Alan Curtis: Swansea City legend looks back on 40 years at the club

It is perhaps the most famous goal in Swansea City's history, a sparkling strike on a landmark day.

Alan Curtis' thumping drive against Leeds United in 1981 is treasured by all those of a Swansea persuasion - except perhaps the goalscorer's two sons.

"When they were very young we used to haunt them with it," Curtis says through a smile.

"I would say: 'Come and watch this - come and see your father'.

"In the end it was the only way I would get them to bed. If I threatened to show them that goal, they would soon be whipping up the stairs."

Curtis dropped his shoulder before rifling a shot beyond John Lukic to seal a 5-1 victory over Leeds - the club he had recently played for - in Swansea's first game as a top-flight club.

His take on such a special moment is typical of the humility he has shown throughout a footballing career which is about to come to an end.

After some 40 years serving Swansea - and almost half a century in the game - Curtis, 65, is retiring at the end of the season.

Capped 35 times by Wales, Curtis had stints at Southampton, Stoke and Cardiff in his playing days.

But he will forever be associated with Swansea, where he had three spells as a player and has filled a succession of roles since hanging up his boots.

Michael Laudrup managed Swansea from 2012–2014

He has done every coaching job, from the youth team to interim manager, working alongside the likes of Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Laudrup during what he regards as the golden period in the club's history.

But long before the glitz of the Premier League, Curtis could often be found in Swansea's old club shop, which was in a terraced house next to their former Vetch Field home.

Curtis worked upstairs in the Football in the Community department, but many a Swans fan has a story about him popping down to sell a shirt, scarf or key ring.

"That was the way the club was in those days. Everybody mucked in," Curtis says.

He has been mucking in since joining the Swans aged 18 in 1972.

He could have signed the previous year but his father, concerned football wasn't a "proper job", insisted he finished his 'A' levels.

"I did economics and history, not that I had that much interest in economics and history. They were just about the only two teachers in a rugby-playing school who leant towards football," says Curtis.

His early days in Swansea were spent living in digs with Harry Griffiths, a player-turned-coach-turned-manager whose impact on the Swans was so great they named the bar at the Vetch after him.

"Harry did almost every job at the club - perhaps that's where I got it from," Curtis adds.

Alan Curtis turns away as he is caught by the muddy hand of Stoke's Paul Bracewell during a match at Vetch Field in 1982

There was drama in Curtis' debut season as Swansea were relegated to Division Four, and it has rarely been dull since.

A magical spell was around the corner, with John Toshack guiding Swansea to three promotions in four seasons en route to that 1981 triumph over Leeds.

For a while it seemed Toshack's team would do the unthinkable and win the Football League title, only for a springtime dip in form to see them finish sixth.

"We were a tight changing room," Curtis recalls.

"The likes of Wyndham Evans, Nigel Stevenson, Jeremy Charles, Robbie James - we all grew up together and enjoyed that fantastic run."

Curtis picks out James as the finest he played with.

"Robbie's best position was midfield but you could stick him at full-back, centre-back, up front - you could literally play him anywhere," he says.

Curtis was present in 1998 when James, by then player-manager of Llanelli, collapsed and died during a game aged just 40.

"I can visualise it now, him going down," he says.

"Harry Griffiths had done all the jobs at the club and I'm sure if he'd been alive, Robbie would have followed that path like me.

"What happened was tragic. His legacy is what a fantastic player and person he was."

After that brief stint as a First Division club - they were relegated in 1983 - Swansea tumbled back to the bottom of the football pyramid.

Alan Curtis had a spell coaching Wales Under-21s alongside Brian Flynn

By 2003, they were on the brink of relegation to the Conference.

Brian Flynn was the boss who masterminded victories over Rochdale and Hull in Swansea's last two games of the season to ensure they survived, yet every player from that time will mention a team talk by Curtis.

"I just spelt it out to them," he says.

"You talked about the city, the club. You talked about being top of the First Division 20 years earlier and about how Swansea had produced six or seven players for the Welsh team at the 1958 World Cup.

"Then there was Brian Evans, who I had played with. He was the father of Richard, our physio at the time.

"Unfortunately he had recently passed away, but literally before he died he was pleading with Richard to make sure the Swans didn't go down.

"You are relaying all this to the boys and you are getting caught up in emotion.

"It might have played a part - but the fact that James Thomas scored a hat-trick (against Hull) had a lot more to do with it."

It was impossible to imagine then that Swansea would be a Premier League club eight years later.

But thanks to big contributions from the likes of Martinez and Rodgers, Swansea - and Curtis - enjoyed a second spectacular climb from bottom to top.

"As players we are protective of what we did, but I think the achievement of the boys who took us to the Premier League was really special," Curtis says.

"That probably edges what we did in my time as a player.

"The Premier League, certainly in the first three or four years, was brilliant - we were beating Manchester United and Arsenal on a regular basis. Some of the football we played was scary."

Swansea eventually lost their way, leading to relegation last season, but Curtis is feeling optimistic again thanks to the impact of Graham Potter.

He will watch on with interest from the best seat at the Liberty, having been made honorary club president in recognition of the contribution he has made.

"You are bound to miss the day-to-day stuff - it's been such a huge part of my life," says Curtis.

"But my mind is prepared for retirement.

"I am looking forward to not coming in on Christmas Day for the first time in a long time. I will be knocking on the door at the pub at 12 o'clock to go for a drink."

In Swansea, it will surely be on the house.