Swansea City line up Trevor Birch as new chairman
Last updated on .From the section Swansea
Swansea City have lined up Trevor Birch to replace Huw Jenkins as club chairman.
Birch, 61, has previously held chief executive roles at Chelsea, Everton, Leeds, Sheffield United and Derby County.
The former footballer turned accountant has also held positions at Bolton and Aston Villa while also serving as administrator at Portsmouth.
Jenkins stood down after 17 years in the role in February, 2019.
The deal to appoint Birch is yet to be finalised, but he is thought to be the leading contender and the club's preferred choice to succeed Jenkins.
At the time of Jenkins' resignation, the club said they were seeking to bring in "fresh methods of working" and would search for a leader of football operations to work closely with manager Graham Potter.
It had been thought at one stage the club would look to appoint a director of football with current chief operating officer Chris Pearlman possibly stepping up to fill Jenkins' boardroom role.
However, with Kyle McAuley already in place as the club's head of recruitment after arriving with Potter from Ostersund in the summer, the decision was made to look outside the club for a candidate with previous experience of working in football.
The club is thought to have been keen for someone with the ability to deal with the football business side of the operations, including working with agents and on contract negotiations.
Birch also has a track record of working with clubs in need of restructuring and dealing with financial issues.
Swansea have previously made clear their difficulties in adapting financially to life outside the Premier League following relegation from the top-flight in May, 2018.
The Championship side have had to address a significant drop in revenue that has already seen them sell a string of senior players with relatively little spent in terms of replacements.
Birch's potential appointment would form part of the plans to financially restructure.
Swansea manager Graham Potter said appointing an experienced figure was crucial for the club.
"We needed to look at what was needed - what skill sets were needed to help the people here," he said.
"It was always going to be another person - you cannot fill Huw Jenkins' shoes. You bring somebody else in who has their own qualities and fits with what we already have.
"As I understand that's what we are doing. Somebody with experience and somebody who knows about the situation we are in I think makes sense."
