Chairman Huw Jenkins gives his stamp of approval to city's bid for accolade
A bit of a feelgood story this one, and one I'm all for. I didn't realise how much of a fledgling designation the UK City of Culture is - I was guilty of confusing it with the European City of Culture (Liverpool were given this title in 2009), however the UK version has only been running for one year.
Inaugurated last year, the first ever recipient of the title was Derry-Londonderry. 14 cities applied, with four being shortlisted, before the Northern Irish city was awarded the accolade. With the next UK City of Culture to be named for 2017, and with a long list of applicants, the brains behind Swansea's bid will do well to fight off the competition and secure the prize.
If they're successful, we could see events run by Sony, Channel 4, the BBC, the UK Film Council, the Museum Association, and the Heritage Lottery Fund to name but a few. It would certainly be nice to see a range of culturally diverse events taking place on our doorstep, and would no doubt aid the regeneration that the council and Welsh Assembly have pumped so much money into in recent times.
Swansea Council's cabinet member for regeneration, Nick Bradley, thinks the support of the Swans (as well as the Ospreys) has helped put Swansea "on the map", and that landing the 2017 title could help fend off bids from other cities like Aberdeen, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Leicester & Hull. Yes, Hull.
"The Swans and the Ospreys have done a terrific job in raising Swansea Bay's profile across the world, but landing UK City of Culture 2017 status would further help put our home region on the international map and attract more investment in future." Nick Bradley
Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins also looks at this positively. Realistically anything which serves to highlight the region, the football club or both will help spread the club's fanbase, and there's little surprise he's keen to add his weight to the bid (as was his Ospreys counterpart). He had this to say when questioned about Swansea being named the 2017 UK City of Culture:
"Our community defines our culture. We are a part of their day to day lives and they of ours, and our stadium sits right in the middle of the region, bridging east and west and bringing people together. We will put the full weight of the club behind the bid to help our shared culture grow and flourish across Swansea Bay." Huw Jenkins
He sounds keen doesn't he? Realistically, with all the speculation in the press over the last week he was probably glad to be given a chance to comment on something else. Much like me to be honest - it's been a bit slow in terms of Swans news (if you choose to disregard the "Laudrup discontent" rumours) so it's been difficult finding topics for discussion over the last few days.
Hopefully in the next few days we'll see some transfer activity start to heat up. Rumours we're growing close to signing Spanish flyer Diego Capel are intensifying, and from what I've seen of him I'd have no problem with the Swans singing him - especially at the £4.5million price I've heard mooted.
On that note, I think I've just stumbled onto a topic for tomorrow. Coming soon; a profile on Diego Capel.