Wednesday, 16 April 2014

Adidas to continue partnersip, Curt 60 today, Gwion Edwards debut goal & more

Adidas to continue kit partnership


Just a cheeky roundup of the news then. A busy day, so I'll get started! 

Yesterday it was announced that Swansea have signed an extension on their agreement with Adidas, which will see the renowned kit manufacturer continue to provide the Swans with their kits. 

"We are very happy to be renewing our kit sponsorship with adidas - they are an excellent partner for Swansea City Football Club and we feel the quality of kit they provide across all areas of the club from the first team through to the coaching staff is second to none.  
"We look forward to many more successful years as partners.”  
Swansea Chairman Huw Jenkins
"We are immensely proud of our on-going association with Swansea City Football Club and are delighted to be signing this new deal. The club has experienced an exciting few years whilst playing in our kit, impressing football fans across the world and we look forward to building on that success in the years to come as committed supporters of the club and their fans."  
Neil Venables, adidas (UK) Ltd
http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/adidas-kit-deal-1489271.aspx#jRfvBBzrXCukZqZf.99

Intriguingly, there's no mention of how long the extension is, but Huw does say "many more successful years", so I can't imagine it's only a one year deal. Personally I've liked all the Adidas kits we've had (except maybe the orange away kit...) so I'm happy to see the deal prolonged - I'm also firmly of the opinion that the red/white/green away kit we had last season would be an excellent permanent base on which to design our second strip, and I doubt I'm alone in that point of view. 

Alan Curtis 60 today


Happy birthday Curt! Swansea legend Alan Curtis turns 60 today, which makes it fourty-two years since he made his first team debut for the club. Still heavily involved today (and I'd imagine a lot more so since Monk took charge), he's Swansea through and through and I think I speak for everyone when I give thanks to Curt for his outstanding service, and hope for many more years to come where he's associated with the club in one way or another. 

Swansea youngster on loan at Crawley scores on debut


Young winger Gwion Edwards has had to be patient while he waited for his first chance to impress at League One Crawley Town, but he's gone a long way in endearing himself to fans by scoring the second (and last) goal in a 2-0 win over Tranmere. The match also featured ex-Swansea youngster Jamie Proctor, who was signed from Preston but failed to make an appearance for the club before departing first to Shrewsbury on loan, before Crawley came calling just five months after he'd originally signed for the Swans. Fair play to him, he wasn't getting a look in and he wanted to be playing first-team football - you've got to admire that.

Last night's goalscorer Edwards was pleased to have finally been able to show what he can do:

“I have been patient waiting for my chance. I’m just glad I got on the pitch, have done well and got a goal. It is a big achievement for me to score on my debut. It is just such a good feeling. When I came on I just wanted to keep the ball and not lose it so it was a bonus I scored. I thought it was going to hit the post but luckily it went in the net.” Gwion Edwards

Swansea respond to reports of fighting in training match


Swansea came out with an (excellent) official response to the report in the Daily Mail concerning bustups on the training ground, but Huw Jenkins also had his say which, given he was reported to be present, should be rather telling:

"I think the commitment shown by the team when we had to play for so long with ten men against Chelsea speaks volumes. I think that says enough. It tells you that everybody connected with Swansea City - staff, directors, players and supporters - is 100 per cent committed to making sure that we give every ounce of effort to ensure we stay in the Premier League." Huw Jenkins
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Swansea-City-training-ground-clashes-chairman-Huw/story-20959942-detail/story.html#ixzz2z20AGzdl

That pretty much echoes my stance on it - this happened before the Chelsea game but we easily showed enough togetherness and desire in that matchup to suggest we've got enough to avoid relegation. 

It's also stated in the Evening Post article that the club dismissed reports Bony is on £58,000 a week (I thought that was a bit wild), as well as laughing off suggestions that someone was eating crisps at half time in a recent Premier League match. It was also stated that during the flare-ups in the full-scale practice match - which, let's be honest, aren't that infrequent an occurrence - no punches were thrown. 

I've not seen many brawls where no punches were thrown!