PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: SWANSEA CITY V CHELSEA

WE HAVE HISTORY
This will be our first ever visit to the Liberty Stadium. Our nine previous away games against Swansea have been played at Vetch Field, the most recent of which was our biggest ever win there.

Our last meeting in Swansea was in November 1983 during our promotion campaign under John Neal. Swansea had been relegated from the top flight the previous May and were plummeting straight down again, sitting bottom at the end of the evening.

Neal had engineered a remarkable turnaround in a matter of months. His side had evaded the drop by a handful of points the previous season, and there had been protests against him at Stamford Bridge.

The experienced north-easterner survived and thrived following serious summer rebuilding of his squad. By the onset of winter the Blues were firmly among the favourites to win promotion to the top flight, and it was power shows such as the one away to Swansea that had the bookies certain they would be paying out.

Money was also paramount in the thoughts of the Swans' board - the match was actually brought forward from March with the agreement of Ken Bates in order to ease the Welsh side's cash-flow concerns.

On a freezing night, 7,848 hardy souls contributed £24,000 in gate receipts towards Swansea's near-£2m debt.

Chelsea players, on a run of one defeat in 15 games, showed rather less charity on the field of play. This team was built on pace, energy and dynamism, and Swansea found it hard to handle. So great was the visitors' dominance that calmer behaviour in the final third could have brought a rout.

Leather-lunged midfielder Johnny Bumstead opened the scoring after ten minutes when he spotted Swans' second-string keeper Chris Sander off his line and coolly lobbed the ball over him.

As was so often the case, Pat Nevin was behind much of the Londoners' most creative play and he drilled in from close range to make it 2-0 15 minutes later.

Swansea pulled a goal back against the run of play when winger Colin Pascoe - linked with Liverpool - netted, but Kerry Dixon latched on to a long ball from skipper and coach John Hollins to hit Chelsea's third just before half-time. That was Dixon's 16th of the season.

Surprisingly, the score remained at 3-1 despite Swansea's pressure and Chelsea's threat on the counter.

Neal's men completed the job that season to win promotion after five years in Division Two. The Swans were eventually relegated for the second successive season.

The teams that evening were:

Swansea: Chris Sander; Gary Chivers, Gary Richards, Jeremy Charles, Nigel Stevenson, Garry Stanley (Huw Lake), Alan Curtis, Chris Marustik, Bob Latchford, Darren Gale, Colin Pascoe.
Chelsea: Eddie Niedzwiecki; John Hollins, Colin Pates, Joe McLaughlin, Joey Jones; Pat Nevin, John Bumstead, Nigel Spackman, Peter Rhoades-Brown; Kerry Dixon, David Speedie.

Chelsea are looking for a fourth successive win against the Swans since our last defeat in April 1981.

The reverse fixture this season
24 September 2011 Premier League
Chelsea………..……4 Swansea………..….…1
Torres 29                       Williams 85
Ramires 35, 75
Drogba 90+3
                        Att: 41,800

Swansea City v Chelsea in all competitions
Games played 20
Chelsea wins 9
Swansea wins 5
Draws 6

Head to head in the League at Swansea
Games played 9
Chelsea wins 2
Swansea wins 4
Draws 3

Biggest league win at Swansea for each team
Swansea 3-0 Chelsea - 12/04/1930 and 25/04/1981
Swansea 1-3 Chelsea - 22/11/1983

DAYS SINCE
Chelsea lost to Swansea: 11,239
Swansea last hosted Chelsea: 10,298
Arsenal won a trophy: 2,447
Liverpool won a trophy: 2,090

Swansea City v Chelsea