Luke Williams reveals how address from club chef helped inspire derby victory

Luke Williams revealed how a pre-match address from head chef Chris Watkins helped inspire Swansea City to south Wales derby victory over Cardiff City.

The Swans took the bragging rights for the fifth time in six derbies as Liam Cullen and Jamal Lowe netted in the 2-0 win, and they remain the only club to have completed a league double in the 112-year history of the fixture.

Swansea had spoken in the build up of the need to make amends for their defeat at the Cardiff City Stadium back in September, and head coach Williams spoke of how his players had harnesses the emotion of the occasion to deliver on derby day.

“When I arrived at the stadium and came in for pre-match, I walked down the tunnel and I can see all the names in there,” he said.

“I walk past Lee Trundle, Nathan Dyer, Wayne Routledge, and I see their images and their numbers and the history of this club.

“Then we had the chef speak to the group, so the pre-match was really charged, the way he looks after everybody, he is an example of what we call ‘The Swansea Way’. He has so much care, so much passion for the club and he spoke to us from his heart.

“You cannot fake that, when people see it they know it is authentic and I believe it gave us some extra percentages we needed.

“Then the performance was the ideal way for us to play that game. We played with real intensity, but also with control and calmness.

“We have a clean sheet and two goals, and the whole team got the balance correct between having that emotion, but being able to use it in the correct manner.”