Rodgers pays tribute to Swansea fans

New Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has written an open letter thanking staff and fans at former club Swansea.

The Northern Irishman was officially appointed Reds boss last Friday, admitting the chance at Anfield was too good to pass up after a second approach from the Merseysiders. In his media interviews, Rodgers said he had previously had three opportunities to leave the Liberty Stadium for other clubs but had not been interested in any of them as he was happy there. But he accepts Liverpool was a different level entirely. "The chance to manage one of the world's great footballing institutions doesn't come around very often in a manager's life and, after two approaches, I have decided to take up the professional challenge," he wrote in his letter, published by the South Wales Echo. "Before doing so I wanted to leave you my wholehearted thanks and gratitude for a truly memorable period of my life. My story at Swansea City began nearly two years ago and my mission above anything else was very clear: to inspire the city. "My aim for a legacy was simply to have made Swansea City Football Club an attacking and creative team who were enjoyable to watch, and to make the people of Swansea proud of their great club, city and nation. In the years ahead, you, the most important people at the club, will decide if I achieved those dreams, but the journey for me has been one I will never forget. "We created history together to become the first Welsh club in the Premier League, and defied all the odds at the same time, and there is no doubt the club will continue to flourish in the coming years."