Rotherham United v Swansea City Competition - Sky Bet Championship Venue - New York Stadium Date - 30 July 2022 Kick off - 3:00pm On the 56th anniversary of England winning the FIFA World Cup, the Swans open their 2022/23 campaign with a visit to newly promoted Rotherham United. During the Summer, the Swans have said goodbye to a number of players, including Flynn Downes, Korey Smith and Yan Dhanda. Most notable among the new recruits is the return of former Swans favourite Joe Allen. However, injury is expected to prevent Joe from playing this coming Saturday. With the benefit of a (full) pre-season, Russell Martin will be expecting that his approach will be fully understood and embedded in his squad. Indeed, there can be no excuses this time around that the lack of a pre-season is the reason for inconsistent performances this season….. Whilst the hope must be that the Club will be challenging for promotion this season, the very least that the fans will expect is a higher Championship finish, thereby indicating progress. The Swans have played Rotherham on 80 previous occasions, winning 30, losing 25 and drawing 25. When the two sides last met in January 2021, the Swans ran out comfortable 3-1 winners: Visiting a promoted club for the first match of the season usually marks a difficult start - with the new boys on a high with the adrenalin often pushing the new boys to perform above themselves. As such, Russell Martin’s Swans team will need to be at their best if they are to return to South Wales with any points. For his part, Rotherham Manager Paul Warne is keeping a positive mindset ahead of his team’s return to the Championship, following promotion from League One last term. The Millers' last second-tier season in 2020-21 saw them relegated after finishing 23rd. Warne is aware of the competitiveness of the division, but is purely focused on getting the best of the group. "We just have to try to attack the league with a smile and an enthusiasm," Warne told BBC Radio Sheffield. Turning to Saturday, I think that the teams will battle out a 1-1 draw.
Matthew Donohue will take charge of Swansea's Championship opener at Rotherham United this weekend. The Greater Manchester official was the man in the middle for the Swans' 3-0 win at home to Peterborough United last term while he also had the whistle as Russell Martin's men were beaten 4-1 by Nottingham Forest at the Swansea.com Stadium. Donohue will be assisted by Robert Hyde and Andrew Aylott. Will Finnie is the fourth official for the contest at the New York Stadium. Kick-off in Yorkshire is at 3pm on Saturday.
As you say Taff, they'll be pumped and at home. Hopefully we'll pass them to sleep and come away with a draw!
Yep a draw written all over it with thier tails up at home still buzzing from promotion. I'll go 2-1 us !
Thanks as always Taff, it is appreciated. If we can avoid a repeat of an early goal coming from their expected early doors pressing then I see a comfortable 1-0 (poss 2-0) win to the Swans. I can see a long season ahead for the Millers and we need to be taking 3 points from this one.
“Following discussions as a group, we have collectively decided to no longer take the knee prior to fixtures during the 2022-23 season. We have taken the knee before every game since football resumed in June 2020, following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is not a decision that has been taken lightly, and in no way reflects any diminishing of our belief that discrimination of any nature is abhorrent and has no place in football or society. We remain firmly in support of what taking the knee stands for and represents. Taking the knee has undoubtedly helped to raise awareness and encourage conversations about how to remove racism from the game we all love. Should any opposition side take the knee before a game this season, then we will line-up and applaud them, because we absolutely support the sentiment behind it. But we feel we want to take responsibility as a group and find alternative ways to show our commitment to inclusion and diversity, and we feel that needs to run deeper than taking the knee each time we play. We want to work to be a force for positive, substantive change. As a club, Swansea City is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and we will seek to keep working alongside the Swansea City AFC Foundation, who do so much good in promoting the message that football, and sport in general, is for everyone. We have had first-hand experience of the devastating impact discriminatory abuse can have, with several of us having been on the receiving end of disgusting verbal and social media abuse over the last two seasons. You will recall a number of those instances led to the club holding a boycott of social media in April 2021. The experiences those individuals who were targeted, and us as a group, went through have not been forgotten, nor will they be forgotten in the future. Substantive change is needed, and we – and all victims of discrimination – require the support of the relevant authorities, social media companies and governing bodies in order to ensure a brighter future and a more equal, empathetic society. We are a family, and we will always stand shoulder to shoulder with each other, whether that’s on the pitch or helping to fight injustice and raise awareness off it.”
Live press conference https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport...s/swansea-city-press-conference-live-24617238
I agree wholeheartedly. Taking the knee in memory of a Black, career, criminal, is/was criminal. It angers me, and should never have happened. Spineless people being held to ransom. Racism is vile, and I speak from first hand experience of my many years living in Black Africa. Nobody took the knee for me, or the countless others who were daily subjected to racism and abuse.
