The Swans recently put a poll out about the best away days in recent years and some of the selections and votes left me feeling underwhelmed. Therefore I’m going to bring you my top 20 over the coming weeks and months and rank them in what I think is the correct order. This is a very tough ask so I’ve drawn up a system to try and separate the games based on our performance, the occasion, the entertainment, the atmosphere and the result. Each of these is ranked out of five to give a maximum score of 25.
Doncaster 0-4 Swansea City, January 2008.
There was a feeling of what might have been as I boarded the bus on this Friday night in January, for a game against a side close to us in the League 1 table. Whilst this was a huge game, the elephant in the room was the fact that we should have been at Anfield for an FA Cup 4th round tie instead of playing this fixture.
But nevertheless it was a very big game, and with us sitting top of the league and bang in form this was a golden chance to open up the lead to eleven points following home victories over Port Vale and Crewe earlier in the week.
To say that chance was taken was a slight understatement. When the Swans won a free kick just outside the box just before the half an hour mark it didn’t seem like an ideal chance to score as it was too close to the goal and regular taker Andy Robinson was on the bench. But Ferrie Bodde seized his moment and drilled the ball through the wall to give us the advantage.
The lead was doubled early in the second half as Jason Scotland laid the ball on a plate for Guillem Bauza to tap in from close range.
Scotland himself managed to get on the scoresheet later in the half as he scored from the penalty spot and this tour was completed by on loan Febian Brandy scoring his first goal for the club, rounding off a great move with a simple tap in.
By full time that trip to Anfield couldn’t be further from our minds, there was no doubt about it after this performance. The Jacks Were Going Up! This was as dominant an away victory as you are likely to see and is unlucky not to be higher in the list.