page_title: Swansea City A.F.C.
section_title: Stadium
hierarchical_section_title: Swansea City A.F.C. / Stadium
caption_attribution_description: English: New Morfa Stadium. Swansea's new Football &amp; Rugby 'Liberty Stadium' next to the River Tawe, near the Morfa retail park.
context_page_description: Swansea City Association Football Club is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1912 as Swansea Town and joined the Football League in 1921. The club changed their name in 1969, when they adopted the name Swansea City to reflect Swansea's new status as a city. Swansea have played their home matches at the Liberty Stadium since 2005, having previously played at the Vetch Field since the club was founded.
  In 1981, the club was promoted to the original Football League First Division. It was during the following season they came close to winning the league title, but a decline then set in near the season's end, before they finished sixth, still a club record. It was from here the club suffered a relegation the season after, returning to the Football League Fourth Division a few seasons later, and then narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference in 2003.
context_section_description: Before Swansea Town was established, children would play football on waste ground in which a plant, called "vetch" (a type of legume) was grown. The site was owned by Swansea Gaslight Company in 1912, but was deemed surplus to requirements at the Gas Company. So Swansea Town moved in when they were established in 1912. The ground originally held 12,000, but hit its peak attendance of 32,786 in an 1967 FA cup Fifth Round against Arsenal. The last league goal ever scored at the Vetch was scored by Adrian Forbes, on 30 April 2005, as Swansea beat Shrewsbury Town 1–0.
  With a rapidly deteriorating Vetch Field, Swansea looked to relocate. As Swansea and the Ospreys did not have the capital to invest in a new stadium, the Swansea City Council and a developer-led consortia submitted a proposal for a sustainable "bowl" venue for 20,520 seats on a site to the west of the river on the site of the Morfa Stadium, which the Council owned. It was funded by a 355,000 ft retail park on land to the east of the river. The final value of the development being in excess of £50 million. On 23 July 2005, The Liberty Stadium was officially opened as Swansea faced Fulham in a friendly game.
  The Liberty Stadium capacity was 20,532 though has been increased to 20,750. The highest attendance recorded at the stadium came against Arsenal on 31 October 2015 with 20,937 spectators, beating the previous record of 20,845. The stadium has also hosted three Welsh international football matches; the first being a 0–0 draw with Bulgaria in 2006, the second a 2–1 defeat to Georgia in 2008 and a 2–0 win over Switzerland on 7 October 2011. The first international goal to be scored at the Liberty Stadium was a 25-yard effort from Welsh international Jason Koumas.
  On 1 July 2012, it was widely reported in national media that Swansea City were beginning the planning phase for expanding the Liberty Stadium by approximately 12,000 seats. This plan would be conditional on a successful second season in the Premier League and could cost up to £15 million; the increase would result in a capacity of approximately 32,000 seats. Later that same year, the board of directors announced that planning applications were to be put forward to the council authority, making the Liberty Stadium the largest sportsclub-owned stadium in Wales.
caption: The Liberty Stadium became Swansea City's home ground from 2005
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