Swansea City failed to score for the eighth time in 13 home fixtures this season, but extendeded their unbeaten run as a resolute Lincoln defence kept them at bay for much of a dour encounter at The Vetch Field this afternoon.

The Swans went into the match unbeaten in the previous four League outings and opened confidently, forcing four corners in the first six minutes.

They failed to make any of them count, but there was no doubt as to their commitment and they came close to making the breakthrough in the 11th minute when Nick Cusack fired over the bar from 18 yards after Steve Brodie had set up the chance.

Lincoln should have gone ahead in the 19th minute. Ben Sedgemore and Lee Thorpe combined well before Sedgemore found the unmarked Dave Cameron some 20 yards out.

It seemed Cameron had to score but Swans goalkeeper Roger Freestone came swiftly off his line to unsettle the Lincoln striker, who hurried his shot and put it wide.

Swansea hit back quickly with both Cusack and Steve Watkin forcing top-class saves from Allan Marriott before Cameron's powerful 37th-minute run ended with Freestone getting down well to cut out a dangerous low cross.

John Williams almost gave Swansea the lead in first-half injury time.

He moved on to a pass from Terry Evans but his 18-yard shot was again well held by the alert Marriott

HT:Swansea City 0-0 Lincoln City

Jonathan Coates (twice) and Michael Howard both tested the busy Marriott in the opening minutes of the second half but the Lincoln goalkeeper was equal to the task and Swansea remained frustrated.

Coates shot wide from a Howard pass in the 60th minute but Lincoln came much closer to a goal eight minutes later.

A deep corner by Ian Hamilton was played back across the face of the goal by Peter Gain to Thorpe, whose header was cleared off the line by Evans.

The ball went back out to Sedgemore but his 15-yard shot flew high over the bar. Swansea threatened a minute later when Evans headed a Howard cross back into the middle, but no Swansea player was close enough to get a touch.

Freestone came out quickly to smother a shot from Cameron after 80 minutes and had to react sharply again three minutes later when Cameron's cross from the right almost set up Thorpe.

DETECTIVES are investigating a lucky dip and lottery competition of which Swansea City soccer club is the main beneficiary.

Officers from Swansea Central have begun probing the £1 a week Striker competition after allegations that it is being mismanaged.

Up to half the fund, which is also subscribed to by Swansea Rugby Club, should be paid in prize money and funding a syndicate in the National Lottery.

It is claimed that in some areas of Swansea payments have been as low as 10 per cent and that there have been a number of winners coming from Bristol.

Today Queens Park Rangers, who Swansea City played in a televised cup match, revealed they are still owed their share of the gate receipts.

The Evening Post has discovered a cheque for more than £10,000 was issued to QPR but then stopped by controversial Swans chairman Tony Petty.

QPR held on to cash they took for ticket sales to their own supporters in West London for the November first round FA Cup match.

A spokesman said today: ''We are still waiting for the balance of what we are owed and have been in constant discussion with Swansea and the FA.'' The chief executive of the club John Shuttleworth has not been in touch with the Vetch since December 13 when he took leave to attend to a serious illness in his family.

A spokesman for the Swans said: ''He is not answering his mobile phone.'' The fort is being held by Don Goss, ground safety officer, who was appointed a director by Mr Petty.

Mr Petty has been in touch by phone from Australia and has also had talks with the Professional Footballers Association which has picked up this month's wage tab for the players after they were told on Christmas Eve there was no money to pay their wages.

COLIN ADDISON usually spends FA Cup third-round day planning a giant-killing act - but today his mind is focused on the top half of the Third Division.

The Swansea City manager made his name with one of the greatest FA Cup shocks of all 30 years ago when his Hereford United part-timers downed Newcastle United from the old First Division.

And 12 months ago Addison was at it again when his Conference giant-killers Yeovil Town came within a minute of holding Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium.

"It's strange not to be involved in the cup third round," said Addison.

"We went out to Macclesfield in the second round and we'll be thinking it could have been us when we see them play West Ham on the television.

"But the league's our bread-andbutter and we've got an important game against Lincoln that we need to win to keep our run going."

Swansea have defied all their problems off the pitch with players told on Christmas Eve that they wouldn't be paid this month to embark on a four-match unbeaten run.

That has moved the Swans to 14th place and within a point of the top half of the table, although Addison refuses to be carried away.

"I'm not going to start talking about play-offs," he said. "All I will say is that we are better than our league position suggests.

"But there's not much between the teams in this division and every game is a hard one.

"I've been delighted with the response because I've never encountered anything in football like the news we had on Christmas Eve.

"We all love the game but obviously players have got families to support and need to be paid. But the response we've seen over the last few weeks has been amazing.

"We've had a nice little run. We've beaten Bristol Rovers and Exeter and could have won the Carlisle game here. And I think we would have settled for a point beforehand at Cheletenham.

"They're not a bad side and although we were two-up early in the game I think it was a good point."

With Mali-born striker Mamady Sidibe still two weeks from returning, John Williams and Steve Watkin should continue a partnership that was impressive at Whaddon Road.

But Addison paid tribute to new recruit Steve Brodie, who claimed his first Swansea goal in the 2-2 draw at Cheltenham.

"I think Steve's starting to find his feet here now," said Addison. "He's looked sharp in the last couple of games and given us a goal threat behind the front two.

"But I've been pleased with most of them. The question now is whether people like Andrew Mumford, who has done well at the back, can keep going and whether Steve Watkin can keep his run in front of goal going.

"We've managed to remain resilient and strong mentally and you've got to give credit to the play-ers for that.

"It would have been easy to have been down and felt sorry for ourselves in difficult times, but the application and attitude has been marvellous."

Addison is ready to name an unchanged squad as Swansea seek to avenge their 3-0 defeat at Sincil Bank in August.

Jason Smith and Lee Jenkins are both back in training after injury, but remain a couple of weeks away from full fitness.

The cold snap that forced the postponement of the New Year's Day visit of league leaders Plymouth Argyle has eased to leave the Vetch Field playable.

Lincoln, who are three points adrift of Swansea in 18th spot, are expected to name the same side that accounted for Scunthorpe United 3-2 in their previous fixture seven days ago.

Imps manager Alan Buckley said, "Swansea have had a decent spell lately and we're expecting a tough game.

"But we gave a good display against Scunthorpe and the team's actually picking itself at the moment.

"Now we've got to see if we can carry that on at Swansea, We know that it's not going to be easy because even though they've had financial problems it hasn't adversely affected results."

The Swans Supporters Trust have called a meeting following Tony Petty's court victory to retain the club from former Vetch director Mel Nurse.

The Trust say Petty has not carried out guarantees promised by him to invest money in the club, and they have admitted to writing to the judge who heard the court case to highlight the point.

The Trust say they understand the feelings of fans to boycott games and deny Petty working capital, but say they will not be officially backing the stance. The meeting will take place at the Manselton and Cwmbwrla Community Centre at 11am on Sunday, January 6 to discuss the latest developments.

Roberts enjoys new success

Former Swans winger Stuart Roberts has admitted he still returns to Wales, despite enjoying success with his new club Wycombe Wanderers.

Roberts has been talking about his progress at Second Division Wycombe after signing for The Chairboys back in October. He said: "I come back to Wales as often as I can - I was back here playing snooker with The Swans' Andrew Mumford the other day.

This area is my home, and that's why it was great when a busload of Swans fans came up to support me in a recent game.

"It been hard being away from home, but my priority is to convince manager Lawrie Sanchez he did the right thing in signing me." Roberts has clocked up a number of consecutive appearances in a Wycombe shirt, but said he'd love to get his debut goal.

He added: "The manager's great he's been really good to me, and we're getting good crowds because we are doing well." The 21-year-old admitted that he was looking forward to their big FA Cup third round tie at home to Fulham.

Hundreds of Oxford United fans were left disappointed as yesterday's New Year's Day game at Rushden & Diamonds was called off less than three hours before kick-off.

The late decision to postpone the Division 3 match – because one part of the Nene Park pitch was deemed unplayable – came too late to stop many supporters from travelling.

United's players were more fortunate. They were in the coach waiting to set off from The Kassam Stadium when the news came through.

On paper, it seemed the call-off was "a waste" of a loan game for Carlisle's David Morley and Swansea's Matthew Bound.

But United boss Ian Atkins doesn't look at it that way because he hopes to get both players to sign permanent contracts.

"I don't see it like that because I'm looking to tie both of them up," he said. "David has been a little bit unlucky to be left out of the last couple of games and Matthew is the type of character we need in the side.

"They were brought in here not just to see what they could do over a month, but for a longer period. It was just that a loan was the best way to do it at the start."

The U's boss was ready to name an unchanged team following the 6-1 win over Halifax at The Kassam Stadium last Saturday, though he was "tinkering" a bit with it, he admitted, to make it more suited to an away match.

Swansea City have been plunged further into crisis after the Football League imposed a transfer embargo on the club with immediate effect.

The ban stops the Swansea manager Colin Addison from adding to his squad after the club fell behind with pension payments owed to the players.

Swansea's communications manager Peter Owen said: "The Football League has decided to act on this by issuing a transfer embargo with immediate effect and it will not be lifted until the payments are made."

The Vetch Field club were unable to pay their player's wages over Christmas after an appeal to the Professional Footballers' Association for a loan came too late and Owen admitted this latest news was yet another massive blow.

He said: "The circumstances are very difficult for everyone at the club at the moment and this is just going to make things even harder.

"Colin Addison has done a fantastic job in difficult conditions. He said when he came here it would be tough, but I don't think even he expected things to be this hard."

Nigel Clough is the favourite to be named as the new Chesterfield manager – at the second attempt. Clough has impressed the Second Division club with his work at the UniBond side Burton Albion and could be asked to take over from Nicky Law. Chesterfield tried for Clough before Law joined them.

THE Professional Footballers' Association last night confirmed it was lending Swansea City around £75,000 to cover the club's unpaid wage bill, but then warned - "We're not here to fund players' wages."

Deputy chief-executive Brendan Batson said the PFA would provide the financially struggling Third Division club with a loan to meet December's wage bill.

The union stepped in after chairman Tony Petty said the club couldn't afford to pay players last month, insisting former director Mel Nurse was to blame for bringing court action in November to try to force Swansea into administration.

But Batson warned Petty not to expect the PFA to continue bailing Swansea out, stressing the club needed to find a permanent solution to its crippling cash crisis.

And Batson will demand a meeting with Petty and Football League representatives when the businessman returns from Australia in the next two weeks.

"We'll help Swansea City out, but we're not here to fund players' wages," said Batson.

"The wages will be paid for December and we now have a month to look and see what direction the club is going to go in.

"Things have been uncertain at the club since October. That's not what you hope for when new people come in - you hope it makes things better."

Batson took a swipe at Petty, who originally asked the PFA for a £225,000 loan to cover three months' wages.

"It doesn't help that he's in Australia when there's so much uncertainty about the club.

"We need to have a meeting with Swansea City, possibly with the Football League involved."

The Swans have been hit by a transfer embargo, which won't be lifted until the club repays its PFA loan through the money it receives from the Football League's central fund.

Last night a club spokesman said, "The loan has been put in place and the players will be paid on Friday or Monday at the latest.

"There are terms and conditions attached which we're confident we can abide by."

Cash-strapped Swansea City have been plunged further into crisis after the Football League imposed a transfer embargo on the club with immediate effect.

The League slapped the Swans with a ban preventing boss Colin Addison from adding to his squad after they fell behind with pension payments owed to the players.

Swansea's communications manager Peter Owen confirmed: "The club has fallen behind with pension payments owed to the players and the Football League has decided to act on this by issuing a transfer embargo with immediate effect.

"The ban means Colin Addison will not be able to buy players and it will not be lifted until the payments are made."

The Vetch Field club were unable to pay their player's wages over Christmas after an appeal to the Professional Footballers' Association for a loan came too late and Owen admitted this latest news was yet another massive blow.

He said: "The circumstances are very difficult for everyone at the club at the moment and this is just going to make things even harder.

"Colin Addison has done a fantastic job in difficult conditions. He said when he came here it would be tough, but I don't think even he expected things to be this hard."

The Swans are hoping the cold snap clears quickly in order for Saturday's home game against Lincoln to go ahead as planned.

Today's scheduled match against leaders Plymouth at The Vetch failed yesterday's pitch inspection, and if the bad weather continues, the clash against The Red Imps will be in danger too.

Lincoln also had their New Year's Day action cancelled, as they were in line to face Darlington at Feethams - but like so many of the games, it was also called off.

The forecast shows that temperatures in South Wales should rise a little by the weekend and Colin Addison will be desperate to get the chance to build on his side's four-game unbeaten run.

THREE rival groups are involved in separate bids to buy out controversial Swansea City chairman Tony Petty, we can reveal today.

A consortium of 10 prominent local business people have formed an off-the-shelf company called NEWCO and are waiting in the wings to deal with Petty.

Their plan is to rescue the Swans and ensure professional football continues to exist in the city.

Another Swansea businessman, local haulier David Bradshaw, has offered Petty a three-figure sum for the club he bought for just £1.

And Petty also claims to be talking to London-based property developer Melvin Griffin, who is keen to acquire the Vetch lease and get involved with the Morfa Stadium development.

Griffin's hopes of doing a deal with Swansea Council, however, appear minimal after he slammed them for dragging their heels.

"If the players want to blame someone for not being paid then maybe they should look at the local authority rather than Tony Petty," claimed Griffin.

Bradshaw is part of a twoman group looking to put a package together with Petty.

But the consortium which will excite the fans most - and the one the council is most likely to deal with - is the NEWCO group spearheaded by 10 leading local figures.

Among the men believed to be involved are local millionaire Martin Morgan, Petty's old foe Mel Nurse, members of Swansea RFC, and the Supporters Trust.

Former Swans financial chief Martin Burgess, who was made redundant from his £60,000 a year job by Petty, is also thought to have links with the group.

The 10 business figures have combined together to find £500,00 in finance to run the club, should Petty agree to sell to them.

But a stumbling block will concern the £250,000 pay off Petty is demanding to leave.

NEWCO would be reluctant to give him more than the £1 he bought the club for.

A source close to NEWCO confirmed

Yes, there is a group of credible local people who are ready to step in, if necessary, to rescue the club.

The only issue that matters here is the future of Swansea City. We are there ready, willing and able to help

Petty has confirmed he is in touch with a local consortium, but wont say who the group is.

He has claimed on the official Swansea City FC website, though, that he plans to hand over control of the Swans by the end of January.

Moves to find a new buyer for the club have been stepped up after the controversy surrounding the non payment of the players wages on Christmas Eve

Petty admits in his statement on the Website, that the club has, in the short term, run out of money.

Petty is doing the negotiations from his base in Australia and says he will not be attending any more Swansea matches.

In a statement, the Swans Supporters Trust, which has more than 1,000 members, urged Petty to take the local option.

We ask him to transfer his entire shareholding into local ownership and with immediate effect, said a Trust spokesman.

COLIN ADDISON last night called for his Swansea City players to `cool it' in the row with Tony Petty, and focus upon winning three crucial points against Plymouth on New Year's Day.

Addison spoke as insults were traded between his skipper Nick Cusack and controversial chairman Tony Petty.

But the club's problems increased when the Football League slapped a transfer embargo on the Swans after Petty failed to make payments to

the players' pension contributions.

The players' union, the PFA, protested - and the League responded by refusing to let the Swans sign any new players.

That dashed Addison's hopes of bringing in a new striker on loan to replace top scorer Mamady Sidibe, who is out for the next four weeks

with ankle damage.

"We knew this was coming - but we were keen to beat the fax from the Football League," rued Addison.

Wales on Sunday understands Addison, via a third party, urgently asked Australian-based Petty for permission to sign a loan player in a bid to beat the impending League embargo.

The answer was no and the League then formally stepped in on Friday.

"We have pulled off a couple of superb recent results, Mamady was

playing so well, and then we lose him.

"But we can't have anything going straightforward here. No, that would be too easy for Swansea City," said Addison ironically.

to conc e ntrate u p o n their foot-The transfer embargo comes as the anger between Petty and the Swans players escalates.

Skipper Cusack said it was disgraceful that the players' wages were not paid before Christmas. Petty responded by saying Cusack was a disgrace.

And that led to Addison calling his players together on Friday to ask them

ball, rather than off-the-field affairs, until after Tuesday's match with

"You know me, I'm not the sort of person to gag anyone," said Addison.

"But Nick has been giving interviews to every newspaper, Radio Five, Talk Radio... Radio

Mozambique, Kuwait radio, Quebec TV.

"Look, I don't mean to say that flip -pantly or disre-Plymouth.

"I've g o t t h e

utmost respect for Nick, but we achieved a great 3-0 win at Exeter on Boxing Day and the talk afterwards was just about Cusack v Petty.

"I just want him to block it out for the time being and really focus upon his football. And I've said this to the other players too.

"I feel it is my job as manager to step in and say enough is enough for the time being. We had a hugely important game at Cheltenham yesterday, there's an equally important one with Plymouth on Tuesday.

"We just need to let the thing settle down as much as it can."

Addison said he was confident the

players would receive their missing salaries soon. spect-fully.

He stressed: "Through everything that has gone on, Peter Nicholas and myself have made sure the spirit within the dressing room remains good.

"I would like to think we have managed to achieve that."

SWANSEA CITY chairman Tony Petty last night blamed former director Mel Nurse for the players not being paid this month.

Swans captain Nick Cusack was told on Christmas Eve that the financially struggling club could not afford to pay the players' wages for December.

Petty said the players would have received their Christmas pay cheques had Nurse - the club's biggest creditor after he acquired a £800,000 debt from the club's former owner Ninth Floor plc - not brought his court action last month to force the club into administration.

Mr Justice Thomas dismissed Nurse's petition but ordered Petty to lodge £100,000 in court - the amount Nurse paid for the £800,000 debt.

But Nurse, who resigned as a director at the club last month, branded Petty's comments as "ridiculous" and urged the Australia-based businessman to quit the Vetch Field.

And the former Swans and Wales star also asked what has happened to the £1.1m in pledges that Petty told Swansea County Court the club would receive from potential investors.

"If Mel Nurse hadn't brought the court action we could have paid the players' wages," said Petty.

"What Mel did destroyed the cashflow at the club. I'm not the villain in all this and it's about time people realised that.

"We had to lodge £100,000 in court and we spent another £55,000 on legal fees. That's money that would have been ploughed into Swansea City Football Club.

"Because of what's happened at Swansea, I haven't had a good Christmas. We are struggling at the moment. We're strapped for cash.

"We lost £155,000 because of that court case and the players' wage bill is £70,000 a month. We've just got enough money to pay the rest of the staff at the club but, because Mel brought this action, we can't pay the players.

"The judge didn't award us costs. To recover our costs we will have to sue Mel and that could mean spending another £100,000 on legal fees."

But Nurse yesterday hit back at Petty. "In court he said he had all this money (£1.1m) coming in, so why is he complaining about £100,000?" said Nurse.

"He's looking for excuses. He's looking for someone to blame and he's blaming me.

"During the court case he told the judge he had ample money coming from investors. That's why the judge backed him and not me. I'd like to know what's happened to those pledges.

"We left the court believing more than £1m was on its way, but he can't even find £80,000 wages.

"Looking at the bigger picture, £100,000 wouldn't make a difference anyway. Has he paid the Inland Revenue? Has he paid John Hollins (former Swansea manager) what he's owed? And how would he have paid the wages in January or February?

"I was happy after the court case because I thought Mr Petty would now be bringing money into the club. That's all I wanted. But what's happened this month has proved to me that he hasn't got any money.

"How can he blame me of putting the club in the situation that it's in? In the summer I spent £40,000 of my own money building a bar on the North Bank and I offered Mike Lewis (former Swans chairman) financial help when the Ninth Floor money ran out.

"I didn't like the way Mr Petty took control of the club but I wanted to give him a chance. I didn't know him at all and I was hoping he had plenty of money behind him.

"But when he said he was strapped for cash and he wanted to release our best players, I resigned on principle."

MAN of the year in Welsh football? Step forward Tony Petty.

Who else has managed to do so much for a soccer club in such a short space of time?

The Swansea City chairman has produced some quite stag-gering, and previously unprecedented, achievements in 2001, so let's start listing them.

He took over the Swans and promptly announced he was sacking players and cutting the wages of others by 70 per cent.

Good start, Tone, just the way to endear yourself to the players and the club's army of fans.

Next, the Swans' No1 asset Stuart Roberts is permitted to join Wycombe for £100,000.

Nice one, Tone. In Buckinghamshire they reckon they've got the bargain of the season.

Petty then ignores calls for him to go, insisting what he is doing is the only way to secure the Swans' future.

He sits in the directors' box for the home game with Rushden, faces calls of "Petty Out" throughout, has missiles thrown at him and has to be smuggled out of The Vetch by the back-door.

Petty has a go at the fans for daring to having a go at him.

Nice one, Tone.

But instead of folding meekly in the face of intense pressure and handing over control of the club, against the odds Petty wins his High Court battle with People's Champion Mel Nurse.

The pledge being that Petty could run the club and had £1.2m worth of finance coming in to do it.

A few days on Petty agrees a £195,000 fee with Barnsley to sell Mamady Sidibe, who had taken over from Roberts as the club's leading asset.

You're fighting relegation and you choose to get rid of your top scorer at a price astute judges like Alan Curtis reckon is knockdown. Good one.

The move fell through because of a hiccup over whether Sidibe and his agent should get a 30 per cent cut of the deal, but Petty was ready to sell.

Then the Swans, clearly unable to pay Matthew Bound's estimated £2,500 per week wages, let their No1 defender join fellow relegation rivals Oxford. ON LOAN.

Sensible footballing deal that one.

Next, a mere few weeks after pledging to the court to run the club properly, Petty tells his advisers to tell skipper Nick Cusack to tell the players that they are not being paid.

On Christmas Eve. Nice timing, Tone.

Over Christmas, the Swans weren't just a laughing stock in Britain but throughout the world, because the story even made the pages of the Sydney Morning Telegraph.

And the upshot of that little lot means Petty has achieved the impossible: taking over the mantle previously held by ex-Brighton chief Bill Archer as probably the most hated chairman in Britain.

Congratulations, Tone. Man of the Year? As I say, there could only be one winner, couldn't there?

PS: The irony is, of course, quite deliberate.

FORMER Swansea City captain John Cornforth has warned the crisis-torn club that rivals are planning fresh raids on their best players.

Swansea inched towards the top half of the Third Division table by beating Cornforth's Exeter City side 3-0 on Boxing Day - but there seems no end to the cash crisis gripping the Vetch.

Club chairman Tony Petty asked the Professional Footballers' Association on Christmas Eve for three tranches of £75,000 to cover the wages for the next three months.

Nick Cusack, the Swansea captain and PFA chairman, has promised measures are in place to ensure players are paid, but that hasn't stopped Cornforth warning that rival clubs are gathering to tempt players away.

"Football's a ruthless game," said ex-Wales international Cornforth, 34, who helped Swansea to Wembley glory and the Second Division play-offs during his spell at the club from 1991-1996.

"Stuart Roberts has gone to Wycombe, Mathew Bound's gone to Oxford and players have got to look after themselves. A lot of them have families.

"I've got four young children and I can imagine telling them on Christmas Eve that I wasn't getting paid."

Cornforth admitted that he could be among those seeking to profit from the spiralling Vetch crisis as he bids to build on an impressive start in management.

The Swansea setback was the first home defeat Exeter have suffered in the league this season and Cornforth has taken 28 points out of a possible 45 since succeeding Noel Blake at St James Park in September.

"I speak to Roger (Freestone) frequently and I've spoken to Colin (Addison) a few times and I'm sure it's difficult for them," said Cornforth.

"But it didn't look too difficult for them against us. They're not being paid at the moment, but they've got a lot of good professional players and I wouldn't mind a couple of them in my side.

"I think they're in a false position and, even though I'm an Exeter man these days, I obviously want to see them survive. They're a big club that deserve better and I always look out for their results.

"It was the best time of my career at Swansea. I had five happy years there and had two children born in Singleton Hospital.

"I've still got the mother and father-in-law living in Morriston and I'm back there all the time.

"Wembley and play-offs, they're all history now - but they were fantastic days.

"It's very hard for them but they've got two strong characters in charge with Colin and Peter Nicholas and I'm sure that it will get sorted soon."

A MILLIONAIRE businessman who heads Queensland soccer has been told to "get out and stay out" of a British soccer team he owns after he failed to pay players at Christmas.

Tony Petty has also faced death threats in the UK and had his £30,000 ($A85,500) VW Bora vandalised by thugs after he held a fire sale of players and asked others to take a pay cut.

Since Mr Petty began cutting costs and player contracts, club supporters have spat on him and threatened to break his legs and he has been the subject of public protest and an on-line petition demanding he go.

Mr Petty, 42, who chairs the Queensland Soccer Federation, took over Third Division club Swansea City in Wales for a token $3 in September. The club was bleeding its former owner of more than $60,000 a week.

Yesterday Swansea City skipper Nick Cusack said Mr Petty's stewardship of the club was "a disgrace" and he should "get out and stay out" of Swansea.

Cusack, the team's union representative and chairman of the Professional Footballers Association, launched the attack after Swansea City pulled off a 3-0 Boxing Day win less than 48 hours after its players heard they would not be paid.

Yesterday an angry Mr Petty, who is in Brisbane for Christmas, said Cusack's comments were "outrageously out of order" and he could be forced to place Swansea City into liquidation if the Professional Footballers Association did not pay his players' wages.

"Recent legal action against Swansea City has cost the club £155,000 ($A441,700), money which would now be paying the players' wages."

Mr Petty said he was in discussion with a consortium willing to buy Swansea City and was planning to step aside and hand over a third of the club's ownership to season ticket holders once the club's financial position was secure, hopefully no later than next month.

"The fans have blamed me for the position the club now finds itself in. But the club was losing £700,000 per year before I arrived. They were dead in the water," Mr Petty said.

He said he was left to buy Swansea City alone after the Brisbane Lions pulled out of a consortium.

Mr Petty described his woes at Swansea City as "much tougher" than his court battles with former Brisbane Lord Mayor Clem Jones and other Queensland soccer identities whose administration of the code in Queensland he had challenged.

He said elements who opposed his Brisbane activities had e-mailed UK fans "from day one".

Three years ago Mr Petty was hailed as the new messiah of Queensland soccer when he left East London for Hope Island on the Gold Coast and rescued the embattled Brisbane Strikers Soccer Club with a $70,000 cash injection.

But Mr Petty was embroiled in turmoil as Strikers chairman after he claimed the state of the club books was "parlous" and eventually resigned with an out-of-court settlement.

Mr Petty, as Queensland Soccer Federation president, was threatened with legal action by Strikers chairman Ross Melville over what he said was Mr Petty's attempt to scuttle a buy-out of the Strikers by Leeds.

Mr Petty said he never spoke to the Leeds chairman.