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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ian Mitchelmore

New Swansea City chairman promises to focus on player recruitment as he lauds 'terrific' Russell Martin

Swansea City's new chairman Andy Coleman vowed to support and strengthen the club's recruitment team and threw his backing behind head coach Russell Martin following his appointment to the Championship side.

The American officially landed the plum role just days before Swansea's final game of the season against West Brom as part of what is expected to be a significant shake-up behind-the-scenes at the Swansea.com Stadium.

He - along with Nigel Morris and Brett Cravatt - are all investing a combined sum believed to be worth around £10m into the club, with the EFL already approving Coleman's "significant" shareholding.

READ MORE: Swansea City appoint US investor Andy Coleman as new chairman in major announcement

And having been named as the new chairman, Coleman issued a letter to Swansea supporters outlining his views on the major announcement while outlining some of his plans for the club, which include strengthening the squad ahead of the 2023/24 season.

The letter in full reads as follows:

To the Jack Army,

I want to start by saying how privileged and honoured I am to become chairman of this great football club.

This is a community club and my vision for it begins with strengthening the connection between you, the supporters, and the leadership of the club. The fans are the heartbeat of all clubs, and you are no different. Communication is of paramount importance, and I will be as transparent as possible. Whilst you may not agree with every decision I make, I will always put the interests of the club first.

We are fortunate that many aspects of Swansea City are in extremely good shape. We play an exciting brand of football under a terrific young head coach in Russell Martin, and we also have an excellent senior management team with talented and hard-working staff across all departments.

We have fantastic training facilities, a great stadium, and a strong academy. The fresh capital coming into the club will allow us to make investments throughout the organisation to build on this strong foundation, and create a best-in-class operation in all aspects of our work.

In these early days, I am very focused on supporting and strengthening the work of our player recruitment team ahead of what is an important summer for the club. We also know that it is essential Swansea City implements a longer-term strategy, not only for the football operation but also the business side, in order to put the club in the best possible position to achieve promotion and stay in the Premier League.

Myself and my family have been fortunate to spend a great deal of time in Swansea over the past eight months, and we have been blown away by its beauty and the welcoming spirit of people within the city. We are so excited to make our home here.

We are beginning to understand the connection this community has with its football club and its great history. The supporters played a vital role in rescuing the club and helping to start that magical journey from League Two to the Premier League, and we have felt that passion in all the games we’ve been to – especially when winning a third consecutive (now fourth) South Wales derby back in October.

It is that kind of commitment and passion that I will carry into my work here.

I still have so much more to learn about this club and the area, and I know I must earn your trust as a steward and custodian of Swansea City. I am extremely grateful for this responsibility and I am excited to get started.

Andy.

The full breaking story on the appointment of Coleman, which includes the thoughts of Swansea's co-owner Jason Levien, is available here.

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