A decade before facing Bradford, Swansea had to win on the last day of the season to avoid dropping out of the Football League.
Eight years later, in 2011, they completed an extraordinary rise through the divisions by beating Reading in the Championship play-off final.
Brendan Rodgers’ team settled well in the Premier League, but there were concerns about what would come next when he left for Liverpool in 2012.
Swansea turned to Laudrup, who would maintain Premier League momentum while also making it clear from the start that he wanted to progress in the cups.
Laudrup had previous, having led unfancied Getafe to the Copa del Rey final during his time coaching in Spain, while his enduring quality on the training field brought instant respect among Swansea’s players.
“I remember the first session we had with him, we were doing attack against defence,” says former Swansea right-back Angel Rangel.
“Our attacking players couldn’t score a goal so Laudrup joined in. The first ball he touches, he played a pass through for Wayne Routledge to score one-v-one. We were all clapping.
“You have to give respect to your manager when that happens, because he is better than you.”
Swansea’s League Cup run began with victory over Barnsley, before a last-minute Garry Monk goal at League One Crawley saw the Welsh club scrape through having trailed in the closing stages.
A memorable victory over Rodgers’ Liverpool at Anfield put Swansea into the last eight of the competition for the first time, and they progressed again thanks to a scrappy 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.
Yet the semi-final draw took wind from Swansea’s sails. League Two Bradford, conquerors of Arsenal during their remarkable run, and Aston Villa were possible opponents, but Swansea got Chelsea.
“I was fuming,” says ex-Swansea defender Ashley Williams.
“All we wanted was to get to Wembley. We felt we could beat Villa and we would beat Bradford.
“But I remember my agent was buzzing that we got Chelsea. He said ‘if you beat them, you’ve won the cup’.”
