Remember When...
Huw Became Chairman of Swansea City F.C.
by nigel davies
The completion of Huw Jenkins’ takeover at Newport County and his installation as Chairman has sparked twin waves of nausea and nostalgia amongst Swans fans. So ATFV is cranking up the time machine and spinning back to mid 2003 to revisit HJ’s coronation as Swansea City Chairman…
Musing that Jenkins has become a starkly divisive figure within the Jack Army may well be the understatement of the century. There’s no doubt that Swansea City was at death’s door when he entered as part of the consortium that vanquished Tony Petty. And there’s little doubt that he oversaw a remarkable rise and played a leading part in taking the club to it’s most successful spell in its 100+ year history.
Equally though there’s no doubt whatsoever that rather than cement his legacy by selling responsibly andf ensuring the Trust had a watertight and genuinely influential role in the club’s long term future, he allowed greed to get the better of him and he sold us out to a bunch of American celebrity dentists, a Z list actress and some sort of ‘shock jock’ fronted by the equal parts incompetent and objectionable Kaplan & Levien.
Going back to those early days though Jenkins was just one of the group of local businessmen that emerged to join forces with the newly formed Supporters Trust in an effort to oust Petty, way back in 2002 – seems an eternity ago, doesn’t it?
Taking his place as part of the ‘management committee’ that assumed the running of the club, Jenkins was just under name to most and the assumption was that Swans Legend and consortium leader Mel Nurse would become Chairman when any appointment was made.
There was nothing to suggest that wasn’t going to be the case when in April of 2002 a proper Board of Directors was announced, Nurse taking his place on the Board along with Jenkins, Supporters Trust Chairman Leigh Dineen, existing director Dave Morgan and South African based businessman Brian Katzen.
Therefore it came as quite the surprise when it took until the end of June 2003 for a Chairman to be announced, and equally surprising when Jenkins was revealed in the role and not former player, director and all round saviour Nurse.
It was quite the challenge to take over a Football League club, albeit one in the bottom division, for a man who was a builders merchant by trade and had a couple of failed businesses behind him.
There’s going to be no revisionism here though – it was a challenge he not only met but conquered, establishing as arguably the best Chairman the club has ever had.
And that is something that A Touch Far Vetched acknowledged many times in its printed pages throughout Jenkins reign and I stand by every word.
Upon his appointment Jenkins told the official site the following: “We felt that now was the right time to appoint a chairman and vice-chairman because it will help the club move forward and grow.
“With the foundations now in place it will give the club the right image, plus the leadership to take us in the right direction, and I believe that in partnership with the Supporters Trust, we will go from strength to strength.
“Decisions have, and will be taken in the interests of the whole club, not just one or two, and we will not gamble on the future of the club we love for anything. When we took over, the Swans’ were sinking, now with the club holding it’s own, it is time to move forward and continue making progress.”
Well Jenkins was true to his word in that the club moved forward and continued making progress all the way to the Premier League but it’s such a shame that his words regarding a “partnership with the Supporters Trust” were hollow ones…the truth is that HJ had a real axe to grind with the Trust behind the scenes for a long, long time and would often do his best to blunt its influence.
As I said earlier though, those hidden machinations and ultimately damaging, catastrophic betrayal of the Trust should not detract from all that was achieved by Jenkins in his time as Chairman of Swansea City Football Club.
From the depths of despair facing financial ruin and demotion out of the professional leagues to the building of a new stadium, promotions to the Premier League, a first major trophy, a return to European competition and the peak of managerial appointments in the Legendary shape of Michael Laudrup, Jenkins’ reign was ostly paved in gold…
…it’s such a shame that the prospect of a chest full of gold, plus the opportunity to remain in post with a further half a million a year led him to stab the fans in the back and do a grubby little deal with a bunch of hedgefunders that have been disastrous for us as a club.
It’s a crying shame that for many long term fans like me we’ll remember the bitter end instead of the glorious start of Huw Jenkins’ time as Swansea City Chairman…
...newport fans beware!
