Work to do as Swansea bid to change the record
Swansea City have shown signs of promise under boss Vitor Matos, but there is work to do if they are to make genuine progress next season.
Vitor Matos has won 14 of his 30 league games as Swansea head coach [Huw Evans Picture Agency] It is eight years and counting since Swansea City's spell among the elite ended with relegation from the Premier League. The harsh reality is that since their Championship play-off final defeat in 2021, they have not looked a club capable of returning to the highest level. As the dust settles on 2025-26, Swansea are left reflecting on a season in which hope was replaced by concern which eventually made way for signs of promise.
It has been a familiar pattern for the Swans in recent seasons. The question now is whether head coach Vitor Matos, with the help of Swansea's hierarchy, can find a way to inspire some meaningful progress in the next Championship campaign. Expectation may go up - but better will be required This time last year, Swansea had built significant momentum under former boss Alan Sheehan, who had inspired an upturn in form to ward off relegation concerns after the Luke Williams era ended on the back of a worrying slump.
In the previous campaign, Williams was the man who masterminded the turnaround in fortunes after Michael Duff's forgettable stint in charge. Matos' challenge is to change the record at Swansea, who will begin 2026-27 with an eye on the play-offs, as was the case at the start of the season which ended with Saturday's win over Charlton Athletic. There is likely to be a little more expectation next time around given that the teams finishing seventh and eighth will secure play-off places in a year's time.
Yet it is worth remembering that aside from their two play-off campaigns under Steve Cooper – when parachute payments still offered a helping hand – the best finish Swansea have managed since dropping out of the top flight is 10th, first Graham Potter in 2019 and then Russell Martin three years ago. Matos' team finished 11th, just as Sheehan's side did last year, although Swansea had three more points this time around. Ultimately, they were nine points short of Hull City, who claimed the last of this season's play-off places, and five adrift of Derby County, who ended in eighth.
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