Swans’ frequent flyers

SwAnSeA may be fighting against relegation from the top flight but their American ownership lead the way when it comes to attending premier League meetings.

Jason Levien and Stephen Kaplan make sure one of them always attends the quarterly pL summits even if it means flying from the States for that sole purpose. Both of them were at the most recent gathering last week.

The pair believe it is crucial for owners to be around the pL shareholders’ table when crucial issues for the future of the club — such as the split of TV revenues — are being discussed. However, this is not the case for any other premier League club under foreign control, with the owners making rare visits or not attending at all.

In contrast, British owners such as David Gold (west Ham), peter Coates (Stoke), Tony Bloom (Brighton), Steve parish (Crystal palace) and mike Garlick (Burnley) are always there.

lFORMER

England team boss Andy Flower, kept on by the ECB after the 2013-14 Ashes debacle, ticked all the boxes to be the new national selector and was interested in the position. Instead the ECB have gone for Ed Smith, who is the most left-field choice imaginable. Perish the thought that England cricket director Andrew Strauss would have felt threatened by the re-emergence of Flower in a high-profile role.