Swansea City: Seasons in the Sun 1981-82 & 1982-83

Seasons in the Sun tells the story of Swansea Citys rapid climb from the Fourth to the First Division, and in particular the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons when the club faced, and in many cases beat, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and the other top teams of the day. It also depicts in great detail the even more startling fall from grace with the club slipping back to the Fourth Division only three years after being in the top flight. The tale starts in 1975 when the Swans were forced to apply for re-election to the Football League and highlights the arrival of player-manager John Toshack on St Davids Day, 1978 when the club really took off. With a mixture of astute signings such as Bob Latchford, the two Yugoslavs Dzemal Hadziabdic and Ante Rajkovic and Leighton James, together with home grown favourites such as Alan Curtis, Robbie James, Nigel Stevenson and many others, Toshack and his side were ready to take on the best teams in the country and even held first place in the division on three separate occasions. Sadly, financial problems and a cruel spate of crippling injuries saw the bubble burst the following season and the club fell into a rapid decline that sent them shooting back down the divisions, ending up in 1985 back in the basement from where the dream had started. Many reasons have been put forward for this descent which took the club to the brink of extinction, but nothing can take away those two seasons in the sun when Swansea City were numbered amongst the elite.