Alan Curtis awarded Honorary Degree
19th July
Swansea City legend Alan Curtis has been awarded an Honorary Degree.
Curt, currently first-team coach with the Swans, was presented with the away by Swansea University at their graduation ceremony for the College of Arts and Humanities.
Known around the club as "legend", Curt has enjoyed a hugely successful career in football with Swansea City and Wales.
He not only played for the club over three different spells, but he has also held virtually every footballing position possible off the field from Football in the Community officer to youth team coach, first team caretaker manager and current coach.
The Rhondda-born legend, nephew of Roy Paul, scored 95 goals from 359 league appearances for the Swans while he won 35 caps for his country and also had spells at Leeds United, Southampton and Cardiff City in a career that spanned two decades.
On receiving his award, Curt said: "I am thrilled that Swansea University has seen fit to award me this Honorary Degree.
"I am very proud over the years to have been part of Swansea City Football Club and witnessed its rise to the ranks of the premier league.
"It gives me great pleasure to see Swansea becoming more prominent on the world stage, not just in football but through major developments such as the University's new Bay Campus and high profile plans for the redevelopment of the city.
"Football has been such a huge part of my life and forms a key part of the culture of Swansea.
"I hope to be able to contribute to the fortunes of Swansea City for as long as I can.
"I am delighted to receive this Degree from the city's University in recognition of a career that I have loved, and for me, a life-long devotion to the game."
Raymond Ciborowski, registrar and chief operating officer at Swansea University, presented the award to Curt. He said: "Although there is a tendency towards hyperbole in the reporting of football there is real substance in describing Alan in this way.
"First and foremost, of course, a footballing legend has to have possessed outstanding technique on the pitch, sublime skills, or trademark strengths which contribute to a tremendous playing record of achievement at a high level over a long period of time
"But he has to have much more than that.
"He has to possess personal qualities that earn him widespread respect from team-mates, opponents, and fans; he has to have modesty, integrity, and time for people and he commits himself to a club for a large part of his life, through thick and thin, good times and bad.
"Above all, perhaps, a legend has that little extra - the X factor, if you like - which enables him to represent the very essence of his club, defining it for an era and sharpening its sense of identity. Alan Curtis fits that description perfectly."
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