A podcast recorded with Kev Johns before his mini stroke has been shared by Swansea City, giving fans a chance to hear the club’s beloved matchday host reflect on a lifetime of memories at the heart of the Jack Army — in his own words, in his own voice.
The 78-minute episode of the club’s official podcast Way Down by the Sea was recorded at the Swansea Jack in January 2026. Weeks later, Kev suffered a mini stroke. A GoFundMe campaign has since raised thousands for him and his family — and now the Swans have released the podcast, which takes on an added poignancy given what followed.
Speaking with characteristic warmth and wit, Kev — who holds an MBE for his services to the club and the community — traces his connection to the Swans all the way back to the age of seven, when his father and uncle Jack took him to his first game at the Vetch.
“I’ll never forget coming up the little slope in the North Bank and catching the sight of the pitch with the floodlights on it,” he said. “I was just hooked.”
His early heroes included Herbie Williams, Geoff Thomas and Tony Millington — but one name stands out above the rest. Vic Gommersall, a left-back who became far more than a boyhood idol.
Kev said Gommersall had become a genuine friend in later life, with the two hugging on the terraces when the Swans scored. “My boyhood hero became a friend,” he said. “And the last thing I could do for my dear friend Vic was officiate at his funeral service. It was an incredible honour — but it broke my heart.”
Kev’s path to becoming the voice of the Vetch came almost by accident. He had been working as a commentator on a fans’ football tournament when a brief mention in the Evening Post caught the club’s eye. The phone call that followed changed everything.
“I had a phone call from the Swans saying, ‘You’re doing halftime at Wembley,'” he recalled. “I said yeah. They said, ‘Why don’t you do that for us?’ I said, ‘Well, you’ve never asked.’ They said, ‘Well, we’re asking.’ I said, ‘I’ll do it.'”
The first game he hosted was against Exeter — with Uri Geller in tow. “I had to introduce Uri Geller at halftime and he bent spoons in front of the North Bank,” Kev said. “Who’s going to see a spoon at that distance? And I was going, ‘Oh, it’s incredible, the spoon is bending.’ I had a background in comedy magic — I knew exactly how he did it.”
For years, Kev received no fee — just three match tickets. It didn’t matter. “I’d be there anyway,” he said. “It’s not a money-making thing, it’s not a job. I love the club. I really do love the club. If we win, lose or draw, I’m just proud to be a Jack.”
Among the many memories he shares, the Hull game — when a Swansea win kept the club in the Football League — stands out as one of the most electric. “It was not just on the day,” he said of the tension. “It was the whole week leading up to it. It was almost like a cup final. And when that fourth goal went in — my goodness, it was incredible.”
He also played a central role during one of the darkest chapters in the club’s recent history — the Tony Petty era, when supporters feared for the club’s very existence. “Everything was done for the sake of the football club,” he said of his decision to lead the march through the city and then straight onto the pitch. “Orient were playing and their supporters joined us in the march, which is why we will always respect Orient Football Club.”
He later had Petty on his radio phone-in the following morning. “Man, I had to take him upstairs for a cup of tea afterwards because he was visibly in shock,” Kev recalled. He reserved particular praise for Nick Cusack, the club captain who put his job on the line to support the supporters’ campaign. “He stood out and he stood tall and it was remarkable what he did,” Kev said.
The podcast also takes in some of Kev’s more personal memories — including a moving service he held at the Vetch before it was demolished, for supporters whose ashes had been scattered on the pitch. And his recollections of Terry Coles, the young Swansea supporter who died following a match at the Vetch in 1994, are deeply affecting.
“Terry and the boys from Morriston had just got in — they’d been in town, no trouble whatsoever,” he said. “And he didn’t stand a chance.” Days later, Kev was asked to lead prayers at the memorial game. “I looked around the circle,” he said. “Gareth Southgate, David James — John Gregory had brought the full cup final team down to play that game. He would have been excused for using a few squad players. But he brought a full team down.”
Even now, decades on, it is clear the weight of that day has never left him.
The full episode of Way Down by the Sea is available on Spotify and YouTube.
