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It was December 1995 the last time we played at Swansea, then of course the old Vetch Field ground. They were relegated at the end of that season and have since flitted between the bottom two divisions, that is until now and so our first visit to the Liberty Stadium which opened in 2005 almost a decade after our last visit.
Swansea had just won promotion from League Two to League One under the management of Kenny Jackett when they moved into their new stadium three years ago. They finished 6th and then 7th in the first two seasons following the promotion but in 2007/08 were convincing champions with 92 points.
Jackett left in February 2007 to be replaced by Spaniard Roberto Martinez and he clinched that promotion in his first full season in charge, a season where the only real disappointment was the shock FA Cup exit to Havant and Waterlooville in a 3rd round replay.
Martinez carried out some squad strengthening in the summer with no fewer than eight new recruits, six permanent and two of them on loan. He did quite a bit of his shopping in Spain and so many of the new names will be unknown to us.
The players who arrived from English clubs were defender Ashley Williams from Stockport and Southend midfielder Mark Gower along with young forwards Stefan Morrison from West Brom and Febian Brandy who signed on loan from Manchester United until January. Williams was in effect re-joining them having spent the last two months of the 2007/08 season there on loan.
Gorka Pintando was signed from Spain whilst Jordi Gomez, Federico Bessone and Albert Serran have all arrived from Espanyol. Gomez is with Swansea for the season on loan whilst both Bessone and Serran have signed permanently from Espanyol's reserve team.
They have made a steady start to the season despite losing on the opening day of the season, and although the away results could have been better they are unbeaten at home, and that includes a Carling Cup win against Premier League club Hull City. The last team to beat them at the Liberty Stadium were Yeovil last April.
Swansea should have enough to ensure they are not one of the bottom clubs this season. I don't expect them to be challenging for a Premier League place but I think they will probably end the season around the half way mark. They certainly look the best equipped of the three promoted clubs.
Swansea can boast a fully fit squad for tomorrow's game. There have been suggestions that Martinez might switch system and play with two strikers but he's said that's a definite no and they will continue with their usual 4-5-1 system with Jason Scotland up front.
Owen Coyle of course knows all about Jason Scotland, it was Owen who sold him to Swansea at the beginning of last season from St. Johnstone and is a player our manager rates very highly.
Swansea are expected to name the same side that drew with Derby on Tuesday and if so they will line up in 4-5-1: Dorus de Vries, Angel Rangel, Garry Monk, Ashley Williams, Marcos Painter, Mark Gower, Darren Pratley, Ferrie Bodde, Leon Britton, Tom Butler, Jason Scotland. Subs: Jordi Gomez, Gorka Pintando, Febian Brandy, Alan Tate, Federico Bessone.
Burnley don't have their full squad available but it would be no surprise to see Owen Coyle name the same team that beat Blackpool so convincingly on Tuesday. He's definitely without Chris Eagles who will serve the last of a three match ban whilst both Christian Kalvenes and Remco van der Schaaf are available but will have to await their chance.
I expect us to name the same sixteen which is: Brian Jensen, Russell Anderson, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott, Kevin McDonald, Chris McCann, Steven Thompson, Martin Paterson. Subs: Diego Penny, Joey Gudjonsson, Alan Mahon, Robbie Blake, Ade Akinbiyi.
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We played only three more away games under his management, at Carlisle, Rotherham and Brentford, and all were lost without scoring a goal, and so the goals at Swansea were also the last goals away from home for Mullen.
Although the Burnley manager was just a couple of months away from losing his job, the win at Swansea took us to fifth in the table whilst the Swans were already having relegation worries and were in the bottom four with Brentford, Brighton and Hull who were all to record home wins against us later in the season.
David Eyres scored the only goal of the first half and the Clarets were coasting nine minutes into the second half when Kurt Nogan added a second, already his 14th league goal of the season in only the 21st game.
The number looked up for Swansea but they came back at us just past the hour to score twice in two minutes to level up the scores. Steve Torpey got the first and Glyn Hurst the second and suddenly the home fans were looking at the chance of victory.
Thankfully, with a quarter of an hour to go, Andy Cooke restored the lead and Cooke added his second and Burnley's fourth with three minutes to go to ensure victory.
The teams were;
Swansea: Roger Freestone, Steve Jones, Andy Cook, Keith Walker, Christian Edwards, Colin Pascoe (John Hodge), Glyn Hurst, Jamie Barnwell-Edinburgh, Steve Torpey, Kwame Ampadu, Jonathan Coates (Dave Penney).
Burnley: Marlon Beresford, Chris Brass, Chris Vinnicombe, Jamie Hoyland, Mark Winstanley, Gerry Harrison, Paul Weller, Warren Joyce (Derek Adams), Andy Cooke, Kurt Nogan, David Eyres.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
1992/93 | 2 | h | 1-0 | 10,913 | Penney |
| . | . | a | 1-1 | 4,973 | Farrell |
1993/94 | 2 | a | 1-3 | 3,358 | Francis |
| . | . | h | 1-1 | 10,694 | Davis |
1995/96 | 2 | h | 3-0 | 8,068 | Nogan Joyce Eyres |
| . | . | a | 4-2 | 2,078 | Eyres Nogan Cooke(2) |