All Time Swansea XI - Left Forward - Alan Curtis

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...

Other members of the All Time Swans XI:

GK - Roger Freestone - http://www.theswanseaway.co.uk/2013/04/all-time-swansea-xi-goalkeeper-roger.html

LB - Wilfred Milne - http://www.theswanseaway.co.uk/2013/04/all-time-swansea-xi-left-back-wilfred.html

CB - Mel Charles - http://www.theswanseaway.co.uk/2013/04/all-time-swansea-xi-centre-back-mel.html

CM - Leon Britton - http://www.theswanseaway.co.uk/2013/04/all-time-swansea-xi-central-midfield.html

CF - Bob Latchford - http://www.theswanseaway.co.uk/2013/04/all-time-swansea-xi-centre-forward-bob.html

All Time Swansea XI - Centre Forward - Bob Latchford

I should probably make something clear at this point after a lot of debate regarding some of my selections so far. This is in no way meant to be a list of the eleven most technically gifted players to pull on the famous white shirt of the Swans, it's a collection of players who, through skill on the field and overall contribution to the club, will (or should) live long in the memory of fans. As has been seen so far, the list will be heavy on nostalgia but with a club history spanning 100 years, it was always likely the majority of the XI would be made up of players from times gone by.

With that in mind, I give you the first attacking player to make it into the team. At centre forward: Bob Latchford.

Latchford celebrating one of  his
 many goals for Swansea City

Signed after the Swans had famously been promoted to the old First Division for the 1981/82 season, Latchford came with a high billing. He'd started his career at Birmingham, and amazingly a copy of his original contract shows he was only earning £8 a week when he first signed professional terms with the team. He'd go on to score 68 goals in 160 games for the Blues, before a British record transfer of £350k (although how that works out I'm not sure: Howard Kendall & Archie Styles moved the other way and Birmingham only received 80k) saw him move to Everton in 1974.

At Everton he excelled, and set about becoming the club's most prolific goalscorer since legendary figure Dixie Dean. After taking three games to get off the mark, he went on to score 138 goals in 289 games for Everton, smashing records left right and centre. During this time Latchford won a £10k prize offered by a national newspaper for scoring 30 goals in a season - the paper had bemoaned the lack of quality goalscorers in British football and Latchford managed to hit the target on the last day of the season, scoring  twice against Chelsea. All in all he spent seven years at Everton, during which time he gained twelve international caps - predominantly partnering Kevin Keegan and scoring five goals in the process.

Latchford joined Swansea for £125k in July 1981 with the Swans about to embark on their debut season in the top flight. What happened next is rather famous actually, as Latchford scored a nine minute hat-trick on his debut, helping the club to a 5-1 win over Leeds United - and for those that haven't seen it it's definitely worth a watch! Curtis' goal for the fifth is simply awesome.

That first season for the Swans he would go on to score 12 goals in 31 league games as they defied expectation to finish in sixth place - although had it not been for a slump in form at the end of the season they could have finished even higher. It was the next season that Latchford really made his mark though, scoring 20 goals in 38 league games which, sadly, wasn't enough to keep the Swans from being relegated at the end of the year. The Swans scored 51 league goals that year, so Latchford single-handedly accounted for almost 40% of the Swans goals. Had it not been for the burly forward, the season could have been even worse - as it was the Swans were relegated seven points adrift of safety, and Latchford remembers that year as a frustrating one:

Latchford in action for England

“In terms of my time at Swansea, how much I enjoyed living there, my life away from football and the people I met, it had no effect at all, but it definitely soured my second season on the pitch because of the things that were happening. 

“Everything from the top to bottom was not right. The more games we lost the worse things became. Things fell apart and it was not a nice experience. I would not want the club to go through that again.  

“You need that stability and unity to keep you going when things are going against you. At the time when we were in trouble the fans were as bemused as the players by what was going on; quite simply we let in too many goals. We tried everything but we could not find the way to stop it. If you think of all the talent and experience we had at Swansea back then but we could not put it right. 

“Once you get on a slide it is very hard to stop it. I always felt if we could have survived that season we would have been there for much longer.”

After the Swans were relegated, Latchford was unanimously regarded as too good to stay at the Vetch (given the team's continued deterioration), and it was no surprise when he requested a transfer in the close season - and few can have blamed him. There were rumours his relationship with Toshack had fallen apart, but if true this must have been remedied as Bob ended up rejecting offers from Leicester and Chelsea, a change of heart which saw him state he wanted to end his career at Swansea (he was 33 by this point). Sadly, the Swans fall from grace meant that it simply wasn't possible for Latchford to remain with the team, and after 18 games and 3 goals in the Second Division he departed for Dutch side NAC Breda, where he helped them gain promotion, before spells at Coventry, Lincoln, Newport and finally Merthyr. After winning his third Welsh Cup (he'd won two with the Swans and remarkably this was the only trophy Bob would actually win in his career) with the valleys team, he called a day on his professional career which had seen him score 218 goals in 530 league games, quite the total I'm sure you'll agree.


Latchford's inclusion in the team was pretty much guaranteed from it's inception, as my whole life I've been regaled with stories of his goal scoring prowess. Anyone who saw him play seems to rate him as the best striker Swansea have ever had, and if current forward Michu enjoys a second season in SA1 similar to Latchford's (in terms of goals scored anyway!) we could be in for some fun next year.

Latchford's name will live long amongst Swansea fans for being the spearhead of the clubs first foray into the upper echelons of British football, and he's a worthy member of this All Time Swansea XI.

Do you agree with the selections for the All Time XI so far? Have your say by commenting on the blog, or by joining the forum!