The 1990s started brightly for Swansea Town. In 1990 a big home crowd saw the Swans hold Liverpool to a home draw in the FA Cup, they won the Welsh Cup a year later and in 1994 made it to Wembley for the first time.
This was the final of the FA Trophy, and Swansea came through on penalties to beat Huddersfield. It was a real high point for the fans, after so many years of low achievement.
Despite new Danish player-manager Jan Molby the Swans were relegated to the lowest division in 1996. The ‘Great Dane’ took the team to the play-off final in 1997, narrowly losing to Northampton Town on their second visit to Wembley.
Chairman Doug Sharpe finally sold the club to Silver Shield Group PLC, who came in with grand plans to move to a new stadium.
After much change, the club found some stability under manager John Hollins, who took the team to another playoff semi- final in 1999. The following year Hollins secured promotion. The final point came away at Rotherham, a match marred by the death of Swans supporter Terry Coles. Despite this bad omen, there was real cause for optimism at the opening of the new millennium.
