Friday marks the five-year anniversary of the match that saw Paul Clement’s Swansea City spearhead their survival efforts.
Clement's side would eventually go on to finish 15th and a healthy seven points clear of the drop having collected 13 of the final 15 points on offer.
Referred to as the minute-of-madness game, Swansea beat Mark Hughes’ Stoke City 2-0 at the Liberty Stadium. The minute in question refers to Marko Arnautovic blazing over a penalty over in the 69th minute, squandering a chance to draw the Potters level at 1-1. Just 60 seconds later, Tom Carroll’s strike deflected wickedly, ironically off ex-Swansea stalwart Joe Allen, over Jack Butland and handed Clement’s side three vital points.
Here we take a look at where the players that secured safety are now.
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GK - Lukasz Fabianski – West Ham
Having been signed as a free agent from Arsenal in the summer of 2014, the shot stopper swiftly became a favourite with fans after consistently producing impressive displays. In 2018, a year after the escaping it, Swansea were relegated and it was always going to be tough to retain his services. West Ham swooped in and acquired the Pole’s signature for £7m. Has been a huge hit in east London.
RB - Kyle Naughton – Swansea
The former Spurs man was brought to the club in 2015 and his stature has grown season by season. Now 33 years old, he recently agreed to put pen to paper on a new deal which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2023. You can read the full story on that here. He has proven to be a pivotal figure when it comes to the methods implemented by Russell Martin.
CB - Federico Fernandez – Newcastle
The Argentinian centre-back was another player snapped up when Swansea were condemned to the Championship in 2018. Rafael Benitez’ newly promoted Newcastle United had snuck into the top half with a 10th-placed finish as the Jacks were relegated. Fernandez reunited with Benitez, who he had played under during his time at Napoli. The fee paid was around £6m and Fernandez is widely considered one of the shrewder pieces of business done by Newcastle in recent years.
CB - Alfie Mawson – Fulham
Given the hype that surrounded Alfie Mawson at one point, his career since helping Swansea avoid relegation has been somewhat disappointing. He scored the winner against Liverpool in January 2018, but it wasn’t enough to prevent relegation.
Free-spending Fulham then forked out a fee believed to be upwards of £15 million, in their infamous £100 million summer window that still didn’t prevent their own relegation. Mawson has since been shipped out on loan to Bristol City in 2021, and has only started one game this season for Marco Silva’s side. Recently linked with a return to Wycombe.
LB - Stephen Kingsley - Heart of Midlothian
Although Kingsley played his part in Swansea’s survival in the Premier League, the left-back ended up playing in the Championship the following season anyway. Hull City forked out £3m for his services, although he was then released at the end of the season in 2020.
He has since moved up north to the SPL and is enjoying life at third-placed Heart of Midlothian. He is one of the first names on the team sheet and has started every league game this season bar three, when he was isolating with Covid.
CM - Leroy Fer – Alanyaspor
Scorer of two goals in the memorable 5-4 win over Crystal Palace in November 2016, however, the midfielder failed to score again after the turn of the year in 2017. The Netherlands-capped international returned to Feyenoord in 2019, where he’d had his original breakthrough after leaving the Liberty on a free transfer. In July last year, Fer moved again on a free transfer, this time to Alanyaspor in Turkey, who are currently sixth.
CM - Leon Britton – Retired
The Swansea legend is now part of the under-23 set-up in SA1. He is fifth on the club's all-time appearance list, featuring 520 times across two periods. Originally retiring and becoming a club ambassador after the relegation in 2018, he was tempted back to play for Llanelli Town before breaking his foot.
CM - Tom Carroll – Ipswich
The ex-Spurs midfielder scored the decisive goal that put the game against Stoke to bed and springboarded Swansea’s survival push. He has struggled to establish himself anywhere since then, with a disastrous loan move to Aston Villa followed by permanent transfers to Queens Parks Rangers and Ipswich Town.
RF- Jordan Ayew – Crystal Palace
The second of the Ayew brothers to join Swansea, following in Andre Ayew’s footsteps. Ayew moved to Palace on loan the year Swansea were relegated in 2018, before making it permanent the season after. Never prolific, the Ghanaian international managed nine goals in 2019/20 but only one the following year. This season under Patrick Vieira, he has managed just two goals so far.
ST - Fernando Llorente – Eibar
The talisman for Clement’s push for survival and the highest calibre player in this side. The Spanish striker, used to the historic stripes of his former sides Athletic Bilbao, Juventus and Sevilla, somehow ended up in the white of Swansea. The 32-year-old hit 15 goals to ensure the Jacks stayed up and became a firm fan favourite. He moved to Spurs that summer and played his part in the historic Champions League semi-final against Manchester City. You will now find the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship winner playing for Eibar in the Spanish second division.
LF - Gylfi Sigurdsson – Everton
After a successful loan from Hoffenheim in 2012, Spurs swooped in and took the Icelandic player from under the Swans’ noses. Two years later he was brought back to the Liberty and after impressing mightily, Everton paid £45m for his services. Still a Toffees player, he last played for the club in May last year.
Bench:
Ki Sung-Yueng – FC Seoul
Recently voted K League’s EA Sports Player of the Month after scoring in three consecutive games.
Van der Hoorn – FC Utrecht
The Dutchman excelled in the Championship with Swansea but left as a free agent. He joined Arminia Bielefeld but has been loaned back to his first club Utrecht.
Borja Bastón – Oviedo
On fire and top scorer in the Spanish Second division, Borja has scored 18 goals this season for his side in sixth place.
Kristoffer Nordfeldt - AIK
Playing in the Sweden alongside fellow ex-Premier League star Sebastian Larsson, the Swedish league just started several weeks back. AIK will be hoping to go one better than last season when they lost the league to Malmo on goal difference.
Jefferson Montero – Queretaro
The Ecuadorian mercurial winger now plays in the Mexican league but is yet to score this season.
Luciano Narsingh – Sydney FC
The Dutchman arrived in January 2017 to help the survival bid, but flopped massively. He now plays in the A-League for seventh placed Sydney FC.
Connor Roberts – Burnley
Scored his first goal for Burnley against Southampton this week to boost the Clarets' survival hopes. The Welshman's influence at Turf Moor has significantly grown in recent months after a tough start to life in Lancashire.
