Leon Britton leaves Ammanford to return to Swansea City as academy mentor
Leon Britton of Ammanford warms up. Ammanford v Cardiff Metropolitan University in the Nathanial MG Cup at The Recreation Ground on the 6th August 2021. Credit: Lewis Mitchell
Leon Britton has left Ammanford to take up a player-coach role at Swansea City, where he will play for their Under-23s.
The 39-year-old joined Ammanford in February, linking up with fellow former Swans Lee Trundle and Andy Robinson.
Britton made 11 appearances for the Cymru South club, but his role at Swansea means his spell with Ammanford has now come to an end.
He returns to the club where he spent the majority of his playing career, making 537 appearances for the Swans since originally joining in 2003. Over recent years, Britton has taken up numerous roles with the Swansea senior side. He was briefly assistant manager to Paul Clement, before taking over as caretaker manager for two games. He then became Swansea’s sporting director for the 2019/20 season.
In addition to mentoring the club’s young players, Britton will don the Swansea shirt again, albeit only for the under-23 side, managed by former Carmarthen manager Kristian O’Leary.
He will not be able to start as a player immediately with the transfer window currently shut but once January arrives, he will be able to be registered by his club for his third spell.
After ending his Swansea playing career, Britton joined Llanelli who were in the Cymru Premier at the time. Sadly, Britton was restricted to just two appearances, before a broken foot cut his spell at Stebonheath Park short.
With plenty of ups and downs over his career, Britton is now looking forward to passing his experience on to the next generation of Swansea youngsters: “I have spoken to Mark Allen quite a bit about it, and we felt it was a great opportunity for me to be something of a mentor to the young lads in the academy.
“I have been in these lads’ shoes – I was Britain’s most expensive 16-year-old at the time, but then didn’t really live up to expectations in some people’s eyes. I dropped down from a Premier League club and went to play in League Two, so it was a big learning curve for me.
“I had so many experiences – good and bad – throughout my career, and I think it’s a perfect opportunity for me to pass on my knowledge and help nurture these young players. It would have been a really big shame if all of that knowledge wasn’t put to good use.
“There is only one club I want to do that at, and that’s Swansea City.”
Speaking on Britton’s appointment, Swansea’s sporting director Mark Allen said: “We have important principles and values at Swansea City. Leon is a prime example of someone who epitomises the Swansea way, and that was evident during his long and successful career here as a player, and then as sporting director.
“The benefits our young players will take are endless, and they’ll take a tremendous amount from being a team-mate of Leon too.
“This isn’t a role which will prevent our players having an opportunity to play – Leon won’t play every minute of every game – it is a role which will bring so many benefits to the young lads in the academy who are hoping to move into the first-team frame.”
Swansea’s under-23 side have had a disappointing start to the season, winning just one of their first five games in the Professional Development League.
Over recent years, Swansea’s academy has produced a number of first-team players, including Daniel James, Oli McBurnie and more recently, Brandon Cooper. A number of Cymru Premier stars also came from the Swans’ academy, including Keston Davies and Gregor Zabret.
Following the club’s relegation from the Premier League, combined with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the academy was downgraded to category two status.
