289: Alan Curtis, Swansea City, Panini Football ‘83

This post owes a lot to the excellent work of Greg Lansdowne and his commitment to the world of football nostalgia so, before diving into today’s subject, it’s time to say thank you. Greg’s ‘Stuck On You’, exploring the rise, fall and resurrection of Panini stickers, is a must read for any football fan and the subsequent ITV documentary is a fascinating watch. As today’s particular subject predated my birth by five years I’m very grateful for him bringing the Panini Football ’83 collection to my attention and especially for the visual gift below. Cheers Greg and thanks for the photo. Hope this an enjoyable read.

Marking some recent Year 7 work on source reliability was an insight into the innocence of youth. When asked why a photograph of an air raid shelter during the Second World War was useful to an historian many of them plumped for the idea that a photo provided an accurate depiction of events from the time. They’re going to get a real shock when they learn about Stalin’s Russia later on in their academic careers. From the poses people produce to the angle of the image there is often a lot more going on behind the scenes than we realise. This is particularly true in the world of football stickers where, as Greg pointed out, “very few albums around the world featured full-length shots so we rarely saw what went on below the waist!” Often what isn’t in the picture raises more questions than what is.

Take the Senegalese stickers in the official album for the 2018 World Cup for example. When Rich, Emlyn, my wife and I gathered around in a rainy Lord’s Tavern to stick in our first haul of stars it wasn’t just the excellence of Domagoj Vida’s hair that caught our eyes. In the images clearly lifted from pre-match team photos there was clearly something going on that bothered some of the Lions of Teranga. Goalkeeper Khadim N’Diaye and foreward M’Baye Niang wear the expressions of men unhappy with something happening along the line while defender Kara Mbodj looks like someone who has experienced similar before and would rather not be reminded of it. The guilty visage of Lamine Gassama, however, suggests he has perhaps struggled digesting his pre-match meal which provides something of an explanation for his team mates’ moods. Where we can only see their heads and shoulders, however, this is purely speculation and, even worse, the speculation of some very immature people missing a day of County Championship cricket.

Such sins were not likely to be committed when the photographers made their rounds ahead of Panini’s Football ’83 collection and there were certainly not going to be any Zoom meeting business top, party bottoms scenarios. Unlike previous, and future, albums this particular set opted for full-length portraits of the featured players. Most of the stars of the early 1980s managed to pull this off without too much trouble but things took an odd turn when the cameramen arrived at Vetch Field. Player-Manager John Toshack clearly didn’t get the memo about the dress code and turned up in Swansea City’s away kit but at least he remembered his boots unlike Bob Latchford and Colin Irwin. At least these three fronted up about their lack of preparation whereas striker Alan Curtis popped back into the changing rooms to grab a pair of slippers in the hope that no one noticed.

Curtis was in his second spell with the Jacks when the photograph above was taken and had come through the ranks at Vetch Field before making 276 first team appearances. A season with top flight Leeds United had been interrupted by injury and he moved back to South Wales following his release from Elland Road in 1980. While not as prolific as his first spell, Curtis’ goals helped fire Swansea to promotion to the First Division for the first time in the club’s history. The 1981/82 season saw Swansea finish in an impressive sixth position having topped the table on numerous occasions and beaten eventual champions Liverpool and the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The excitement was clearly palpable ahead of the 1982/83 campaign, to the extent that half the team forgot their kit for the official photo day, but Swansea crashed out of the top flight and suffered the indignity of back to back relegations.

Alan Curtis had moved on shortly after the Swans’ return to the second tier and spent three seasons with Southampton before joining Cardiff City in 1986. As well as helping the Bluebirds gain promotion to the Third Division he made a happy return to Vetch Field scoring in the 1988 Welsh Cup final against Wrexham. He was to enjoy one final season with Swansea in 1989/90 before moving to Barry Town and helping them to Welsh Cup glory at the ripe old age of forty. After over 700 appearances, with 143 goals, and 35 caps for Wales he entered the world of coaching with Swansea and served as caretaker manager on three separate occasions. Upon his retirement from coaching in 2019 he was named as the club’s Honorary President and was awarded an MBE in 2021 for his service to both club and country as part of Brian Flynn’s highly successful Wales youth setup.

In 1911 the American newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane is believed to have coined the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words. As well as gifting us with a name for this blog it has been the staple of all photojournalists’ justifications for their work. In the world of football stickers there is a plethora of stories we can illicit from the images provided on an annual basis from hairstyles and fashions to egotistical owners and questionable spelling. Sometimes the more you can see, however, the less you can learn. To the untrained eye the laconic image of Alan Curtis in his slippers suggest a man perhaps not taking things too seriously during his time at Swansea City but in reality his dedication to the Jacks on and off the pitch was key to their rise, fall and rise again to the top tier of English football. A picture easily worth 1036 words.