Ten years at the Liberty: First home game in the Premier League

To celebrate Swansea City's tenth season at the Liberty Stadium, we are looking back on the stand-out moments over the last decade.
Here, we look back at the Swans' first home fixture - and point - in the Barclays Premier League.



Swansea City 0 Wigan Athletic 0
Barclays Premier League
August 20, 2011

After 28 long lost seasons of yo-yoing between English football's basement divisions, the Swans had finally made it to the Barclays Premier League.
History was made as Brendan Rodgers guided the Swans to the top-flight following a Championship play-off final victory over Reading the previous season.
And following a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City on the opening weekend, Swansea's first home game in the Premier League, which was staging football outside of England for the first time, saw them come up against a familiar face in former manager and fans favourite Roberto Martinez and his Wigan Athletic side.



After a pre-match 20-minute cabaret from Welshman Max Boyce, who was persuaded to forsake the rugby international in Cardiff to entertain the Liberty's full house, it was on to the football.
The Swans began the match on the front foot and came close to opening the scoring inside the opening 90 seconds when new signing Danny Graham squandered a fantastic opportunity to give the home side an early lead.
An Angel Rangel cross from the right found Graham in acres of space inside the box, but he could only stub his shot weakly at Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.
Five minutes later, Scott Sinclair then created an opportunity for himself, cutting in from the left before dragging his effort wide.
This was the story of the opening half-hour, with the Swans dominating possession but falling short in front of goal.
As the first half drew to a close, the smothering tactics of the away side saw the Swans grow in frustration, while the visitors grew in confidence.



A quick counter-attack from Wigan caught the Swans defence square, and former Swans midfielder Jordi Gomez found himself baring down on goal, only to hit his shot straight at Michel Vorm, who was able to make the save and keep the game goalless at half-time.
After the interval, Stephen Dobbie forced a fine save out of Al Habsi while Sinclair struck wide with the rebound as further Swans chances went begging.
Their missed opportunities appeared to be proving costly as Wigan began to dominate a tiring Swans team in the final 20 minutes.
Martinez's side were nearly rewarded in the 70th minute when a deft lob by Gomez came back off the Swans post, before a vicious volley by substitute Hugo Rodallega crashed off the crossbar just moments later.
Then, as the ball fell loose in the penalty box, and as Gomez challenged for the ball, Ashley Williams was adjudged to have fouled the Spaniard and a penalty kick was given.



Up stepped Ben Watson, who manager Martinez admitted he'd never seen miss. But that was about to change as Vorm anticipated the midfielder's effort, diving to the right to save Watson's low strike.
The final ten minutes saw both sides settle for a point, which, on the balance of play, was perhaps fair on both sides.
And with their first point on the board, it was with renewed confidence that the Swans could look forward in their quest to remain in the Premier League at the season's end and prove the doubters wrong.




Player profile
Michel Vorm (2011-2014)
By the time the Swans signed Michel Vorm from Dutch outfit FC Utrecht in time for the club's first season in the Premier League, the player was already a seasoned international player.
Having begun his professional career with Utrecht in 2005, Vorm spent a loan spell with FC Den Bosch to gain important first-team experience in 2005-06.
Having made his debut against FC Emmen, such was his improvement that, by the time the UEFA Under-21 Championships in Portugal came around, Vorm had established himself as Holland U21s' first-choice goalkeeper as the young side went on to win the tournament in 2006.
Upon returning to the Eredivisie with Utrecht, he was quickly promoted to becoming their first-choice man in between the sticks. He went on to make 136 appearances for the club before signing for the Swans in 2011.
The £1.5 million fee that the Swans paid for Vorm's services proved to be money well spent in their maiden season in the Premier League. From day one, he proved himself an outstanding 'keeper and a key figure in the club's 2011-12 campaign.
Despite not being too tall for a goalkeeper, Vorm displayed fantastic anticipation for danger and incredible reflexes. He also proved himself a very good penalty stopper.
At the end of Swansea's inaugural Premier League campaign, the Dutchman's contribution was recognised when he won the Supporters' Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Away Player of the Year awards.
In October 2012, Vorm unfortunately picked up a groin injury that kept him out for two months, though he was included in the Dutch International side that played in the European Championships later on that season.
In the summer of 2014, Vorm signed for Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer. He made the move to North London on the same day that fellow Swan Ben Davies made the switch to White Hart Lane.
Vorm made his debut for Spurs in March 2015, coming on as a substitute against Leicester City.
The 32-year-old is still playing at White Hart Lane, though he is seen as back up for the French International Hugo Loris at present time.