‘We wanted a fairytale ending, it wasn’t to be but I’ve no complaints’

IT may not be in the circumstances he would have wished for, but Leon Britton can look back on one of the great Swansea City careers without any regrets.

The 35-year-old has announced that tomorrow’s Premier League finale against Stoke will mark the 527th and last time he will pull on the white shirt.

It is a journey that started 15 years ago in League Two, and ends on the Premier League stage after three promotions, play-off glory, League Cup success and European adventure.

Save for a brief spell at Sheffield United, Britton has been there through it all.

Sadly, he bows out with the club he holds so dear all-but certain to be relegated from the top-flight.

But, as a true Swansea City great, he is better placed than most to be pin-pointing a course back to the pinnacle of English football.

And it involves going back to the style and identity which won Swansea, and Britton himself, so many admirers over the years.

“I think we can bounce back but the important thing is we have a clear idea of how we are going to move forward as a football club,” said Britton, who will take up a club ambassador role.

“The last three years, we have been fighting relegation and we have gone away from where we were before in terms of the football because to stay in the league you do anything you can.

“Before we got into the Premier League, and the first few years in the league, we had a way of playing, in recent years it has gone.

“But if we go down to the Championship it will give us the opportunity to rebuild and try have a clear idea of what we want to do.

“Hopefully we can do it in a season, but if it is two, three or four years down the line that has to be in place.

“I would rather not come back next year and be in the same situation. I would rather it take longer to have something built to be sustained over a longer period in the Premier League.

“You can find yourself always looking for a short-term fix in the Premier League, every game is so important and we all know how much it’s worth financially. So you change managers just to get that bounce for four or five games which can make the difference.

“But we need a long-term vision going forward. It can be difficult in the Premier League, but in the Championship if we have that idea in place it gives us an opportunity.

“It has worked for us over a number of years, everyone would like to see that because it was clear for everyone involved inside and outside the club. There was a clear philosophy.

“We have slowly gone away from it. It took time to build up, it did not happen overnight, and it has not gone overnight through an appointment of one manager. It has happened over time. We need to get back to it.

“Obviously this is not how I wanted to end it, but I can’t complain. I’ve had 15 years and it has all been positive, this has been the first bump in the road and I look back at what has been achieved with a lot of pride.

We have been in a lot worse situations than this, compared to when we first came here.

“We all wanted a fairytale ending, it is not meant to be but I can have no complaints.”

Britton’s final seasons have been frustrating as managers have overlooked his talents – before inevitably turning to him when realising the error of their ways – while injuries have also hit, and it was those niggling setbacks that convinced him to call time.

But he can look back with considerable fondness over so much success and wonderful moments.

As retirement has approached – Britton reveals he made the decision two months ago – so the midfield maestro has taken a look through some momentos from his career, including the first contract he signed as a youth player with Arsenal.

And he warmly recalls how he continues to look back through the first cuttings and trinkets from his original loan spell in Swansea.

“It’s been amazing and it’s been emotional. I was looking back through some of the old footage earlier today, to see how it is now is incredible,” he said.

“I have kept a lot of stuff, but I am trying to find a folder from when I first joined of the cuttings from the paper. I remember the headline when I signed was ‘the new Joe Cole’ and stuff like that. I can remember it clearly.

“There is a picture on the Llansamlet Enterprise Park of me with the manager, then there is one after I won the man of the match award on my debut at Exeter.

“I wore number 35 and the paper said ‘this boy could be as popular as Walter Boyd, the former number 35 with the red boots’.

“I had man of the match seven times in my first 11 games or something and because it was all new to me to be in newspapers and things, I kept them all.

“So I still look back they are some of my favourite memories.”