When I was a kid growing up, I used to read the Rothman’s manual to ensure I was clued up on every statistic out there. For a period of about 6 years, I could name you every player in league football, who they played for and who they were transferred from.
I always knew everything about the Swans but my brain seemed to absorb information about other clubs as well. If my parents didn’t get me the Rothmans book each year for Christmas I would be disappointed but the key thing was stats, stats and more stats. As I have got older, my brain and ability to remember things has dropped significantly and I now need great books or the internet to find stats and information on games from the past.
So what you might say?
Well, when Colin Jones said to me that he would love to have his book ‘Swansea Town and City Football Club 1912-2012’ reviewed on the site then I said sure no problems, happy to help.
Little did I know how flicking through Colin’s book would bring back childhood memories about football stats and cause me to not do much work for a few hours! I was absolutely fascinated with what Colin has put together here and if you are a Swansea City fan then I strongly advise you to go out and buy this book. If you like stats on Swansea City players and league campaigns over the past 100 years then you can’t afford NOT to buy this book. It is simply a bible of stats and figures about our great club and now I have this book, it will sit proudly on my shelf for years to come.
• Ever wanted to know who our top goalscorer was in the 1921/22 season?
• How many appearances did Len and Ivor Allchurch make in the 1956/57 season?
• Who was our top scorer in the 1997/98 season?
All of the above plus everything else is provided by Colin in one very easy to read format. Season after season, stat after stat including details of every game, players user, players releases and different sequences throughout the season are there to view and read.
You won’t (unless you’re an insomniac want to read this cover to cover) but you will want to have this on your book case as a must have reference for everything related to Swansea City. I will be talking to Colin about getting hold of another copy of the book to offer as a competition as there is no way this version is going out to anyone else! Its mine now and I am chuffed it is and I would encourage Swans fans everywhere to ensure they have a copy themselves. The book can be purchased at the club shop for £18 and postage costs are £8 if bought direct from the publishers, Dinefwr Press, 4 Rawlings Road, Llandybie, Carmarthenshire, SA18 3YD.
The book is also available from the following: Swans’ Official Club Shop, Waterstones, WH Smiths(Quadrant), Uplands Book Shop and on Amazon.