Swansea City: Court date for former directors making unfair dismissal claim

Two former Swansea City directors have been given a court date for their unfair dismissal claim against the club.

Steve Penny, Swansea's former legal director, and Don Keefe, former finance director, left the club in 2016 following Americans Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan's takeover.

The Wales Employment Tribunal hearing will be held at Cardiff and the Vale Magistrates Court on 8 December.

Swansea have declined to comment.

Penny and Keefe were a part of the local consortium which took control of Swansea in 2002., external

With Huw Jenkins appointed chairman and Penny and Keefe working as legal and finance directors respectively, the group guided the Swans from the bottom tier of English football to the Premier League in just nine years.

In July 2016, Levien and Kaplan led an American consortium which bought a controlling stake of 68% in the club.

There then followed a boardroom reshuffle, with American investors Robert Hernreich and Romie Chaudhari joining as directors and Leigh Dineen leaving the board despite remaining vice-chairman.

This process also saw Penny and Keefe leave, along with fellow long-time director, the late Gwilym Joseph. None of the three were shareholders.

Speaking to BBC Sport Wales, Penny said: "Having served as directors of the club for 14 years our claim arises out of our forcible removal without notice of ourselves as Legal / HR Director and Finance Director respectively against our wishes."