Swansea City Association Football Club Under-21s is the most senior team of

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

's youth teams and are the club's former reserve team. They compete in the

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

. The Under-21s play the majority of their home fixtures at the club's Youth Academy in

Landore Landore () is a district and community in Swansea, Wales. The district falls in the Landore council ward. A mainly residential area, it is located about 2.5 miles north of Swansea city centre. The north-easterly part of Landore is known as ...

, with occasional fixtures taking place at the Swansea.com Stadium. The Under-21 team is effectively Swansea City's second-string side, but is limited to three outfield players and one goalkeeper over the age of 23 per game following the introduction of new regulations from the 2016–17 season. Head of coaching for the academy is Liam McGarry. Anthony Wright is in charge of the Under 23s, with Mason McClelland responsible for the Under 18s.

Under-23s

Current squad

As of February 2025. Players listed in bold have made an appearance for the first team in a competitive fixture.

Honours

Professional Development League 1 Division 2 *Winners: **

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

– 17 Professional Development League 2 *Winners: **

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

– 15 Premier League Cup *Winners: **

– 17

Timeline

* 1912: A team is formed to play in the

Welsh Football League The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leag ...

. * 1919: A second reserve team is added to the Western League First Division. * 1921: The Western League team is elected into the Southern League Welsh Section. * 1923: The Southern League Welsh Section is renamed the Western Section. * 1925: The reserves leave the Southern League. * 1926: But a second team is restored following election to the London Combination. * 1930: The London Combination is split into two leagues; the Swans were placed in Division 1. * 1933: A single division London Combination is restored. * 1946: Following the War the Combination is renamed the Football Combination and split into two leagues; the Swans were placed in Section B. * 1948: The team is moved into Section A. * 1952: Section A & B are renamed Division 1 and 2, with the Swans placed in the former. * 1955: A single division Football Combination is restored. * 1958: Reverted to two divisions; the Swans were placed in Division 1. * 1960: The Swans are relegated for the first time in the Combination to Division 2. * 1961: Left the Combination after a Saturday and Midweek Section were introduced. * 1964: The top-flight of the Welsh League is renamed the Premier Division. * 1966: The two division system was restored in 1963 and the Swans were back in Division 2 three years later. * 1968: A single division Football Combination is restored. * 1974: The team withdrew from the Combination after the season had started. * 1983: But they were back nine years later to play in a single division league. * 1986: The team decided not to enter a team after the 1985–86 campaign ended. * 1992: Returned to play in Division 2. * 1996: A single division Football Combination is restored. * 1997: The team decided not to enter a team after the 1996–97 campaign ended. * 1999: Returned to play in a five-team Second Division – consisting of Cardiff, Exeter, Plymouth & Torquay. * 2000: The first-team won promotion to Division 2 and the reserve team was withdrawn. * 2003: The regional Wales & West Division was formed and this is where the Swans competed from 2003 up until and including the 2010–11 season. * 2011: Club competed in the

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern ...

for the first time. They were placed in the Southern Section. * 2012: Reserve team replaced by an 'Under-21 team' and competed in the inaugural season of the

. They were placed in the Professional Development League 2 South. * 2015: Under-21s win the Professional Development League 2 with a 3–2 victory over Huddersfield Town Under-21s. * 2015: Announced that the club will play

1 fixtures at both U21 and U18 level from 2015 to 2016. * 2017: Under-23s win the Professional Development League 1 Division 2 and the Premier League Cup. * 2020: Academy is downgraded to Category Two status, due to financial difficulties. Thus the under-23s were removed from Premier League 2 Division 2.

League history

Prior to the 2012–13 season, Swansea City's second-string side were a reserve team who had mainly appeared in the Welsh Football League and the English Football Combination.Perkins, Bob (2011). ''The league tables of the Football Combination (1915–2010)'' The Reserves also had some short stints in the Western League (1919–21) and the Southern League (1921–25). Following Swansea City's promotion to the Premier League in 2011, Swansea's reserve team were invited to play in the 2011-12 Premier Reserve League. They finished 7th in what would turn out to be their last season as a 'reserve team'. The historical venue for Swansea City's reserve matches was the

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales, and was the home ground of Swansea City A.F.C. from the club’s founding until 2005. Following its closure, the club relocated to a newly constructed stadium, originally named the Libert ...

. Following the Vetch Field's closure at the end of the 2004–05 season, Swansea City's second string have played at numerous temporary homes. This has included

St. Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground, commonly known simply as St Helens Ground, is a sports venue in Swansea, Wales, owned and operated by the City and County of Swansea Council. Used mainly for rugby union and cricket, it has been the home groun ...

(2005–06), Port Talbot Town F.C.'s

Victoria Road (Port Talbot) Victoria Roadis a field sports stadium located on Victoria Road in Port Talbot, Wales. Facilities The stadium has a capacity of 6,000 (1,000 seated) and is the home of Port Talbot Town F.C. The record attendance at the stadium is 2,640, se ...

(2006–09, 2010–11),

The Gnoll The Gnoll () in Neath, Wales is a sports ground, with a capacity of 6,000 (formerly 15,000). It is used primarily for rugby union, rugby league, and cricket, in addition to having previously been used for association football. Description In Jul ...

in Neath (2009–10),

Parc y Scarlets ''Parc y Scarlets'' (, meaning: ''Scarlets Park'') is a rugby union stadium in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, that opened in November 2008 as the new home of the Scarlets and Llanelli RFC. The ground replaced Stradey Park, the home of Llanelli's ru ...

in Llanelli (2011–12). Swansea City's home venue for their first season as an Under-21 team was

Llanelli A.F.C. Llanelli Town Association Football Club are a semi-professional Welsh football club that plays in the . The original club was wound up on 22 April 2013 at the High Court in London following a petition presented by HM Revenue and Customs. The ...

Stebonheath Park Stebonheath Park (''Welsh language, Welsh: Parc Stebonheath'') is a multi-use stadium in Llanelli, West Wales with a capacity of 3,700. It is primarily used as a Association football, football ground and is the home of Llanelli Town A.F.C. It wa ...

Academy

Swansea City Academy is the youth development system of

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

team

. It fields an under-18s team in the South Division of the

1 and the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

. The academy also fields an under-19s team in the

FAW Welsh Youth Cup The FAW Welsh Youth Cup is a competition contested by teams affiliated to the Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futs ...

. The team train and play matches at the Youth Academy in

, Swansea and at the senior side's training base in

Fairwood, Swansea The electoral ward of Fairwood, City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK consists of some or all of the following areas: Dunvant, Upper Killay, Poundffald and Three Crosses in the parliamentary constituency of Gower. The ward is bounded by the w ...

Current squad

As of June 2024.

Honours

*Winners: 12 Times **1999, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 *Runners-up: 6 Times **1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2004, 2009

Graduates

The following players have all progressed through the youth academy at Swansea City and have either made at least one appearance for the first team in professional competition, have gone on to play professionally or have represented their national team. Players in bold are still contracted to the club.

2020s

2010s

2000s

References

External links

Under-23 section
at the club's official website
Under-18 section
at the club's official website
Academy section
at the club's official website {{coord, 51.648695, -3.931675, region:GB, display=title Reserves Football academies in the United Kingdom 1912 establishments in Wales Premier League International Cup Professional Development League Football clubs in Swansea