Swansea City's fans' forum on Wednesday night was a serene, bordering on routine exercise for all involved, a stark contrast to some previous years. The club feels in a good place right now, with celebrity investment, a stadium purchase deal in the pipeline, transfer moves showing competence, and a bid to improve the academy.
One supporter even offered drinks to Tom Gorringe, Ben Stevens, and Vitor Matos, reflecting the positive mood. But optimism wasn't the only difference this evening. Musician Mal Pope, known for the Fireman Sam theme tune, hosted in place of Kev Johns, who continues to recover from a stroke earlier this year.
Applause for Kev Johns and a new era
The evening began with a rapturous round of applause for Johns, setting the tone for a night that gave fans a glimpse into what feels like a new era for the club. Gorringe alluded to this, casting his mind back to the club he walked into in March 2025.
"Before I joined I came here for a game against Sheffield Wednesday at home," he said. "Luke Williams was still the manager at the time, the stadium was half empty, we lost 1-0 from a mistake. It was two awful teams, it was an awful game of football. You could feel the apathy in the air. This club had drifted far too far away from where we want to be."
Gorringe added: "I came in with my eyes wide open [about] what we wanted to do, to give everybody hope again, to make everybody believe that we can be a force, that we can be true to our past, do things the right way and ultimately that we can move up the leagues and compete at the level we want to compete at. In order to do that we have to make a lot of decisions, we had to make a lot of changes. We had to make sure we brought the right people in. I think I can sit here today, probably for the first time since I joined, and say now all of those foundations are in place. I think everything is here that we need to really kick on and improve. We have got the right people in the building."
Welsh core concerns and player trading
Some have clearly left the building, including several homegrown first-team stars like Liam Cullen, Sam Parker, Ollie Cooper, and Cameron Congreve. This has sparked concern among fans about the loss of the club's Welsh identity, with one asking, "Are we confident we've got enough players in the dressing room that will fight for the badge?"
Matos believes in the strength of the senior players still in the building, which he suggested will form the spine of the squad's ambitions. "We have important players. From Vigs, even Paul Farman, from Ben Cabango, from Cam Burgess, from Jay Fulton, even from players now coming in. One of the things we tried in the market was to go for players whose character fits the club. That's quite important because when we sign a player we are signing a human being and we need to understand how they will fit in the squad and the club. The other thing we tried is to sign talent and potential, and at the same time sign players that are emotionally stable. For example, Elijah Just. He seems a really young kid, but he's 26, and he can perform already in different kinds of contexts. Players like that bring seniority to the group. They bring experience."
Academy upgrades and future plans
Bringing young players through the academy remains a big part of Swansea's operational model. Matos confirmed Filip Lissah is to stay with the first team next season and praised young Carter Heywood for his progress. "We always dream to have a team built from the ground in the academy," Matos admitted.
Gorringe confirmed that moves are in place to return to Category One status. "We've made the formal application now to move back to Cat 1. What that means in practical terms is we will be assessed over the course of next season. There's criteria you have to meet and I think we're comfortable and confident we can meet that criteria."
Gorringe also acknowledged that player trading will remain a key part of the operational model, which has helped fund this summer's transfer efforts. "We are operating a player trading model," he added. "Ultimately that means we will, and always have actually, regularly sell players. I think we've averaged over £11m profit over a 10-year period and that pre-dates where we are now. If you look at the squad we've got, we've got more assets in it. When I look back to that first game against Sheffield Wednesday, I remember saying to a friend of mine, 'I'm not sure where the assets are or where the value is'. Now I think you can look through the squad and see value and assets. Ultimately that provides us with opportunities."
Zan Vipotnik's future
Whether that indicates any appetite to sell star striker Zan Vipotnik, arguably the club's biggest asset, remains to be seen. Sporting director Stevens insists there is a blueprint in place should they decide to cash in. "Yes we have a plan behind the scenes," he said. "We're making sure we have all options available if as a board and a club we decided to take an offer for Zan."
Some might say the imminent capture of Ross Stewart could well be what Stevens is referring to. Time will tell if that presumption is accurate.
