Alumnus Michael Owen has written the below article for the Swansea Alumni Blog, about the 1974-75 Swansea University football team. This 2024-25 season sees the 50th anniversary of Swansea University being UAU football champions, unbeaten by any university in England and Wales. Below are the memories of captain Collin Carr and other players.
It was 50 years ago when David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Queen and Abba were making names for themselves... and a group of Swansea students were embarking on one of the greatest times of their lives.
In 1974-75, Collin Carr was captain of the only Swansea University football team to lift the national universities cup, known then as the UAU Cup. Now, in 2024, he hopes to be reunited with former teammates and to watch the current university team in action.
His team's success was partly due, says Collin, to the influence of a local man who watched the team, at first anonymously, from the touchline, sometimes accompanied by his little lad who decades later would play for Wales. This knowledgeable dad began to step forward and offer the students a few tips.
Roy Saunders, who had played 150 times for Liverpool and made 94 appearances for Swansea Town in the Football League, eventually became the university team's unofficial coach.
Collin says: "He would just come down to Sketty and watch us play because he enjoyed watching football. We didn’t know who he was, he just made the odd comment and observation which we appreciated."
There was no Google to check up on this insightful, quietly authoritative fellow. Collin recalls: "Obviously, we didn’t have mobile phones, nor messaging apps.
As the captain, I would select the team after discussion with others, then pin a handwritten team selection on the notice board in the Student Union building. It would include where and when we should meet.
Over time we got to know that Roy was a retired coach of Swansea FC and we got to know each other really well. He would comment and advise at half-time and eventually he would come to our midweek training sessions and assist. Training was intensified under Roy’s guidance and as a result our fitness improved. Roy, who passed away in 2009, made an invaluable contribution to our team's success. He would bring his young son Dean to watch. Dean went on to play for Liverpool and Wales. We'd like to think he was inspired by watching us!
How did we get to the UAU (Universities Athletic Union) final? First, we won the University of Wales Championship, beating Cardiff, Bangor, UWIST, Lampeter and Aberystwyth, scoring a total of 17 goals and conceding only two. That got us into the UAU quarter-finals where we played Hull away. They had a winger, Tony Galvin, who went on to play 200 games for Tottenham Hotspur. It was a particularly hard match as we had to defend for long periods. But we won 1-0."
Centre-half Collin adds: "Roy was very astute but also good fun. As a defender I was quick, I could tackle, win headers and organise defences. However, I remember Roy saying to me in front of eveyone, “When the ball is at your feet, I don't have a clue where it's going next!"
This was usually followed by a rye comment from one of our wingers, Andy Zielinski, along the lines of, 'Yes, and I have to flippin' chase the end result!'
Eventually, Roy introduced us to a 4-4-2 formation which meant that our wide forwards had to track back and defend for a change. It was a significant change to their natural attacking instincts. It meant that everyone had to work hard and track back, even the forwards. We were ahead of our time. I wonder whether Pep came to watch us?"
The team also flew the flag for Swansea University in the Welsh League. Collin, described by teammate Mike Chamberlain as a Tony Adams type figure, recalls: "This was quite a different experience to the UAU matches. We were visiting places up in the valleys where there was a strong local community spirit. The opposition was always strong and physical but also always played with a sense of fairness. Although I remember one game where I was playing full back and marking a winger whose mother or, perhaps grandmother, was watching from the sideline and she stuck her umbrella out to trip me up."
Swansea University dropped out of the Welsh League in 1985. It did not play local clubs for another 26 years. But then a group of football-mad students had a dream. To see Swansea University reach the top flight of Welsh domestic football, known today as Cymru Premier, and then compete for qualification to play in the Europa League.
They applied to the Swansea Senior League and the University team was admitted to the Fourth Division in 2011, initially known as Team Swansea. After six promotions in eight seasons, Swansea University FC (SUFC) finished the 2019-20 season as champions of Cymru South, the second top tier of Welsh football, putting it on the brink of entering Cymru Premier, within touching distance of Europe. However, administrative issues stopped it from taking the step up.
Since then, SUFC has suffered a relegation and has started its second successive season in the Ardal South West League. Of course, it will also be trying to win again the national universities cup, known these days as the BUCS championship.
But back to 1975, when the Swansea team was drawn to play Bristol in the UAU semi-final.
"We scored the only goal of the game from a well-worked training ground move that Roy had worked on with us. It was a cushioned pass by Tony Lavender from a free kick to get behind the wall. Andy Zielinski was on the end of the wall and had to swivel to receive the pass and be in on goal ... and we were in the final."
The final was the biggest game in many of the players' lives. It was scheduled to be played at Bristol Rovers' ground but because of bad weather and potential damage to the Football League club's pitch, it was switched to Bath University, then holders of the UAU Cup.
The game was something of a culture clash between Loughborough, the pre-eminent sports university of the time, and the likely lads of Swansea.
Collin, now aged 73, recalls: "We had picked up a tip that season from our colleagues in the Swansea Rugby 1st XV. Before a game, we would change into our kit and then all go into the shower room where we would jog on the spot and warm up. We would review how we were going to play and encourage each other. It brought us together and the jogging with studded boots would create a vibrant echo. When we came out we would be hot, focused and ready to play.
We did this in the final then went out onto the field to see Loughborough players drinking special energy supplements and doing shuttle runs in smart tracksuit tops. And this was 1975! I’m afraid that we probably looked like a fairly rough and ready set of likely lads but it was an image that we were quietly proud of."
Andy Zielinski adds: " They were incredibly fit and it was one of the hardest game we’d ever played against a uni team. We’d been used to attacking our opponents and playing with a fair amount of flair. But that final was all about defensive discipline and organisation and resilience. It was a credit to the defence, exercising the skills they had developed on the training ground with Roy Saunders."
Collin says: "In the final, we did resort to a 4-5-1 mainly because of the pressure that Loughborough were putting on us. However, for 95 per cent of the time we were very solid. If my memory serves me right, our centre forward Tim Gill scored an excellent goal with a low shot into the corner ... a beautiful sight!"
Swansea held on to their one-goal lead until the 88th minute when Loughborough equalised.
Tony Lavender says two things have stuck in his mind about the final. "I remember Andy Zielinski belting up and down the wing, saying towards the end of the second half, 'I’m not sure I’m designed for this!' The other was when their goal went in, so close to the end, Collin’s face being a mixture of rage and desolation.”
The late equaliser sent the game into extra time. In the ensuing 30 minutes, neither team could force a goal against dogged opponents.
There was to be no replay, while penalty shoot-outs were something of the future. The trophy was shared, with each university holding it for six months. It was a great triumph though for the unfancied Swansea team.
Collin reflects: "I like to think that we were first and foremost a united team. There were no outstanding players being courted by top clubs. We were a tight unit that respected and appreciated each other’s skills, playing together for the team.
We all had our strengths and our weaknesses and we respected each other for what we brought to the team. It’s an attitude that is easy to talk about, but often hard to achieve. We enjoyed ourselves, we worked hard, it was great fun and it is a memory I have always valued these last 50 years, thanks to all my team mates and our adopted coach, Roy Saunders."
