On this day: 2011 - Swansea play their first Premier League match

Sport360 staff 13:03 15/08/2015
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  • Debutants: Swansea City.

    Swansea City became the first non-English side to play in the Premier League when they visited Manchester City on the season’s opening day.

    Despite being based in Wales, Swansea have played in the English league system since their founding in 1912. From 1981 to 1983, they played in the English top flight, following in the footsteps of fellow Welsh side Cardiff City, who spent three spells in the First Division.

    But no club from outside England had reached the top flight since the formation of the Premier League in 1992. Swansea finished an impressive 11th in the table that year, the highest finish of that season’s newly-promoted teams.

    1981: Ian Botham scores a century in 86 balls against Australia at Old Trafford in the fifth Ashes Test.

    1995: Monica Seles returns to the Tour after a 28-month absence following her stabbing with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Kimberly Po in Toronto.

    2004: Vijay Singh wins the PGA Championship, in a three-hole playoff over Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco.

    2009: 37-year old Burnley defensive midfielder Graham Alexander becomes the oldest debutant in Premier League history when he started against Stoke City.

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