Swansea City's 5-0 thrashing of Bradford City in the Capital One Cup final in February saw the Welsh club qualify for European competition for the first time since 1991.
That, along with a ninth-place finish in the Premier League, gave Michael Laudrup's men a spring in their step going into the 2013-14 campaign. However, it also gave the Swans a congested fixture list.
After four-and-a-half months of the season, Swansea have already played 30 competitive fixtures, which Sports Mole has recapped below.
August
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Swansea had added no fewer than 10 players to their ranks during June and July. Half of those new signings - Jordi Amat, Jose Canas, Alejandro Pozuelo, Jonjo Shelvey and Wilfried Bony - made their debuts as the Swans began their season with a 4-0 home win over Malmo in the first leg of a Europa League qualifier on August 1. Bony announced his arrival in style by bagging a brace, while Pozuelo also found the net. Progression to the next round was secured with a 0-0 draw in Sweden seven days later.
Bony continued his fine start to life in Wales by scoring on his domestic debut. However, his contribution was overshadowed by visitors Manchester United, who, playing in their first Premier League game without Sir Alex Ferguson in charge, cruised to a 4-1 victory at the Liberty Stadium.
Laudrup's side bounced back by smashing Petrolul Ploiesti 5-1 to put one foot in the Europa League group stages, but they remained bottom of the Premier League table after two rounds of fixtures following a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
A 2-1 second-leg loss in Romania was enough to confirm Swansea's place in the Europa League proper, where they were drawn alongside Spanish giants Valencia, Russia side Kuban Krasnodar and Swiss outfit St Gallen in a challenging Group A.
September
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Ben Davies and Pablo Hernandez were on target in a 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion as the Swans moved off the bottom of the table on September 1.
After the international break, Liverpool came to the Liberty Stadium having won all of their first three league fixtures. The Merseysiders' perfect start came to an end in a game that saw former Red Shelvey take centre stage. Shelvey put Swansea ahead early on, but he then produced two individual errors that were punished by Daniel Sturridge and Victor Moses as the visitors turned the game on its head before half time. The 21-year-old midfielder partly atoned for his mistakes after the break by setting up Michu, who completed the scoring to earn a 2-2 draw.
Swansea recorded one of the finest wins in their 101-year history three days later by beating 10-man Valencia 3-0 at the Mestalla. That was swiftly followed by another away triumph, with Crystal Palace being put to the sword 2-0 at Selhurst Park.
After starting so well, September ended with back-to-back defeats. A 3-1 loss at Birmingham City saw the Swans exit the Capital One Cup at the first hurdle. Laudrup's men were then on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline when Premier League leaders Arsenal came to South Wales.
October
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A single-goal home victory over St Gallen kept Swansea at the top of Europa League Group A, but they fell to 15th in the Premier League after losing 2-0 at high-flying Southampton.
They responded in style by hammering Sunderland 4-0, with the Black Cats contributing to their own downfall by scoring two own goals at the Liberty Stadium.
Swansea played out consecutive home draws at the end of October. A last-minute penalty from Djibril Cisse denied them a victory over Kuban Krasnodar on a frustrating Thursday evening. Striker-less West Ham United then held Laudrup's men to a scoreless stalemate three days later.
November
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November got off to a terrible start as Swansea lost 1-0 at fierce rivals Cardiff City. To make things worse, former Swans loanee Steven Caulker netted the winner for the Bluebirds. The game also saw Swansea receive their first Premier League red card of the season, with goalkeeper Michel Vorm dismissed for bringing down Fraizer Campbell in stoppage time.
Swansea went on to draw their next two matches, both of which saw them concede last-minute equalisers. First, Ibrahima Balde snatched a point for Kuban in Russia. A Charlie Adam penalty then earned Stoke City a share of the spoils in a six-goal thriller at the Liberty.
A third away league win of the season saw the Swans beat Fulham 2-1. However, the month ended on a sour note with a 1-0 home loss to Valencia. The defeat left the Welsh club needing just a point from their final Europa League group game to progress, but it also saw leading scorer Bony suffer a worrying hamstring injury.
December
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Swansea had eight fixtures to contend with in December and they managed to win just one of them.
Manchester City extended their winning home run to seven Premier League games by brushing the Swans aside in a 3-0 cruise at the Etihad Stadium. The Welsh side responded by beating Newcastle United by the same scoreline, but they were unable to see off Hull City on home soil, as Danny Graham scored against his former club in a 1-1 draw.
Bony returned to training sooner than expected and he was deemed fit to face St Gallen. Although Swansea lost 1-0 in Switzerland, they snuck through to the knockout stages of the Europa League courtesy of Kuban failing to win in Valencia. The draw for the next round threw up a stern two-legged test against Rafael Benitez's Napoli.
After failing to hold on to a lead and drawing 1-1 at Norwich City, Swansea lost 2-1 at home to Everton thanks to a superb free kick by Liverpudlian wonderkid Ross Barkley. Another narrow defeat followed as Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard scored the only goal of a tight game at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day.
On-loan Osasuna midfielder Roland Lamah netted his first goal in England as the Swans ended the year with a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa, meaning that they will begin 2014 11th in the Premier League table.
