SEASON REVIEW: Part one
1st June
Following on from the highs and lows of 2013-14's European adventure, 2014-15 was a new chapter in the history of Swansea City, in which former captain Garry Monk was permanently appointed manager after an impressive transition from defender to dug-out following Michael Laudrup's departure in February 2014.
Monk was confirmed as Swansea City boss in May last year on the back of guiding the club to Premier League safety during his interim spell in charge of the club.
His appointment sparked a summer of change for the Welsh club as a number of ins and outs took place, including the re-acquisition of Gylfi Sigurdsson, who enjoyed such an emphatic loan spell with the Swans in 2012, to go along with six other major first-team signings that included Lukasz Fabianski, Bafe Gomis, Jefferson Montero, Federico Fernandez, Marvin Emnes and Modou Barrow.
Ki Sung-Yueng, who spent 2013-14 on loan at Sunderland, was another important figure to return to the club, while the Swans bid a fond farewell to the likes of academy graduate Ben Davies, Michel Vorm, Alejandro Pozuelo, Chico Flores and Jose Canas.
It was all set up to be an intriguing season in SA1, but it's fair to say that very few outside of Swansea anticipated what happened next.
Read the first of three installments as we look back on a record-breaking campaign.
Read the first of three installments as we look back on a record-breaking campaign.
AUGUST
Monk's first challenge as permanent Swans boss couldn't have been much greater. Swansea's fourth season in the Barclays Premier League began with a testing trip to Old Trafford to face Louis van Gaal's new-look Manchester United.
The odds were firmly stacked against Monk's men, but goals from returning duo Ki Sung-Yueng and Gylfi Sigurdsson helped stun the Red Devils 2-1 as the Swans made a dream start to the 2014-15 campaign.
The enthralling victory gave Swansea early impetus as they completed a perfect opening month with league victories over Burnley (1-0) and West Bromwich Albion (3-0), either side of a Capital One Cup second-round triumph over Championship outfit Rotherham United (1-0).
SEPTEMBER
Swansea's first defeat of the season came at the hands of fellow pacesetters and title favourites Chelsea, when they were beaten 4-2 at Stamford Bridge despite taking an early lead against Jose Mourinho's side.
They were unable to bounce back to winning ways when they hosted Ronald Koeman's Southampton at the Liberty Stadium later that month as the Saints took advantage of Wilfried Bony's first-half dismissal to secure a 1-0 win in SA1.
But despite the setbacks, the Swans booked their place in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup with a first-ever victory over Everton as goals from Nathan Dyer, Sigurdsson and Emnes earned Monk's men a 3-0 win over his former team-mate Roberto Martinez's side.
To finish off the month, the Swans had to show a different side to their game to dig in to claim a hard-earned point at Sunderland after they were once again reduced to ten men following the sending off of Angel Rangel.
OCTOBER
October began with a 2-2 stalemate at home to Newcastle United in the Premier League as the Magpies twice pegged back the Swans to take a share of the spoils.
A controversial 2-1 defeat at Stoke City a fortnight later saw the Swans drop from fifth to eighth position in the top flight, before a convincing 2-0 victory over newly-promoted side Leicester City saw Monk's men return to winning ways thanks to an impressive Bony brace.
But the Swans' Capital One Cup exploits were brought to an end on a cold night at Anfield when Dejan Lovren scored a late winner in a dramatic finish, which saw the Swans finish the tie with ten men.
After Emnes' perfect volley had given the Swans the lead in the second period, Mario Balotelli levelled in the 86th minute, before Fernandez was sent off late on prior to Lovren's injury-time winner.
