Swansea City's American owners apologise to Supporters' Trust

Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan completed the purchase of a controlling stake in Swansea City in July.

Swansea City's owners have apologised to the club's Supporters' Trust for not informing it of their final decision to appoint Bob Bradley as manager.

Americans Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan bought a controlling 68% stake in the Premier League club in July.

The Trust is considering legal action over the sale of shares and that former United States boss Bradley was appointed without its knowledge.

The owners maintain they informed the Trust of the interview process.

Uniquely in the English top flight, Swansea have a fans' representative - Huw Cooze - on the board.

However, having spoken to candidates including Manchester United great Ryan Giggs and former Derby County head coach Paul Clement, Swansea's owners did not notify Cooze of their decision to appoint Bradley as successor to the sacked Francesco Guidolin.

"Not informing him sooner as to our ultimate choice was an error on our part and one for which we take full responsibility," Levien and Kaplan wrote in the match programme for the Swans' home Premier League game against Watford on Saturday.

"Initially, during the process of interviewing potential candidates, [chairman] Huw Jenkins kept the Trust representative and several others on the board informed."

They say they began to limit information on the recruitment process as a result of leaks to the media, but "do not suspect" the Supporters' Trust of being the source.

"Once we had made the decision on Bob, our focus shifted to gaining his release from Le Havre and we failed to report to the Trust representatives," they added.

"Having realised our mistake, we immediately sent a written apology. We respect the Supporters' Trust and its important role with the club. Now we move on."