SWANSEA CITY

Swansea’s story almost ended before it began. In 1975, they finished third from bottom in the Fourth Division and were forced to seek re-election to the Football League, seeing off the claims of non-league hopefuls including Bedford, Goole and Chelmsford.

The transformation began three years later, when John Toshack, still only 28 and coming off an injury-hit final season with Liverpool, arrived as player-manager in March 1978. Swansea were seventh in the fourth tier when he took over, but within weeks he had taken them up. A year later, they were promoted again, with Toshack himself scoring the goal that confirmed their climb into the Second Division. He had also leaned on old Anfield connections, bringing in Tommy Smith, Ian Callaghan and Phil Boersma.

After a quieter season of consolidation, Swansea went again in 1980-81. They claimed the final automatic promotion spot with victory at Preston, where goals from Tommy Craig, Leighton James and Jeremy Charles took the club into the top division for the first time. Bill Shankly’s praise for Toshack was famously lavish, describing him as “possibly manager of the century.”

For a while, it looked as though the fairytale might keep going. Bob Latchford marked his arrival with a hat-trick in a 5-1 opening-day win over Leeds, and by March Swansea were briefly top of the First Division. They eventually finished sixth, but the fall was brutal.

Relegation came in 1982-83, another followed the next season, and Toshack departed as the club’s finances unravelled. Swansea avoided going out of business thanks to a takeover, but by 1986 they were back in the fourth tier, only eight years after starting their climb.

WATFORD

Elton John became Watford chairman in 1976, four years after releasing Rocket Man, and set his sights far higher than the club’s position at the time suggested.

Watford had never played in the First Division and were stuck in the bottom tier, but Graham Taylor’s appointment in June 1977 changed the direction of the club completely. Taylor had already taken Lincoln City out of the Fourth Division, and he repeated that success with Watford in 1978. Another promotion followed a year later, helped by 21 goals from the emerging Luther Blissett.

After two seasons finding their feet in the Second Division, Watford kicked on again following the arrival of John Barnes in 1981-82. The Hornets earned promotion to the top flight and then did far more than merely survive, finishing second in 1983. They stayed at that level and also reached the 1984 FA Cup Final