In the Spotlight | Kyle Naughton

It was not a goal or an assist, nor was it a goalline clearance, a crunching challenge or a block, but it will go down as an iconic south Wales derby moment.

To set the scene, it’s the last derby day at the Swansea.com Stadium back in March. Swansea are leading 1-0 thanks to Liam Cullen's first-half goal but, without a second, the game remains in the balance.

Just past the 55-minute mark and Cardiff send a long ball in behind the right-hand side of the Swansea defence, leaving Swansea in a foot race against Callum O’Dowda.

As the players near the ball, it becomes obvious Naughton is in discomfort, but he does not let up. He makes sure he gets to the ball first, and hooks it away into the safety of the stands. It proves to be his last action of the 2023-24 season, the hamstring injury suffered ends his campaign.

But there was no way the experienced defender was not going to reach that ball first, injury or no injury.

It’s that sort of courage, shown with the ball as much as without it, that has made Naughton such a firm favourite among supporters.

He will bring up 10 years as a Swan in January, having first arrived from Tottenham in 2015, and he has passed through 300 appearances for the club; a feat achieved by fewer than 40 players across Swansea’s 112-year history.

Home may well be in south Yorkshire, Naughton hails from Sheffield, but there is no denying the connection and affinity he and his family feel for this part of south Wales.

“It is absolutely crazy how quick it goes,” says Naughton with a smile.

“Ten years is not bad going, is it? I would be lying if I said I ever thought I would be here that long, but I have been and I have loved every year and every moment of it

“Obviously there have been positives and negatives, but I love Swansea, I love the club, I love life here and I am very happy that this has been such a big part of my life.

“I am from Sheffield but there’s no doubt Swansea feels like home to me and my family. I have three kids who love it here and it has been the perfect place to bring them up.

“It’s a family-orientated club and city. I am a northerner but my connection to Swansea is so strong.

“Whenever you play for any team, you pull on the shirt and you want to do well for the team and for yourself. You don’t want to let anyone down.

“But when you have that connection maybe there is that little bit extra where you want to do it for the staff you see every day, the fans who cheer you on and are so desperate for you to succeed, and your family.”

Naughton was raised in the Park Hill area of his home city, and played football with his mates in Hillsborough, but it was United – rather than Wednesday – that were always his family’s club, even if the man himself is a Manchester United supporter.

With his mother working any number of jobs to make ends meet for Naughton and his three siblings, the full-back admits life was not always easy but he is eternally grateful for the sacrifices made by Patricia.

Naughton’s talent as a young footballer was such that he was picked up by Sheffield United at the age of just six and was brought into their centre of excellence having been spotted playing with his friends in the park.

“I can remember it all clearly,” he says.

“I grew up in a big block of flats called Park Hill. It was massive and I think I am right in saying it was the biggest development of its kind in Europe, which gives you an idea of its size.

“I grew up playing football with some of the older boys there, I picked the game at a young age and we used to play over in Hillsborough, which is near to Sheffield Wednesday.

“Either my mum or someone from the estate took me down just to play, and there must have been some scouts just looking around to see if there were any talented local guys, and someone got in touch with us quickly after that to ask me to come down and have a trial for United’s school of excellence.

“I went and I think almost immediately we had papers through and they wanted to sign me. I could not believe it, and from that day I was with them all the way through.

“It was incredible for the family as so many of my family and friends are Sheffield United fans, my mum made so many sacrifices for me and for us. My father was not around much and she worked three jobs and more. She worked wherever she could to make sure we could make ends meet.

“I look back now and I just cannot imagine how she managed to do it. To work all those jobs and raise four children. My sister and I played football, and I just do not know how on earth she got us all around to where we needed to be. She’s incredible.”

Naughton would come all the way through the ranks to reach the first team at Bramall Lane, although his first professional senior appearance would be for Gretna against Rangers during a loan spell north of the border.

His eye-catching performances alerted top-flight clubs and, in 2009, Naughton and fellow Bladesman Kyle Walker, made the move to White Hart Lane with Spurs.

Across his time in north London, Naughton would work under Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas Boas, Tim Sherwood and Mauricio Pochettino.

He made 75 appearances in total, featuring in European competition along the way, but as he looks back Naughton admits he often felt like the Tottenham jersey weighed heavy on his shoulders.

The defender would enjoy successful loan spells with Middlesbrough, Leicester City and Norwich City, but the belief and confidence Naughton would often experience during these temporary stints with other clubs would evaporate upon returning to Tottenham’s training base.

He acknowledges it was a tough time in his career, but one which he can reflect on with clarity and perspective with the benefit of hindsight.

“I had a full season in the team at Sheffield United and I assume it must have been a good season because that summer there were a few clubs in for me,” says Naughton.

“Everton were one, I spoke to David Moyes, and at the same time there was Tottenham with Harry Redknapp. I had the choice over which one as the club were happy with the offers they had.

“Everton was closer to home, and it might have been easier but I made the decision I did. You can look back and wonder if I did the right or wrong thing, but ultimately you make the decisions you do and you get on with it.

“If I am honest, I struggled at Tottenham. At first it was being away from home, but I got around that in time.

“It’s hard to explain how it feels when you sign for a club of that size, in a different competition and I think from the get-go I just had doubts over whether I should be there.

“I was always fighting with myself to convince myself that I belonged there. That I was good enough to work with all those players.

“Every time I went on loan, it would feel like a weight lifted from my shoulders and I would play well.

“I’d come back to Tottenham and I would not have that feeling. It was almost like the shirt felt heavier. I kept my head down and worked hard, everyone deals with it differently, but that was how I approached it.”

The move to Swansea, flying high under Garry Monk, followed in January of 2015. Naughton would play his part in an eighth-place Premier League finish – Swansea’s second-highest ever placing in the football pyramid across their entire history – and quickly become a regular.

Having been drawn to south Wales by the brand of football he had watched and admired from afar, Naughton has no hesitation in admitting that the toughest times he has experienced across almost a decade in black and white have come in periods where Swansea have moved away from that identity.

But he believes that has returned with the appointment of Luke Williams in January of this year.

“The move to come here happened really quickly,” recalls Naughton.

“I had played with James Beattie at Sheffield United, and he was on the staff at Swansea at the time. I had also played with Nathan Dyer and knew some of the lads which helped the decision.

“I heard Swansea were keen, I had watched Swansea a lot on TV and I absolutely loved the way the team played football. That was one of the big selling points, and it remains one of the things I love at the club.

“Then I got here, saw how beautiful a place it was and I just felt like it was perfect for me.

“There’s been some tough times over the way. Relegation was horrible, just horrible, and we had some play-off chances where we’ve probably not given as good an account of ourselves as we maybe should have.

“But the good far outweighs the bad, and the best thing for me is the feeling there is at this club, in the group. It feels like a family. 

“There are good things happening here, the club continues to produce really talented players, some of them go on but that’s a good feeling to have at a club.

“If we have that feeling, and this way of playing, then I believe good things will happen.”

Naughton put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension over the summer, and Williams has often spoken of his love and admiration for the Yorkshireman, and his influence in setting an example for others to follow.

While Naughton is glad to be viewed as a leader and a senior figure, he is very clear that he has not signed on for another season just to be a cheerleader or set a good example.

The fire still burns brightly and he is determined that his impact is felt on the pitch on matchdays, rather than solely in the quieter moments at the club’s Fairwood training base.

“I have been really looking forward to the season, every single one brings something different,” he said.

“As a professional this is what you look forward to, you’ve done the hard work in pre-season, I am back from injury and it is always exciting.

“Pre-season tend to start off as feeling very hard when you are younger, then they become easier and then they become harder again, and I’m definitely in that latter phase now!

“But you learn how to cope and manage your body, there are a few perks of getting a bit older in terms of some of the demands, and as a group we are feeling great. 

“I have been here a long time, and I hope I do set a good example but, first and foremost, I want to be a footballer. That’s why I have signed my contract, I want to play football.

“I want to perform on the pitch, I am not happy just to be around and spurring the team on from the background.

“I want to be doing that on the field. I am always happy to help people, to provide advice for the younger players or whoever needs it, but I don’t want that to be the only thing I am here for.

“If I am not here to play football, then I might as well retire. I feel I still have something to offer, I believe that, and that’s why I am here.”