Jack to a King - The Swansea Story, 2014, Directed by Marc Evans, YJB Films

A Football Fairytale

‘Will the last person to leave Swansea please turn out the lights’ was the cry as the South Wales city suffered a mass exodus, as hordes of Swans nervously made their way to Wembley for a football match that would change their lives. Within a decade, Swansea had been taken from death’s door to the threshold of the biggest football league in the world.

Director Marc Evans’s inspirational documentary, Jack to a King, is above all else a romance – a love affair between a set of supporters and their club. A love they wouldn’t let die. It should also act as a guide for stricken football clubs everywhere – a lesson which demonstrates that sometimes the fans and the community have to step forward to save their club from oblivion. In a football environment dominated by oligarchs and franchises, it is heartening to see a story of fans taking the reins and guiding their club to a brighter future.

“A lesson which demonstrates that sometimes the fans and the community have to step forward to save their club from oblivion”

Swan Dive

The story begins on the ragged terraces of the Vetch Field, where Swansea toiled in the lowest tier of the English top flight, beset by financial troubles. Cockney businessman Tony Petty had acquired the club for a pound and, having jettisoned half the squad to save money, was facing the ire of the Swansea faithful, including the North Bank Alliance, comically represented here by two balaclava-clad supporters. With the club in financial peril, a group of local fans managed to cobble together the cash to pay Petty off and take control. But despite the club being in new hands, the Swans faced a huge challenge on the field as they went into the final game of the 2002-03 season, just 90 minutes from dropping out of the top tier of English football. This fight for survival is told in vivid detail and the tension of the day is palpable.

“Swansea went into the final game of the 2002-03 season, just 90 minutes from dropping out of the top tier of English football”

Jack Up

Somewhat frustratingly the Swans subsequent rise up the leagues, move to a new stadium and road to the Championship play-offs is not given as much attention. This is understandable given the time constraints of the documentary format, but it is not made entirely clear how the consortium of fans managed to turn around the fortunes of the club so dramatically. However, it is a small quibble in a football fairytale that will leave all lovers of football with a huge grin on their face.

This review first appeared in Eleven issue 1

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Swansea's seven-year spell at English football's top table came to an end in May 2018 with relegation from the Premier League. Before the 2016/17 season Swansea were taken over by an American consortium. However, the free-flowing football philosophy which propelled the Welsh side to the English top flight appears to have gone - and with it Premier League status. The club has been through seven managers in three years. With fans once more disconnected from the decision makers at the club the fairytale has taken a sour turn.

Since Jack to a King, Marc Evans has directed three TV dramas: Safe House, Trauma and Manhunt.