Philosophy Is The Next Best Thing To Trophies...

[Jack Fulham]

Clubs like Swansea are unlikely to reach the Champions League any time soon but what they do have are football and fiscal philosophies to make the fans proud...

In a post-match interview on Saturday after his team had dispatched a clunky West Ham 3-0, Swansea manager Michael Laudrup was fielding questions. "Fans must be pleased with what they've seen today?" asked the man behind the camera. "Maybe, but I'm just continuing the way Swansea have played in the past four or five years," said Laudrup.

This quote is worth dwelling on. In 2004, Swansea were flailing in the old fourth division, almost relegated from the Football League. Their rise has been impressive and well-documented. To see Laudrup, one of the greatest playerS of the 1990s - and fast proving himself as an excellent manager - demurely insisting that he's just slipping into the Swansea philosophy is quite staggering.

But then again, philosophy is the reason that Michael Laudrup chose Swansea. When the board approached him in the summer he researched and quickly warmed to the club. It's easy to see why. Swansea have two philosophies, in ownership and playing style - both are grounded in hard work and envied from afar.

The club is run by a consortium of local businesses and supporters. The Swans Trust holds a 17% stake - by far the largest for supporters in the Premier League. It has 15,500 members, with the purchase of a season ticket granting membership. All have a vote in elections of directors to the trust board, held every two years. The club only spends what it earns, too. "We don't incur debts. We're here for a long time, not just a good time," says James White, a board member of the Swans Trust.

This prudence is hard won and a response to years of mismanagement from outside owners, until 2002 when the consortium bought the club for £20,000. And long before Laudrup arrived with his lantern jaw and softly tailored jackets, Swansea were struggling to pay wages. Leon Britton's first spell at the club in 2003 is remembered for the 'Battle of Britton' with supporters raising money in bucket collections to pay for his salary. Swansea's role within the community arguably secured the club its home at the Liberty Stadium in 2005 too. Built and paid for by the council, Swansea were granted a stake in the ground because they were run sustainably, with local involvement.

The prudence continues to pay off, with a new training complex being built this season. Community ties are everywhere at Swansea. The board contains a club-supporting lawyer who carries out much of the legal work for free. White, also a fan, took it upon himself to negotiate the club's shirt sponsor with online gaming company 32Red. It's a long way from New York IPOs and Cayman Islands registrations.

The main event though, is Swansea's footballing philosophy, which was last season's story and has been praised enough. Fluid, possession-based - and more attacking since Laudrup came in, having tucked his wingers Dyer and Routledge inside, closer to Michu and Graham - Swansea move off the ball and aim to close down players within seven seconds of losing it. It's Barcelona's style attempted by good players, not world-beaters. But this tiki-taka for mortals has been germinating since February 2007 when Roberto Martinez was hired. It was continued and refined over the following five years, by Paulo Souza, Brendan Rodgers and now Laudrup. "We made a conscious decision years ago to only hire managers who share our philosophy," says White.

'Philosophy' is a word often used unthinkingly in football; in whose clumsy hands it's really just shorthand for 'having a plan'. But whether in attractive football on the pitch, or fiscal responsibility off it, a philosophy of which to be proud is increasingly all that fans of clubs outside the higher reaches of the Premier League can hope for.
The reasons are linked to UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules, which force clubs to live within their means. I interviewed Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck this summer about Financial Fair Play. He was, of course, defending his position as the chairman of a club that has spent wildly. But he made a wider point about the way the rules would limit clubs' spending and thus their supporters' ability to dream. "The rules preserve the status quo," he said. "If you are a Barnet fan, you could always believe that one day your team will be top of the Premier League. But with Financial Fair Play, those fans will never be able to live their dream."

Aside from the fact that Swansea fans could relish a Premier League table with their club at the summit on Saturday afternoon, Buck's point still stands. The social climbing of clubs will be limited by the rules. Although this is good for the stability of clubs, it does mean that those with high revenue streams can continue to spend big, but those without cannot. It's not all UEFA's fault though. This cap on competitiveness has been creeping for the last 30 years. From 1982 to 1992, 13 different teams finished in the top three positions of English football's top flight. From 1992 to 2002, ten teams managed it. From 2002 to 2012, only seven.

Of course, the never-ending struggles for promotion and relegation, and the occasional cup run will always dominate the minds of football supporters. But clubs' belief systems are becoming more valued, as their opportunities for glory diminish elsewhere. It-s tempting to view clubs with a philosophy such as Swansea as the enlightened few. This is probably wrong. Most clubs have a doctrine, whether as a profit-making production line at Crewe, brutish efficiency at Stoke, penny pinching at Ken Bates' Leeds, incremental growth at West Brom. Few are as appealing or successful as Swansea's.

And in an age where silverware slips more regularly into the hands of the few, a club with a plan like theirs deserves all the praise it gets.

Tom Young

http://www.football365.com/f365-features/8029881/F365-Focus

[hn4fulham]

Good read:) thanks for sharing.

[bulgariawhite]

I admire your depth of post. I agree to a point. We are a 'Swansea" in the humdrum  in the world of London. As supporters we want to see good football, and as much as we dream we are never going to have the investment to buy the Championship or a cup. As a Fulham supporter, every season I dream. Maybe just one day. I enjoy all the turmoil that's happening now and have my up's and downs. But that is Fulham. We live with it and come back for more every season.

[Jack Fulham]

I admire your depth of post. I agree to a point. We are a 'Swansea" in the humdrum  in the world of London. As supporters we want to see good football, and as much as we dream we are never going to have the investment to buy the Championship or a cup. As a Fulham supporter, every season I dream. Maybe just one day. I enjoy all the turmoil that's happening now and have my up's and downs. But that is Fulham. We live with it and come back for more every season.

Not my work, it's by Tom Young who writes for football365. It's a fantastic piece though. Although I think Brendan Rodgers is a good manager, he is given far too much credit for the football Swansea play when it was actually ignited by Roberto Martinez. I remember playing Swansea at the Liberty Stadium in League 1 and they played us off the park. We got a replay through a very fortunate Garry Monk own goal. It's amazing how big a part the community has played in bringing Swansea up to the PL though. You could never really get that with Fulham now though as we're located in London where the choice of club is far too diverse unlike these 1 club Towns/Cities.

[west kowloon white]

Really-Swansea seem to be splashing the cash to a previously unmatched degree-philosphically (got that wrong)or otherwise-early days and the Martinez days being overtaken by events-good if slightly pompous view-is every long article with substance that could be compressed into two lines that good?

[Jack Fulham]

Really-Swansea seem to be splashing the cash to a previously unmatched degree-philosphically (got that wrong)or otherwise-early days and the Martinez days being overtaken by events-good if slightly pompous view-is every long article with substance that could be compressed into two lines that good?

Did you notice they sold Joe Allen for big money, received quite a bit for Rodgers and Scott Sinclair is also on his way out. They will still come out of this transfer window with a profit.

[west kowloon white]

Good point-don't know whether they will come out of this window in profit-but yes they  certainly did well getting what they did for Allen..just didn't see them as profligate spenders and missed the point of the piece I suppose-lips sealed.