The Swansea City fans who saved Christmas

Clarens Cheridieu at Swansea City's football ground The Liberty Stadium

Nobody should be alone at Christmas, which is why one group of football fans went above and beyond to ensure that a visitor to their city had a festive season to remember. MARK REES reports.

Picture the scene.

You’ve just arrived in a foreign country, where you’ll be living out of a suitcase for the next two weeks. You’re alone, and your only real plans for 14 days are work, work and work.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, it also happens to be Christmas.

For the first time in your life you’ll be away from your nearest and dearest at the most magical time of the year. While they spend some quality time together back home in America, you’ll be celebrating all by your lonesome just off a busy road leading in Wales.

TOUCHDOWN IN WALES

That was the prospect facing Clarens Cheridieu, a team administrator for American football team Loudoun United FC, who had arrived in Swansea on the eve of Christmas. He was in town to catch Swansea City in action during the busy festive season, and to speak with those involved in making the club a success both on and off the pitch.
He hoped to pick up some tips from the staff, the players, and the fans themselves, but little did he realise that the experience would prove to be a holiday he would never forget – in a good way – and one which would change the way he now lives his life.

Clarens Cheridieu in Swansea

I caught up with Clarens as he prepared to leave the city, who had nothing but fond memories of his time in Swansea.

“I came here on December 22, and I stayed at the Village Hotel,” he recalls.

“I went downstairs for dinner, and I’d arranged to meet a group of Swansea fans to tell me what they like and don’t like about the club.”
The Welsh team were bought by an American consortium in 2016 who also own DC United, the parent club of his own Loudoun, and Clarens was expecting to have some good, and possibly heated, discussions with them about footballing matters.

What he wasn’t expecting, however, was for them to take him under their wing in quite the way they did. Not only did they show him the sights and sounds of the city afterwards, but when they realised that he was on his own they even invited him into their homes to celebrate Christmas Day with their families, and to see in the new year together.

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

"I thought I’d be on my own and it blew my mind," he recalls.
"It’s something I’ve never experienced before. They told me how much they loved the club, and since that day they’ve looked after me.

“One of them picked me up on Christmas Day, and we played different board games. It was very different, the first time I’ve done something like this on Christmas Day. On New Year’s Eve they took me out, and we were doing the chant with the crossed arms at midnight.
"I even had my first lava bread!" he laughs.

Swansea Sail Bridge

All of which has left Clarens with not only a very favourable opinion of the club and the city, but with a new outlook on life itself.

“It opened my eyes in how to be a better person, and to stick to what you believe in,” he says, a philosophy which the fans themselves live by.

“Do everything from the heart, and never hold back. Swansea is now in my heart, it feels like home. They made my stay something I will remember for the rest of my life.

“Coming from America and being here alone, I never felt out of place or homesick thanks to the hospitality I received from the day I was picked up to today. Swansea is one of the best teams around because of the fans.

“I really want to come back. I’ve created this family here, from the staff to the players to the people, and I feel like I’ve lived here forever. Swansea is a wonderful place."

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