 The 1990–91 campaign was a disaster, and Hull suffered relegation after finishing in last place.Swan also suffered, as he played the game with Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park despite suffering from a painful heel injury, only to require stitches to his eye socket following a kick to the face from Simon Coleman; despite all of this Ternent still insisted that Swan got back on the field for the final fifteen minutes of a 3–0 defeat.Swan went public with his desire to leave the club in November 1990, and handed in a transfer request after Ternent refused to use him as a defender rather than an attacker.