Russell Martin: Swansea City suing former boss over move to Southampton
- Published
Russell Martin's Swansea finished three points outside the Championship play-offs in 2022-23
Swansea City are suing former boss Russell Martin for breach of contract following his move to Southampton in June 2023.
Martin, 38, left Swansea after two years in charge to take over at St Mary's.
Swansea have declined to comment but have confirmed the legal action against their ex-head coach.
Martin's move to Southampton was held up because of a dispute over compensation due to Swansea.
With that dispute still unresolved, Swansea have opted to sue - though they are not taking action against Southampton.
Martin, who left MK Dons to take charge at Swansea in 2021, signed a three-year deal when he arrived in Wales, but left after two seasons in charge.
He was understood to have agreed to take the Southampton job last May, but his move to Saints was not confirmed until 21 June because of the compensation issues.
At the centre of the disagreement was whether Southampton, who were relegated last season, were still a Premier League club when they came in for Martin.
That is key because Martin's Swansea contract featured differing compensation clauses depending on whether a club looking to appoint him were in the top flight or not.
The legal action is also related to some of the Swansea staff members who followed Martin to Southampton.
Martin and Southampton have been asked to comment.
Martin led Swansea to a 15th-place Championship finish in 2021-22, then 10th in what proved to be his final season in charge.
He had been making progress with the Welsh club and said on numerous occasions that he would be interested in extending his contract.
However, relations between Martin and Swansea's American owners soured after the January transfer window in 2023, when the club were in contention for the play-offs but failed to sign a player despite numerous deals being lined up.
Martin has made a positive impact at Southampton, with the club in contention for a return to the Premier League this spring following relegation last season.
Swansea sacked Martin's successor, Michael Duff, last December after struggling to readjust following his departure.
They then appointed Martin's former Swansea assistant, Luke Williams, as head coach in January.
Williams' side all but confirmed their second-tier status by beating Rotherham United 1-0 on Saturday.