younger opponent time and time again as if he wasn't there. I was in awe of this guy, and he hadn't played a competitive match in a decade - I remember thinking at the time that it was such a shame I'd "missed the boat", so to speak, in terms of glory days for the Swans... how things have turned out eh?

If ever there was a man assured of his place in any All Time Swansea XI, it's Alan Curtis. Swansea City through and through.

Below is my All Time Swansea XI so far - what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Who would you have included? There's still spots up for grabs so I may yet be swayed...