Ten years at the Liberty: Seventh heaven

To celebrate Swansea City's tenth season at the Liberty Stadium, we will be looking back on the stand-out moments over the last decade.
Here, we return to a goal-fest as the Swans are in seventh heaven with a demolition of Bristol City.

Swansea City 7 Bristol City 1
Coca-Cola League One
September 10, 2005



Just six games into the new season, the Swans - newly promoted after the previous season's final-day heroics - sat proudly in sixth place in the League One table, just two points adrift of leaders Brentford, with a game in hand.
On September 10, 2005, the Liberty Stadium played host to a Severnside derby as the Swans welcomed Bristol City to SA1 - a notoriously difficult fixture for the Swans.
But straight from kick-off, the home side took the game to their English opponents, full of confidence following an encouraging start to the campaign. Roberto Martinez and Leon Britton probed the Bristol City rearguard, while Lee Trundle and Bayo Akinfenwa proved menaces for the Swans up front.
Despite dominating the opening exchanges, it took until the brink of half-time for the hosts to find the breakthrough through Kevin McLeod. After Robins goalkeeper Steve Phillips had parried Trundle's initial effort away for a corner, McLeod's in-swinging set-piece dumbfounded Phillips and found the back of the net via the near post.



A goal up at the interval was the least Swansea deserved on the balance of play, but nobody could have predicted what the second half had in store.
Just five minutes into the restart, Akinfenwa doubled the Swans' advantage, beating Phillips with a low drive after turning his marker just outside the opposition box, before strike partner Trundle dispatched from the penalty spot to make it 3-0 after Martinez was pulled back inside the box.
The Swans were attacking at will, with little resistance displayed by the away side, much to the frustration of the travelling support. And it came as little surprise when the Swans extended their lead on 59 minutes when McLeod struck home the goal of the game with a stunning 25-yard effort that flew into the top corner of the net.
Just three minutes later, the Swans made it 5-0 when Martinez's quickly-taken free-kick caught the Bristol City defence ball watching, and Trundle applied the finish to send the Swansea faithful into raptures.
But still the demolition job continued as Leon Britton capped off a superb 60-yard run to slot home past Phillips, before the visitors pulled one back through future Swan David Cotterill, whose fine curling shot gave Swans stopper Willy Gueret no chance.



With three minutes left of play, McLeod completed his first career hat-trick to make it 7-1, latching on to Andy Robinson's deflected effort before rifling home past Phillips.
In an astonishing second-half display by the Swans, the only sour note was the final minute dismissal of defender Kevin Austin, who received his marching orders following a second bookable offence.
Nevertheless, the three points consolidated Swansea's position at the top end of the division, while the humiliation for Bristol City led to Brian Tinnion stepping down from his position as manager of the club in the impending 24 hours.




Player profile
Kevin McLeod (2004-2006)
Kevin McLeod joined the Swans on a permanent basis in the summer of 2005 after enjoying an initial spell on loan with the club from QPR.
His performances during the opening six weeks of the 2005-06 season were exceptional, so much so that he even put Lee Trundle in the shade for a short time, capping off a fine first couple of months at the Liberty with a hat-trick in the 7-1 demolition of Bristol City.
But as the season progressed, McLeod's form dipped and, in late April, he suffered a fractured ankle that proved a significant blow as the player aimed to re-establish himself in the Swans first-team.
The English midfielder began his professional career with his hometown club Everton. But having only made five substitute appearances for the Toffees, McLeod took the decision to move on in January 2003 in an effort to further his career.
He joined London-based side QPR, initially on loan, where he made an instant impact, scoring some important goals and featuring in the club's Play-Off Final defeat at the Millennium Stadium to Cardiff City.
After impressing for the Hoops, McLeod re-joined QPR for the following season before signing permanently in August 2003 for a fee of £250,000.
But after a season of sitting on the bench at Loftus Road, he moved to Swansea to help the club gain promotion from Division Two in what was the club's final season at the Vetch Field.
Since departing SA1 in 2006, McLeod featured for Colchester United before moving on once again to Brighton and Hove Albion and then Wycombe Wanderers.
In recent years, McLeod has turned out for non-league outfits Braintree Town, Thurrock and Chelmsford City.