Swansea City Football Club could be bought back by former owners Ninth Floor Plc for £1 in three months' time. The company sold the Nationwide League Third Division outfit last week to Swans managing director Mike Lewis for the same princely sum.

Mr Lewis is acting as a custodian as he tries to find new buyers for the club, with loans of £801,098 to be repaid to the company.

But now it has emerged that the terms of the sale to him included a clause giving the Swans back to Ninth floor joint chairman and chief executive Neil McClure and his company in the event of no major investment.

A three-month deadline has been given for someone, or more than one person to sweep through the gates of the Vetch Field with a fat cheque.

A spokesman for Ninth Floor said "In the event that no security is put in place during this time, the Ninth Floor has the option to reacquire it's shareholding for £1." Mr Lewis said today that he was working around the clock to ensure that such a scenario did not occur. Sale prospectuses have gone out to around 50 potential buyers, with Mr Lewis hoping to get something tied up by the start of the new season next month. But he did confirm that a Ninth Floor buy-back was an option. "They have got that option" he said "But we are not anticipating that. We are not looking at that."

Spokesman for supporters' group The Independent Travelling Swans David Morgan was adamant that this should not happen "I think we can't wait to wash out hands of the old regime. Everyone is fed up to the back teeth of empty and broken promises.

We hope that whoever comes in has a love of Swansea City FC and not just a love of money. And if the council see that hopefully it will get behind them.

Swansea's foreign trialists once again made an impact with Nicholas Mazzina grabbing an equaliser as The Swan's drew 1-1 at Camarthen.
Swansea used this fixture to parade three Argentinian trialists, and whilst all were involved in everything good Swansea produced, it was Mazzina who created the biggest impact.
In the first half he forced a superb save from home keeper Fitzgerald with a powerful 25-yard low shot.
On the hour mark, from the same distance, his effort clipped the crossbar.
It was home defender Neil O'Brien, though, who opened the scoring when he headed a corner home two minutes after half-time.
Mazzina showed determination to bring Swansea back into the game in the 62nd minute.
French trialist Mamadey Sidibe, on as a substitute for Mercos Lencina, strode down the left-hand side and crossed for Steve Watkin.
He held the ball up well for Mazzina to drive home into the bottom corner.
Swansea always looked the more likely to score and captain Nick Cusack rattled the Camarthen crossbar in the last minute.
Swansea lined up as follows:
Jones, Todd, Howard, Phillips (Cusack), Ordonez, Bound (De Vulght), Keegan, Mazzina (Jenkins), Lencina (Sidibe), Watkin, Appleby.

To emphasise that he wants a fresh start at the Vetch, Swansea City manager John Hollins has redecorated his office. Gone is the dull brown, replaced with a clean white.

"I want everything to be bright and fresh," said Hollins, keen to swiftly erase memories of last season's relegation from the Second Division.

"After a disappointment there are two things you can do - you can be miserable and die or you can pick yourself up and move forward. I want things to be positive. That's why I've changed my office.

"I want to win promotion again. It would be nice to win the championship a second time, but I'll take second or third place. I don't like failing - and I'm not linked to failure.

"The players tasted success when we won the Third Division title last year. Now they know what it's like to go down. It's not a nice feeling and I hope it will spur them on."

With the club on the market and its future very much in doubt, coupled with several players not renewing their contract, it has been a difficult summer at the Vetch.

But Hollins, now in his fourth year at the club, is optimistic about the forthcoming season.

"We are going forward. We've kept the nucleus of the players that won the championship and I've got a few play-ers on trial who are quality.

"I'll be making a decision on who I keep fairly soon.

"We've developed the pitch, we've got some excellent young players coming through and we have a training ground for the next two years. There are a lot of plusses."

Hollins is looking at six trialists - two Argentinians (midfielder Nicolas Mezzina and striker Mercos Lencina), two Frenchmen (strikers Mamady Sidibe and Abassi Boinaheri) and two Australians (full-back David Arranz and midfielder Chris Cahill).

He is expected to make some signings early next week.

"It's not that I like going abroad for players. They've been offered to me," he said. "British players are not willing to take a cut in wages and we can't afford big wages. We've got to throw the net wide."

Last season Hollins was criticised for importing foreign players by radio pundit and former Wales international Mark Aizlewood, who said they could not adapt to lower division football.

But Hollins said, "Everybody has an opinion and I respect those opinions, but only Alan Curtis (assistant manager) and I know what it's really like here.

"Football in this country is multi-cultural now and the standard is getting better. If you look at the Argentinians they are similar to us - they like to get stuck in. If they're reasonably priced then why not sign them?

"However, I don't want this club to be top heavy with foreign players. I want to build on Welsh kids and they're coming through, people like Chris Todd, Michael Keegan, Leigh De-Vulgt, Jason Jones and Gareth Phillips."

Hollins will start the 2001-02 campaign without winger Jason Price, who decided to move on when his contract ended last season. Also considering their futures are Todd and winger Stuart Roberts, the latter currently training with First Division Rotherham.

"Some players I wanted to keep. Jason was one, but he moved on. That was his right. I couldn't change his mind," explained Hollins.

"We could lose Stuart. Of course I'll be disappointed if he goes. I'm disappointed whenever a young player we've bred leaves us.

"But I can only give players what I can give them because football is a business. It's not an ideal situation but it's the one we're in."

Hollins's pre-season preparations were given a fillip earlier this week when his new-look Swans notched an impressive 3-0 win over League of Wales side Aberystwyth with Sidibe and Lencina (2) grabbing the goals.

"I like to think the players we're looking at will improve us. Ideally, I'd like to sign all of them, but I'm not sure I can do that at the moment."

Swansea City manager John Hollins last night admitted he feared losing his job at the Vetch when he left for his summer holiday.

Ninth Floor plc put the Swans on the market four months ago and Hollins knew that if a new owner bought the club then he might be replaced as manager.

However, managing director Mike Lewis has taken control of the club, safeguarding Hollins's position.

"The one thing that concerned me was that when I left to go on holiday I'd still have a job to come back to," said Hollins yesterday.

"Losing a job when I'd gone away to relax has happened to me before, when I was at QPR. I came back and discovered my job wasn't there.

"There was a lot of talk about certain people buying this club and that I was going to be sacked. I was very philosophical about it. It didn't get me down.

"All I could do was come in, sit at my desk, phone around and keep people enthusiastic."

Lewis became acting chairman last week when he bought the club from Ninth Floor for £1 and agreed to repay loans of just over £800,000.

"When a club is in limbo it causes money problems. People's livelihoods are at stake. When someone says you don't have a job any more it's a major blow," added Hollins.

"I couldn't rest until I knew what was happening and I'm pleased we've got something in place now. Although there isn't a massive injection of money, it has stabilised the club and we're going forward.

"The recent situation here is not ideal from a manager's point of view but there are a lot of clubs in limbo, and they're bigger clubs than us.

"The big clubs are getting bigger and the small clubs are finding it harder and harder."

And Hollins defended Ninth Floor's four-year reign at the Vetch Field.

"The one thing you can say about Ninth Floor is that they kept this club going and no doubt they are still keeping it going by providing a further £200,000," said Hollins.

David Arranz, following a two-week trial with Welsh club Swansea City, appears to have secured a contract with the Third Division outfit. Swansea City has requested an international clearance for David which will see him leave the Cosmos after joining us from the AIS a few years ago.

No doubt the classy midfielder impressed Swansea Manager John Hollins enough to earn a spot in the squad and Cosmos, whilst sorry to lose his services, is excited about the opportunity for one of Canberra's local products.

David's opportunity comes as a result of his hard work and the Club's policy to provide a career path for Canberra's talented local players. This combination has allowed another locally produced player to secure an opportunity as a professional overseas and we wish him all the best.

SWANSEA City will discover today whether Stuart Roberts will be part of their Third Division squad next season.

The 20-year-old Llanelli flyer has been training with First Division Rotherham United for the last fortnight and promised to reveal his decision on whether to move to South Yorkshire today.

Roberts was offered a new deal by Swansea this summer but rejected the terms.

Swans boss John Hollins has said he wants the Welsh under-21 international to stay at Vetch Field, but the choice now lies with Roberts.

His decision is likely to have a bearing on how many of the five overseas triallists currently training with Swansea are offered permanent deals.

If Roberts stays, only two new faces will be taken on, whereas three could join if he opts for Millmoor.

Swansea were hoping to complete the signing of one of the five triallists today.

And Hollins is expected to sign at least one more triallist at the start of next week.

Meanwhile, a young Swansea side last night overcame Welsh league outfit Ammanford United by 4-1 at Rice Road.

Trainee Antonio Corbiesero netted a hat-trick before Ben Davies completed the scoring in a comfortable win.

The full squad travel to Carmarthen Town tomorrow for their second big friendly of the summer.

Hollins will be hoping to build on Wednesday night's 3-0 win at Aberystwyth with another victory over League of Wales opposition.

For Town, fresh from last month's Intertoto Cup exploits in Sweden, the result of tomorrow's game is not too important.

"All I am looking for is some match practice for my players against a quality Nationwide League side," said boss Tomi Morgan.

"We will field a strong side, though we are missing a few of the boys through injuries and holidays."

Mike Lewis, Swansea City's acting chairman, will press for a starting date to the £75m Morfa Stadium when he meets council representatives today.

"For the last four months I have been trying to rebuild bridges that had been burned down," he said.

"I was disappointed Neil Mc-Clure said what he did about the council last week."

In an exclusive interview to The Western Mail, McClure, Ninth Floor's chief executive, accused the council of failing to deliver on its promises.

"If it (the council) had leadership and vision or had we had done something with a commercial developer we would be in the Morfa by now," he claimed.

However, Lewis said, "I'm not sure that is necessarily true. And when we met council officials last week we told them we hadn't come with boxing gloves but to tell them we were locked into Wales, that our hearts were in Swansea City.

"When we meet some of the cabinet councillors (today) we really want to know the timetable for a move to the Morfa, so that we can start to run down matters at the Vetch Field and not spend money on it unnecessarily."

Lewis referred to Cardiff City's planned move to a 30,000 all-seater stadium in three years.

"I don't think anyone at County Hall wanted to hear it. But we told them anyway - `It would appear everything goes Cardiff's way. Please don't miss out again.' "The council has already indicated it hopes Morfa site work can start by September.

"Their officials are in constant contact with the developers. The key to the whole thing is retail investment by the likes of B & Q.

"We feel it is now time for a positive announcement from the council that it will deliver the new stadium for the benefit of Swansea Rugby Club as well as us, and for people to watch other events like pop concerts.

"Our move to the Morfa is crucial. The Vetch Field is dead. Its days are over.

"If we don't move within the next two years we'll have a serious problem - as will the rugby club.

"The Football Licensing Authority has renewed the safety certificate for another season. We have got away with it because of the Morfa scheme. But there's no guarantee we'll get a licence next year."

If Lewis hadn't taken the initiative and done the deal with Ninth Floor the club would probably been put into receivership, revealed Martin Burgess, Swansea's commercial director.

"The fact that they (Ninth Floor) were prepared to sell the shares for £1 and give the club £200,000 to go away is a clear indication that we were close to receivership."

Lewis is spearheading moves to reduce losses in the region of £25,000 to £30,000 a week.

"The playing squad was far too big last year. We've reduced it from 34 to 22. And we won't be playing in a reserve league which was a sham last season.

"This will mean savings of around £400,000 and with the £800,000 loan to Ninth Floor effectively ring-fenced we are able to offer investors a club that is effectively debt free."

The newly-formed Swans Supporters Trust will be invited to be represented on the board, providing they purchase at least £14,000 worth of shares - the minimum amount for any new shareholder.

Swansea City eased themselves back into action with a comfortable victory over Aberystwyth Town at Park Avenue last night.

Goalless at half-time, Swansea took just eight minutes of the second half to turn their dominance into goals. Argentine Mezzina released Sidibe through the middle for the French striker to slot it underneath the advancing Carl Mounty.

Sidibe was then immediately replaced by manager John Hollins who sent on Argentine Marcos Lencina who took just three minutes to make his mark, reacting well from a Nick Cusack knock-down.

With the game won, a procession of substitutions maintained the Swans' dominance. Playmaker Mezzina almost grabbed a goal for himself from a free-kick, only to see a full-stretch Mounty push his 25-yard drive around the post.

Chris Todd almost grabbed a rare goal nine minutes from the end firing a low drive across goal which Mounty did well to hold.

The Swans undoubtedly saved the best until last, Mezzina beating a flat back four with a lifted pass to Lencina who drove home from 15 yards to seal a comfortable win.

Swansea City manager John Hollins will be given funds to increase his squad to 22 players ahead of next season's Division Three campaign.

Despite the recent buy-out of the club by new chairman Mike Lewis there had been fears that the struggling Swans would begin the new term with insufficient resources to fight for instant promotion after dropping out of the Second Division last year.

City, who have already signed striker John Williams, are currently looking at several trialists and the club will offer the players contracts if they impress Hollins.

Spokesman Peter Owen said: "We had 34 players last season but we have released many of them and have saved £400,000 on the playing budget.

"The manager will be allowed to have 22 full-team players. We have four players out of contract and several on trial and to be honest with the squad we have I think that we can compete next season."

JOHN Hollins faced the tough task of choosing between Swansea City's impressive band of overseas triallists today.

The Swans boss must choose two or three from five as he builds his squad for next season's assault on the Third Division.

Frenchmen Mamady Sidibe and Abassi Boinaheri, Argentinean duo Nicolas Mezzina and Mercos Lencina and Australian under-21 international David Arranz have all impressed at Vetch Field over the last fortnight.

Lencina has netted three times in two pre-season friendlies and 6ft 4in Sidibe once.

Mezzina was very influential in central midfield in the 3-0 win over Aberystwyth last night.

But budgets mean Swansea cannot keep all the foreign newcomers and Hollins is expected to reveal tomorrow who he plans sign on permanent deals.

"We were looking at the triallists specifically and they all performed really well," said assistant manager Alan Curtis following last night's Park Avenue win.

"We thought we had a good idea who we wanted to sign but they all did exceptionally well.

"Now we have to sit down and make a decision. It's going to be difficult to turn anyone down in favour of someone else, but it's a good problem to have."

The future of Stuart Roberts is likely to have some bearing onhow many of the foreign legion stay at the Vetch.

And with Roberts's due to tell Swansea if he plans to join Rotherham in the next 24 hours, Curtis expects the Vetch Field

squad to take shape tomorrow.