SwansTrust call for Jenkins to quit over takeover row
Swansea City Supporters’ Trust have called for the removal of Huw Jenkins as chairman of the football club after saying they are ‘staggered and angered’ by statements he made regarding the 2016 takeover of the Swans.
The Trust, which owns over 21 per cent of the Premier League club, spoke out in the wake of Jenkins speaking to WalesOnline, the Western Mail and other media outlets on Friday surrounding the change of ownership at the Premier League club.
The acquisition of the Swans, led by American businessman Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, has led to bitterness and rancour off the field and problems on it with the side fighting a relegation battle for the third successive season.
Jenkins, who has been in the post 15 years and overseen Swansea’s rise from the foot of League Two, has been the target of significant abuse from supporters at matches for some time.
And the Trust yesterday urged the Swansea chairman to quit in a detailed and strongly-worded statement on their website.
They say they reject the majority of his version of events surrounding the takeover, addressing several points of contention. The official response from the Trust is endorsed by former board members Huw Cooze, Phil Sumbler and Jim White, who were involved in the organisation at the time of the takeover.
The Trust statement started: “The Supporters’ Trust would like to congratulate the players and coaching staff, led by Carlos Carvalhal, on yesterday’s excellent and important victory at Watford.
“Without wishing to take the focus away from this achievement, the Trust was staggered and angered to read a transcript of an interview between Huw Jenkins and WalesOnline on Friday and feel we have no choice but to correct a number of statements made by Mr Jenkins in this interview.”
The statement also read: “In our November statement we said that we had expressed our concerns and the concerns of our members and Swansea City fans in general, to the majority owners regarding various aspects of the playing side of the football club.
“What we did not publicise at that time, with respect to the Trust’s working rapport with the majority owners, was that the Trust wrote to the club to formally request a full review of the footballing side of the club and that we had no confidence in Huw Jenkins in the role of chairman.
“It is difficult, especially when a significant proportion of the match day crowd are calling for your removal from the role of chairman. The Supporters’ Trust today joins those calling for Huw Jenkins’ removal as chairman of Swansea City Football Club.”
The call for Jenkins to go comes at the end of a statement where the Supporters’ Trust outline their own version of events.
The Trust have consistently claimed they were kept out of the loop with regards the takeover, something Jenkins says was not the case.
We asked the Swans for a response to the strongly-worded Trust statement, but had heard nothing back at the time of going to print.
Swans breathe again: SportWales