The Wembley way- Swansea City's greatest win?

There will be quite a few sore heads in Swansea this morning. I imagine, last night's celebration went deep into the night and rightly so.

It has been a fantastic league cup campaign for the Swans. They not only reached their first major cup final but took their opponents to the cleaners and walked away the silverware. Bradford City were no match for Michael Laundrup's men and were never in the tie.

Goals from DeGuzman (2), Dyer (2) and Michu were enough to send the travelling Jack army into a state of jubilation. But was this Swansea City's greatest achievement?

Many people will be inclined to say yes, as this was their first major tournament win. Just look at some of the past recent winners, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

But how has this happened? How has Swansea City become a club capable of winning a major tournament?

I don't need to remind anyone of when Swansea City nearly slipped out of the football league but that survival day was the first turning point in this success story.

Another key date was the 30th May 2012 and for me, this was a bigger win for the Swans than this weekends cup win.

I am of course talking about the play off final win against Reading.

Under the management of Brendan Rodgers, Swansea gained promotion to the premier league. They made the play offs and beat Nottingham Forest in the semi-final before taking on Reading at Wembley. Scott Sinclair scored a hat-trick which elevated the South Wales team to the premier division for the first time.

That win, changed everything for Swansea. The number of fans increased significantly, the money available for signings also grew and tourism to Swansea received a huge boost.

The premier league status has provided so much for the football club and for the city. Just look at the signings since that promotion-  Chico Flores, Pablo Hernandez and of course, Migeul Michu, who already has 19 goals this season.

Could Swansea have won the league cup, playing in the Championship and without the likes of Michu? I'm not sure.

Also without premier league status, would Michel Laundrup still be sitting in the Swansea dugout week in, week out?

The Welsh club has gone above and beyond of what is expected of them and credit must be given to all involved to get them there.

Martinez, Sousa, Rodgers and Laundrup have all made significant contributions to the style of football that gets played at the club.

The likes of Gary Monk, Alan Tate and Leon Britton have all been loyal team players and managed to raise their standards as the team moved up divisions.

And of course, Huw Jenkins is the model chairman. He doesn't overspend and is always thinking about what is best for the club.

In just two years, they have already established themselves as a respected solid premier league team. They have never flirted with the possibility of relegation and now with Europe in the plans, who knows where they could end up.

This cup final win is not a one off success, it's the latest achievement in a period of glory days for Swansea City football club.