The Vetch Field was a football stadium in
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
, Wales. It was used for
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
matches and was the home ground of
Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built
Liberty Stadium
The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...
in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 at the time of its closure, but upwards of 30,000 at its peak.
As well as being home to the Swans, the Vetch also hosted games for the
Wales national football team
)
, Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW)
, Confederation = UEFA (Europe)
, Coach = Rob Page
, Captain = Gareth Bale
, Most caps = Gareth Bale (111)
, Top scorer = Gareth ...
, with 18 internationals played at the Vetch between 1921 and 1988. Other sports also found a home at the Vetch, with 8
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
matches played there between 1990 and 1999. In 1960, local boy
Brian Curvis
Brian Nancurvis (14 August 1937 – 9 January 2012), who fought under the name Brian Curvis as a professional, was a boxer from Swansea, Wales who was active from 1959 to 1966. He fought as a Welterweight, becoming British welterweight cha ...
beat the Australian boxer
George Barnes at the Vetch to win the Commonwealth (British Empire)
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...
title.
The stadium also operated as a music venue, hosting
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
and
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
in 1984.
The Vetch's final
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
fixture was a 1–0 win for Swansea over
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
on 30 April 2005. The last game of football to be held at the Vetch was the 2005
FAW Premier Cup
The FAW Premier Cup (until 1998 the FAW Invitation Cup) was a Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English leagues (including six Welsh ...
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, which saw Swansea beat
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
2–1.
The Vetch continues to be the subject of much nostalgia amongst some Swansea fans, who often feel that it had a more vibrant and authentic atmosphere than the Liberty Stadium.
History
![Site of the Vetch Field c1899](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Site_of_the_Vetch_Field_c1899.png)
Named due to the
vetch
''Vicia'' is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other ...
(a type of legume – not a cabbage as popularly misbelieved in most of south Wales) that was grown on its surface at the time, the site was owned by Swansea Gaslight Company in 1912, when a professional football team was formed in the town. The site was in a good location and deemed surplus to requirements at the Gas Company, so the club moved in. Originally, the surface was made of compacted coal cinder and players had to wear knee pads for the first season of football there. Having seen many changes during its 93 years (detailed below), the Vetch took its final bow with an
FAW Premier Cup
The FAW Premier Cup (until 1998 the FAW Invitation Cup) was a Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English leagues (including six Welsh ...
Final against Wrexham.
After the game, the seats, turf, advertising hoardings and anything else fans could get their hands on were removed from the ground,
and is currently in the process of being demolished as the council seek permission to build on the land there, the entrances have been boarded up and the turf of the pitch has been taken up. The 2004–05 season was the first time in 93 years that the Vetch had the highest average attendance in its division.
On 30 April 2005,
Adrian Forbes scored the last league goal at the Vetch in Swansea's 1–0 win over
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
. The player who scored the final goal at the Vetch was
Andy Robinson
Richard Andrew Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. From September 2019 to Decemb ...
, who scored the winner in a 2–1 victory over
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
.
Stands
The Centre (South) Stand
Originally built in 1912 to house 1,500 spectators, the Centre Stand went through numerous changes before ending up as a stand that ran only 3/4 the length of the pitch, with a family stand at one end, and some wooden bench seating at the other. It was suggested that the gable and clock be moved to the Liberty Stadium, however as yet nothing has transpired.
The West Terrace
![Vetch West Terrace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Vetch_West_Terrace.DSC00102.JPG)
Also the 'Away' stand, it was a single tier terrace and held about 2,000. It was originally a double-decker stand, with seating above the remaining terrace, however the upper tier was first closed and then built over during the late 1980s, and early 1990s amid growing safety concerns. The stairs to the upper tier are still visible from the lower. In 2005, the stand was split to accommodate both home and away fans. The stadium had a fairly unusual feature only found at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
as well, which was an underpass that allowed pedestrians to walk under the pitch.
The North Bank
Originally just a mound of earth with some concrete and railway sleepers on top of it, the 'big bank' grew to be the largest area of the ground. During the late 1950s the supporters' trust paid for a roof to be installed, and during the 1970s, and 1980s the Bank became home to the majority of supporters, and the most vocal. Safety concerns reduced its capacity by blocking off a large section at the rear, and following the
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
its safety certificate was again cut, and by the early 21st century it held around 3,500 due to concerns about the front not being covered. The number it could safely hold was increased towards the end of its life, ensuring that the North Bank was filled to capacity for the majority of matches during the final season.
The East Stand
The East Terrace was originally another mound of earth with some railway sleepers, and remained so until the late 1970s, when the club began its rise through the divisions. It became the first area of the ground to be redeveloped, and half the length of the pitch at the 'Town' end of the ground became home to the East Stand. A small layer of steep terracing lay beneath a stand with a capacity of around 2,500. It was also home to one of the most bizarre floodlights in the league, jutting out over the stand, completely out of character with the rest of the ground. Due to the refusal of residents of William Street behind the stand it could not be extended further, and financial problems ensured that it was the only part of the ground to be redeveloped, although further developments were initially planned.
Redevelopment
On 23 May 2009, the ground was put onto the market after being replaced by the
Liberty Stadium
The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...
almost four years earlier.
Plans were originally made to build a community centre and housing development on the Vetch Field site but had not been put through. This includes a 120-unit housing development and a play area. The housing development would include two, three and four-storey homes. The streets would also be organised into safe but accessible "home zones" designed along communities in the Netherlands where vehicle speeds would be restricted. Parts of the Vetch Field could also be included in the overall development in a public display, planned for what was the centre spot of the old stadium.
Swansea Council also hoped tenders would be received for the development works by autumn 2009 and a preferred developer to be chosen by the start of the following year. Meanwhile, items of memorabilia at the Vetch Field, such as the stadium clock, have been transferred to
Swansea Museum
The Swansea Museum in Swansea, Wales, UK is the oldest museum in Wales, created for and by the Royal Institution of South Wales in 1841 to house its collections and provide research and learning facilities.
History
Swansea Museum is the oldes ...
.
Demolition
Demolition work on the ground began on 31 January 2011. The work was predicted to last four to six months. The famous North Bank was the first stand to be pulled down.
Initially there was some controversy as to the whereabouts of the centre stand's clock – on arrival, the contractors noticed it was missing. It was later confirmed in the
South Wales Evening Post
The ''South Wales Evening Post'' is a tabloid daily newspaper distributed in the South West region of Wales. The paper has three daily editions – Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire – and is published by Media Wales, part ...
that it was in the safe hands of a group of people angered by the council's neglect of such Vetch relics as the clock.
As of May 2011 no full stands remain and all the floodlights have been removed, including the East Stand's unique, bizarre floodlight. By the beginning of June 2011, with the club promoted to the Premier League and passing what's left of the ground on a victory parade, work has begun on the outside walls of the old stadium.
The centre circle, however, will remain, as this is where people's ashes have been spread.
In August 2011 it was confirmed by Swansea Council that the Vetch would be used temporarily for allotments. Coordinated by local artist Owen Griffiths on the historic site of the Vetch Football field, an urban utopia is being created on the site, in collaboration with the local residents.
Other uses
Wales national football team
The venue hosted eighteen
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
internationals. The results were as follows;
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
' record at the Vetch is as follows:
Rugby League venue
On 19 August 1990 it hosted a
Rugby League Charity Shield between
Widnes
Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...
and
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
with Widnes winning 24 – 8.
The venue hosted six
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
internationals. The results were as follows;
On 26 July 1998 it hosted a
Super League III match between
St. Helens and
Wigan Warriors
The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League.
Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...
with Wigan winning 36 – 2.
Records
![SwanseaCity VetchField LeagueAttendance from 1920 to 2005](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/SwanseaCity_VetchField_LeagueAttendance_from_1920_to_2005.svg)
The highest attendance recorded at the Vetch Field was 32,796 for a fourth Round FA Cup match between Swansea Town and Arsenal FC on 17 February 1968.
The highest recorded attendance for a league match at the Vetch Field was 29,447 in a game against Leeds United on 1 October 1955.
The lowest recorded attendance for a league match at the Vetch Field was 1,311 in a match against Brentford on 26 April 1976.
The greatest total attendance at the Vetch was 469,814 - which occurred in the 1948/49 season when Swansea Town maintained an undefeated home league record (20 wins, 1 draw and 0 defeats) and became Champions of the Football League Third Division (South).
Pre-War, Swansea's highest average attendance was 16,118 during the season 1925/26.
Post-War, Swansea's highest average attendance was 22,535 during the 1948/49 season.
The lowest average attendance at the Vetch came in the 1974–75 season, when an average of 2,052 spectators watched each game.
The average attendance for that last season at the Vetch was 8,457.
The first floodlit match at the Vetch came in a 'Friendly' against Hibernian FC in 1960/61.
The last floodlit match occurred against Oxford United on 15 April 2005.
The first league match at the Vetch was against Cardiff City on 7 September 1912.
The last league match at the Vetch was against Shrewsbury Town on 30 April 2005.
The first Cup game at the Vetch was a Welsh Cup match against Milford on 31 October 1912.
The last Cup game at the Vetch was a FAW Premier Cup Final against Wrexham.
See also
*
Liberty Stadium
The Swansea.com Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It ...
References
;Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Swansea City A.F.C official websiteImages tagged Swansea City Vetch Fieldat
Flickr
Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...
Swans legend Alan Curtis pays last Vetch visitfor
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures in Swansea
Buildings and structures demolished in 2011
Defunct football venues in Wales
Welsh Cup final venues
Swansea City A.F.C.
Rugby League World Cup stadiums
Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom
Sports venues completed in 1912
Sports venues demolished in 2011
English Football League venues
1912 establishments in Wales
Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom