Swansea City: Fans Trust welcomes owners' admission of mistakes since takeover

Swansea City Supporters Trust has welcomed admissions by club co-owner Jason Levien over the American backers' mistakes since they took over in 2016.

There has been a long-standing legal threat from the Trust over the 2016 takeover as well as complaints over communication from the owners.

In a wide-ranging interview Levien admitted the club has felt the cost of mistakes made by the club.

The Trust say the interview "is a great start to addressing those issues".

Levien and fellow businessman Steve Kaplan have often been heavily criticised since taking control of the club in 2016, a period that included relegation from the Premier League two years later.

But, in a defence of their tenure, Levien said the Swans are now on the strongest financial footing they have been in two years and reiterated his and Kaplan's commitment to the Championship club.

In addition new American director Jake Silverstein underlined his commitment to the Swans, saying he intends "to help, to invest, to invest my family's resources, to invest my time, my energy, to be helpful to my fellow owners, to be supportive of the excellent executives we've brought in, to participate in the community fully.

"We look forward to spending as much time post-Covid as we can on the ground in Swansea. I think that would be hopefully an exciting part of our life with our young family so I'm here to help however I can."

In their statement the Trust said: "Ever since a controlling stake in our club was sold in 2016, the Swans Trust has called for two things: all parties to work together to resolve the issues that have arisen as a result of that sale, and openness and transparency from the club's majority owners to our members and Swans fans everywhere.

"We have consistently stated that we have always been willing and open to discuss those issues, in order to arrive at a solution that is in the long-term interests of what matters most, our club and our fans.

"While we have held positive discussions to date, we welcome the public commitment from Jason Levien and Jake Silverstein to restart those discussions at the earliest available opportunity.

"In our discussions to date, we had also highlighted that communication and engagement with Swans fans, or the lack thereof, has been a real issue that has driven a wedge between the fans and the club's owners, and needed to be resolved as a top priority.

"This interview with the local press is a great start to addressing those issues, as are the commitments to become more communicative, involved and engaged locally, and we look forward to seeing that continue, and grow, in the coming weeks and months as circumstances allow."

The Trust added: "As a club, we find ourselves in a very strong position in the league, with a very realistic prospect of promotion back to the Premier League, thanks to the leadership of Steve Cooper and his team, our excellent playing squad and some excellent player recruitment.

"Everyone involved with the club deserves considerable credit for that. As we saw from our previous promotion to the top flight, a united club and fanbase can play a big part in achieving that goal.

"With that in mind, we look forward to continuing that all-important dialogue with Jake and Jason as we seek to resolve those issues, in the interests of our club both in the short-term and the long-term."