Swansea City

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Defender Staitham Bowen has joined Swansea City after being released by Premier League side Brentford at the end of last season.

The 18-year-old centre-back has also had spells with Oldham Athletic, Liverpool and Burnley during his youth career.

Bowen has signed a two-year contract with the option of a further 12 months and will link up initially with Swansea's under-21 squad.

"Alongside his footballing ability, Staitham has demonstrated a strong work ethic, professionalism and a desire to develop, making him an exciting long-term addition to the club," said Paul Robinson, Swansea's head of academy recruitment.

"With his combination of physical attributes, technical quality and potential it provides an excellent platform for continued progression within Swansea City's performance pathway."

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Eom Jisung will miss two Swansea City fixtures in September after being called up for the Asian Games by South Korea.

Winger Eom has just been to a first World Cup with his national team, where he featured as a substitute in a win over the Czech Republic and a defeat to Mexico.

But the 24-year-old has now been named as one of three overage players in South Korea's under-23 squad for the Asian Games, which are being held in Japan.

Eom is to join up with the squad on 9 September, with the tournament running from 15 September to 3 October.

That means that while he will be available for Swansea's game at Southampton on Tuesday, 8 September, he will be absent for the home fixture against Burnley four days later and the trip to Lincoln City on Saturday, 19 September.

The remainder of the Asian Games coincides with an international break, with Swansea returning to action against Norwich City on Saturday, 10 October.

Eom has scored six goals in 88 Swansea appearances since joining the Welsh club in 2024.

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Swansea City have confirmed that their season-opening Carabao Cup fixture against Birmingham City will be played on Saturday, 8 August (15:00 BST).

The first-round tie comes a week after Swansea's final pre-season game, at home to Leganes, and seven days before the new Championship campaign begins with a trip to Stoke City.

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Kit Margetson has confirmed his Swansea City exit with the Wales Under-21 goalkeeper expected to join Manchester United.

The 19-year-old is the son of Martyn Margetson, who left his role as Swansea's head of goalkeeping at the end of last season.

With Margetson's contract up this summer, Swansea said in May that they were "in discussions" with the player over a new deal.

But he has confirmed on social media, external that his time with the Swans has "come to an end".

"I'm leaving with so much more than I ever imagined," Margetson added.

"This club has given me memories, lessons and moments that will stay with me for life.

"It's never easy to say goodbye to a place that's been such a big part of my journey."

Margetson joined Swansea at under-15 level and, though he has not featured at first-team level for the Championship club, he played regular senior football during a loan spell at Connah's Quay Nomads in 2025-26.

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Swansea City's all-Welsh encounter with Wrexham on Saturday, 5 September has been selected for live television coverage.

The game in west Wales will now kick off at 20:00 BST while the Swans' trip to Derby County on Saturday, 29 August will also be shown live, with that fixture now kicking off at 12:30 BST.

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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Vitor Matos said in the spring that he wanted Ethan Galbraith to stay at Swansea City for a decade.

It turned out the Northern Ireland international had already played his last game for the club.

For Matos, the loss of Galbraith just as Swansea are preparing to reconvene for pre-season is far from ideal.

But Swansea have received a sizeable fee in exchange for the midfielder's services – even if a slice of the profit will go to Galbraith's former club Leyton Orient because of a sell-on clause – and the focus now turns to who comes in.

With Malick Yalcouye also gone since last season, Swansea are now significantly lighter in terms of midfield options, although that was the department where their squad had most depth last season.

Goncalo Franco, Marko Stamenic, Jay Fulton, Leo Walta and Melker Widell remain, but it would not be a shock if Matos pushed for at least one midfield recruit over the next couple of months.

If that happens, Swansea may well go for a player with physical presence, with Matos conscious of the significant part power plays in so many Championship games.

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Having said that, it could be that Swansea use some of the Galbraith fee to strengthen other areas of their squad.

Right-back is an issue which needs to be addressed.

Galbraith played numerous games there last season as Josh Key struggled for consistency.

There is a chance Key could follow the Irishman out of the door amid genuine interest from elsewhere in the Championship.

The 26-year-old has only a year left on his contract and Swansea may well cash in if a serious offer comes in.

With no news on whether veteran Joel Ward will return – and the former Crystal Palace captain is now officially a free agent – Swansea are light on right-back options, even if Sam Parker and Filip Lissah look like two youngsters with the potential to become first-team regulars.

There are other holes in Swansea's squad, too.

Cover is required for Josh Tymon at left-back, while another wide player may yet be on Matos' wishlist despite the acquisition – for what is understood to have been a sizeable undisclosed fee – of Moussa Yeo.

Up front Swansea look reasonably well stocked – although the picture will change dramatically should Zan Vipotnik follow Galbraith in departing for big money.

For the moment, Swansea must continue to wait and see what offers – if any – they receive.

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Swansea City will take on Spanish second-tier side Leganes in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, 1 August (15:00 BST).

The Swansea.com Stadium fixture will be a final warm-up for Vitor Matos' side before competitive football begins with a home Carabao Cup first-round tie against Birmingham City the following weekend.

Leganes finished 16th in the Spain's Segunda B last season having been relegated from the top flight in 2025.

It will be Swansea's only home pre-season fixture open to fans, with Matos' squad also due to play behind-closed-doors matches as they prepare for the 2026-27 Championship campaign.

Swansea will also play three games during a training camp in Austria.

They will take on German second-tier sides Holstein Kiel on Saturday, 18 July (15:30 BST) and VFL Bochum – who are managed by former Manchester City striker Uwe Rosler – on Tuesday, 21 July (17:00 BST).

A third fixture will take place on Friday, 24 July. Swansea's opponents are yet to be announced, but they will be facing a European top-flight club.

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Former Swansea City player Andy Robinson says Vitor Matos' side have the chance to make a bright start to the new Championship season.

Robinson says the Swans will start the 2026-27 second-tier campaign with a "winnable" game at Stoke City.

Swansea's first home league game comes the following weekend against Sheffield United before they end August with a trip to Derby County.

"Swansea will look at their first three fixtures and hope to take something from the away games at Derby and Stoke and I think they'll beat Sheffield United," said Robinson.

"All of a sudden it's a fantastic position to be in with two home game in a row after that [against Watford and Wrexham].

"The Stoke game will be difficult, but I look at it and I think it's a winnable game.

"The difficult game out of the first three will be Derby. John Eustace has transformed the club."

Swansea struggled on the road in the Championship last season, winning just seven of their 23 league games.

Former attacking midfielder Robinson says Matos' men must improve on their travels and they bid to mount a push for the play-offs.

"We spoke about Swansea's away form many times last season, it was terrible," Robinson said.

"Everyone always picks a point tally of what you want from your first couple of games and I think five points from the first three games will be good for Swansea."

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Swansea City will begin the 2026-27 season with a home Carabao Cup tie against Championship rivals Birmingham City.

The cup game will be played on the weekend of 7-9 August with the Championship campaign kicking off the following weekend.

Swansea's most recent meeting with Birmingham was in January, when Patrick Roberts' second-half goal earned Blues a point in south Wales after Zan Vipotnik's opener.

Birmingham, managed by former Swansea assistant boss Chris Davies, beat the Welsh side 1-0 at home last September.

Swansea were League Cup winners in 2013, while Birmingham won the competition for the second time in their history two years earlier.

Vitor Matos' team begin the new league campaign at Stoke City on Saturday, 15 August, while Birmingham travel to Sheffield United on the same day.

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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Swansea City fans may not have been surprised to discover that their team will head off on their travels on the opening weekend of the new season.

In recent times, after all, it has usually been the way.

Swansea's trip to Stoke City on the weekend of 15 August will be their third successive away fixture on the opening day of a new campaign.

More remarkably, it will be the Swans' 17th opening-day away game in the past 20 seasons.

The three home fixtures in the past two decades were a draw with Birmingham in 2023-24, a win over Hull City in 2019-20 and a 4-1 defeat by Manchester United 12 years ago.

The Swans will head to Stoke looking for a first opening-day win since Morgan Gibbs-White began his loan from Wolves with the only goal at Preston in 2020-21.

That was one of five Swansea away successes in nine seasons, a run which also included triumphs at Sheffield United, Burnley, Queens Park Rangers and – most memorably – Manchester United, when Ki Sung-Yueng (pictured above) and Gylfi Sigurdsson struck either side of a goal from Wayne Rooney.

Can Swansea begin the 2026-27 campaign with another triumph on their travels?

Certainly, they will head to Stoke knowing nothing will come easy in the Potteries.

Swansea have won only once in 15 visits to the Bet365 Stadium since a goal from Kristian O'Leary – who is now part of the Welsh club's coaching staff - secured a 2-1 away success in 2001.

The one Swansea victory since then came in 2020-21, when Andre Ayew's contentious late penalty gave Steve Cooper's side all three points.