Swansea City's unlikely January signing that changed everything - it all started at Walsall | OneFootball

Swansea City signed Roberto Martinez from Walsall in January 2003, a deal that helped change the club's fortunes

Swansea City may now be an established Championship club who haven't dropped below the second tier of English football since 2008, but it wasn't too long ago that things were very different in South Wales.

The early noughties were a tumultuous time for the Swans, and the 2002/03 campaign saw the club staring down the barrel of non-league relegation for the first time in their history. The club were struggling financially, hosting open trials in the summer of 2002, signing 10 players, all of whom were either out of contract or free agents.

This meant that they badly lacked quality, and come January it was clear that reinforcements would be needed if they were to avoid relegation to non-league and the catastrophic ramifications that would bring.

The likes of Alan Tate and Leon Britton were signed on loan from Manchester United and West Ham respectively, while experienced Spanish midfielder Roberto Martinez also moved to the Vetch Field in January 2003 after falling out of favour at Walsall.

Little did Swansea know it at the time, but Martinez's signing would change the club's trajectory and play a huge role in getting the club to where they are now.

Roberto Martinez helped Swansea City avoid non-league relegation on the final day

Martinez made an immediate impact in SA1 as a player, and manager Brian Flynn made him captain despite joining halfway through the season.

Despite the January additions, Swansea continued to struggle and the battle for survival went to the final day, with Swansea needing to beat Hull City on the final day of the season to avoid relegation and condemn Exeter City to the Conference.

The Swans got the job done, with Martinez captaining them to a 4-2 win and writing his name into Swansea City folklore in doing so. The Spaniard had only joined the club on a short-term contract until the end of the season but was rewarded with a fresh deal in the summer of 2003, keeping him at the club long-term.

Martinez played 31 games in total across the 2003/04 campaign as a much-improved Swans outfit finished 10th, before playing 44 the following season as Swansea were promoted to League One, just two years after nearly dropping out of the Football League.

Swansea's upward trajectory continued during the 2005/06 season with Martinez to the fore with 49 appearances as they won the Football League trophy and came within a penalty shootout of reaching the Championship, losing to Barnsley in the play-off final.

Martinez departed Swansea in the summer of 2006, leaving the club on a free transfer for Chester City, but it wasn't long until the Spaniard was back in SA1...

Roberto Martinez implemented the style of football Swansea City are known for

Less than a year after leaving for Chester City, Martinez was back at Swansea as manager following Kenny Jackett's sacking, taking the reins at just 33-years-old.

The Spaniard had taken over a mid-table side but a run of form which saw them lose just once in 11 games saw them in with a chance of reaching the play-offs on the final day. A 6-3 defeat to Blackpool meant Swansea missed out, but it was clear they were heading in the right direction ahead of the 2007/08 campaign.

Despite the likes of Leeds United and Nottingham Forest being some of the Swans' League One rivals, Martinez's side would go on to win the 2007/08 League One title, playing a brand of possession-based brand of football that hadn't been seen in the lower leagues previously, a far cry from the Swans side that the midfielder had joined as a player five years earlier.

Martinez's Swansea continued to impress in the Championship, and despite being tipped to struggle in what was their first second tier season in 24 years, they finished 8th - just six points off the play-offs.

That was to be Martinez's final act at Swansea City, as he departed for Premier League Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2009, before managing the likes of Everton, Belgium and Portugal.

Not even the most optimistic of Swansea supporters could have envisaged Martinez making the impact that he did when he joined from Walsall in January 2003, and if he hadn't joined the club, things could have turned out very different in SA1.