Ten years at the Liberty: Our first Premier League win

12th April

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 club's first victory in the Barclays Premier League.



Swansea City 3 West Brom 0
Barclays Premier League
September 17, 2011



Despite being without a win from their first four Barclays Premier League fixtures, the Swans had gained plenty of admirers for their brand of football at the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
Deprived by injuries to key players, not least to record signing Danny Graham, who was ruled out on the morning of the match with a back injury, it was easy to see what Swansea's problems were.
The Swans had not scored in their opening four matches since gaining promotion, and would have been anxious to avoid the record set by Newcastle in 2005-06, who were 78 minutes into their fifth game before they finally broke their duck.
But the home side started the game with purpose, moving the ball well and starving their visitors of any meaningful possession.
The first sight of goal fell to Scott Sinclair, who fired a warning shot at West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster, who was able to make a comfortable save.
But such was the dominance of the home side, it felt like only matter of time before the deadlock was broken. And on 14 minutes, their biggest chance came. As the Swans worked the ball into the Albion box, Joe Allen was upended by Paul Scharner, leaving Martin Atkinson with the simple decision of awarding a penalty.
Sinclair, having threatened Foster's goal once already, made no mistake with his second attempt as he sent the English stopper the wrong way to convert from the spot.
The sense of relief that their Premier League duck had been broken was obvious, both on and off the pitch. Although, a Neil Taylor mistake on the edge of his own box nearly gifted the visitors an equaliser just moments later.



But this was the only blemish in an otherwise faultless opening 20 minutes for the Swans, who then extended their lead on 24 minutes through Leroy Lita, who headed home from close range after Mark Gower's corner was diverted across goal by Sinclair.
Baggies manager Roy Hodgson made a double change at half-time in an effort to find a way back into the game, sending on Chris Brunt and Graham Dorrans.
But within the first five minutes of the restart, the game as a contest was all but over as the Swans scored number three.
It was an uncharacteristic Swans goal, but that surely didn't bother them. A long ball from goalkeeper Michel Vorm was flicked on by Lita, whose physical presence was too much for Albion skipper Jonas Olsson, allowing Nathan Dyer a run at goal. The speedy winger did well to hold off two defenders before finishing through the legs of Fosters and into the back of the net.
With the game won, the Swans seemed content to drop off the pace slightly and a Dorrans free-kick after 65 minutes was Albion's best chance of the game, but even then Vorm pulled off a superb one-handed save to maintain Swansea's three-goal advantage.
The result meant that the side had kept three clean sheets in a row at home, to go with their first three points.
The celebrations were slightly muted, after Neil Taylor was carried off on a stretcher near the end, having received protracted treatment for a head injury received in an accidental collision with Peter Odemwingie, but after a few stitches the full-back pronounced himself okay.




Scott Sinclair
(2010-2012)
Scott Sinclair displayed his football talent from an early age, having joined local football club Bristol Rovers at the age of nine. He progressed through Rovers' youth system before making his first-team debut at the tender age of 15.
Such was his potential, top-flight side Chelsea signed the talented teenager for an initial fee of £200,000 in July 2005, and he made his debut for the Blues in a League Cup semi-final tie against Wycombe Wanderers in 2007.
But after finding himself on the substitutes bench for the most part, Sinclair spent time out on loan at various clubs, in which he enjoyed varying degrees of success.
After a spell at Plymouth Argyle, Sinclair also spent temporary stints with QPR, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic.
But Sinclair's big break came when former youth team manager at Chelsea, Brendan Rodgers, persuaded the young attacker to sign for the Swans in 2010.
Costing an initial £500,000 fee, with the potential for the fee to rise to £1 million, it was one of the most astute pieces of business done on behalf of the club.
Sinclair's first season was nothing short of sensational, with his pace and eye for a goal seeing him score 25 goals to help the Swans earn promotion to the Premier League, including a memorable hat-trick at Wembley in the play-off final defeat of Reading.
Sinclair then went on to scores Swansea's first goal in the Premier League against West Brom and, along with the his team-mates, enjoyed a positive opening season in the top-flight.
In 2012, Sinclair represented Great Britain at the London Olympics, but when manager Rodgers left to join Liverpool, the former England Under-21 international made the decision not to renew his contract and to depart for the then champions Manchester City for an £8 million fee.
Sadly for Sinclair, things didn't work out at City, and after going out on loan to West Brom and Aston Villa, he eventually signed on at Villa Park on a permanent basis, whom he helped reach last season's FA Cup final against Arsenal.

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