Cardiff City F.C.

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Cardiff City F.C.
Badge of Cardiff City
Full name Cardiff City Association
Football Club
Nickname(s) The Bluebirds
Founded 1899 as 'Riverside AFC'
Ground Ninian Park
Cardiff
Capacity 22,008 (16,000 seated)
Chairman Flag of England Peter Ridsdale
Manager Flag of England Dave Jones
League The Championship
2005-06 Championship, 11th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Cardiff City Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) are a football team based in Cardiff, and are one of the three Welsh clubs competing in the Football League, currently playing in the Football League Championship. They play their home games at Ninian Park.

Cardiff City were founded in 1899 and are the only non-English side to have won any of the three major English competitions. They won the FA Cup in 1927, during a decade when they were one of the strongest sides in the English league. They have also been regular winners of the Welsh Cup, and as the winner of the Cup in 1966-67 gained entry to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, reaching the semi-finals in 1967-68.[1]

Their history in recent years has been less successful but they have made some improvement in the last few seasons. In 1986, they were relegated to the Fourth Division, and over the next 14 years slipped into the league's basement division three times. In 1996 they were the league's third lowest placed team. But a Division Two playoff triumph in 2003 lifted them into Division One and they are now just one promotion away from reaching the Premiership, which would make them the first non-English team to do so


Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early glories

Cardiff are one of a handful of Welsh sides to play in the English football league system, rather than the Welsh system. Their most successful period so far was the 1920's when they became the only team to have taken the FA Cup out of England with victory over Arsenal back in 1927. The final was also notable as it was the first to be broadcast to the nation by BBC Radio. In 1924 they finished runners-up in the Football League First Division - this is still the highest finish achieved by any Welsh club in the English league. Cardiff City and Swansea City are the only Welsh football clubs to have played at the highest level of English football. The last season they spent at the First Division was in 1962.

On August 30, 1920, Cardiff City played their first Football League match at Ninian Park, when 25,000 supporters showed up to watch a scoreless draw with Clapton Orient. The first ever Football League victory for Cardiff City, at Ninian Park occurred only 5 days later, when Stockport County were beaten 3-0.

This early Cardiff City team showed more than enough class to match others in the League, and they were promoted to the top flight of English Football at the first attempt. In fact the Champions, Birmingham City only pipped Cardiff City to the title on Goal differential. The average gate for this season was a very impressive 28,000.

Cardiff City now found themselves in the top tier of the Football League (at this time known as the First Division). On January 21, 1922, Len Davies scored the Clubs' first ever top-flight hat-trick in a 6-3 win over Bradford City. Even though their first taste of top-flight football got off to a miserable start, recording only 3 points from the first 7 matches, Cardiff City's form improved fantastically and they eventually finished in fourth position.

The 1923/1924 has proved to be the best ever in the league for Cardiff City. After a dramatic season in which themselves and Huddersfield Town tussled for the Championship title, Cardiff went in to the last game of the year, one point ahead of second placed Huddersfield.

Huddersfield eventually beat their opponents on the day, Nottingham Forest by a scoreline of 3-0, meaning for Cardiff City to lift their first ever league title they would have to overcome Birmingham City. With the scoreline deadlocked at 0-0, Cardiff City were awarded a penalty. The ever relaible club captain, Len Davies took the spot kick, however missed form 12 yards and Birmingham City held out for a draw, meaning Cardiff would have to settle for 2nd spot on goal difference. Although having scored 1 more goal than Huddersfield during the season, Cardiff also conceded 1 more meaning they had a worse scoring to conceding ratio of 1.794 compared with Huddersfield's 1.818 which eventually meant Huddersfield went on to be the First Division champions of the 1923/1924 season.

The following season was the first time Cardiff City appeared at Wembley Stadium. In the first round of the FA Cup (then known as the English Cup) Cardiff City beat Darlington and this was then followed by a 1-0 home win against Fulham F.C. in round two. The Bluebirds then travelled to Meadow Lane in Round 3 where they defeated Notts County 2-0 before an epic Quarter Final tie between Leicester City almost dashed Cardiff hearts. With the scorelines locked at 1-1, Len Davies scored directly from a corner with the last kick of the game to send Cardiff through to the Semi-Finals against Blackburn Rovers. Cardiff City tore the Rovers defence apart and raced away with a 3-1 victory to set up a final against Sheffield United. After a breath taking final in front of 91,763 fans, the game was decided by an England International Fred Tunstall who scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory for Sheffield United.

The 1926/1927 season was Cardiff's worst performance in the top tier of English Football since thay had entered via promotion six seasons prior. They had a fairly miserable time in the league, by their high standards, finishing in 14th position. However the 1926/1927 season did not go down in the history books as another year, in which Cardiff City ended it without a major trophy to show for their efforts.

Cardiff entered the competition in the 3rd round, where they met and defeated Aston Villa 2-1 at Ninian Park. Trips to Darlington and subsequently to Bolton Wanderers in the 4th and 5th rounds respectively, both finished with the same scorelines; 2-0 wins for Cardiff City.

In the Quarter-Finals, Cardiff met a youthful and promising side, in another away fixture, this time against Chelsea. A goalless draw was played at Stamford Bridge, in front of a massive 70,184 people. At the replay at Ninian Park another 47,854 people crammed in. Having led 2-0 thanks to goals by Sam Irving and Len Davies, Cardiff City allowed Chelsea to get back into the fixture, and soon after half-time the scores were once again level at 2-2. As the tie began to look destined for another draw, Hughie Ferguson netted the winning goal from the penalty spot. At the Semi-Final stage, Cardiff City met Reading F.C. at Molineux and Cardiff ended up as comfortable 3-0 victors.

[edit] The Final

On St George's Day, April 23, 1927, Wembley Stadium, London; The FA Cup was taken out of England for the first and only time when Cardiff City beat Arsenal thanks to a goal by Cardiff City Cult Hero, Hughie Ferguson. It is believed that this cup final, attracted one of the highest audiences ever, as it was the first to be broadcast by BBC Radio. Captain Fred Keenor received the FA Cup trophy from [Queen Victoria]] only 7 years after Cardiff City had entered the Football League, and six seasons since they had been promoted to the top division.

Ferguson's most successful moment in English football occurred when he appeared for Cardiff in the 1927 Cup Final against Arsenal. In the 74th minute, collecting a throw from the right, Ferguson hurried a tame shot toward the Arsenal goal. Dan Lewis, the Arsenal goalkeeper, appeared to collect the ball but, under pressure from the advancing Len Davies, clumsily allowed the ball to roll through his grasp; in a desperate attempt to retrieve the ball, Lewis only succeeded in knocking the ball with his elbow into his own net. [2]. Ernie Curtis, the 19 year old centre-wing said of the goal:

"I was in line with the edge of the penalty area on the right when Hughie Ferguson hit the shot which Arsenal's goalie ( had crouched down for a little early. The ball spun as it travelled towards him, having taken a slight deflection so he was now slightly out of line with it. Len Davies was following the shot in and I think Dan must have had one eye on him. The result was that he didn't take it cleanly and it squirmed under him and over the line. Len jumped over him and into the net, but never actually touched it." [3] Ferguson still features on the record books for Cardiff City, having scored five goals in the First Division fixture with Burnley on September 1, 1928 (his 32 goals in all competitions in 1926-27 stood until Robert Earnshaw overtook it in March 2003). He scored the first in the 2-1 victory over Corinthians in the 1927-28 Charity Shield and his two goals won the Welsh Cup later that same season for Cardiff against Bangor; but despite a healthy return of 77 goals during his four seasons there his days at Ninian Park were numbered.

[edit] The Next Few Years

That FA Cup Final win, was not the end of their cup exploits this season; as they also won the Welsh Cup defeating Rhyl FC by a scoreline of 2-0, and would go on to win the Charity Shield after beating Corinthians 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

The following season 1928/1929 once again resulted in a top flight, top 6 finish for Cardiff City. Having led the Championship for a brief spell during mid-season, their performances began to tail off, and they had to setlle for 6th place.

In the 1929/1930 Season Cardiff City were relegated from the First Division of the Football League, despite conceding the least amount of goals of all teams in the division that year. However, this was only a sign of things to come for the Bluebirds, and after two seasons in the Second Divion, they were once again relegated in 1931 into Division 3 South having played 42 league matches, and only managing to win 8. During this time in the lowest division of recognised League Football; Cardiff City were once again able to show some promise, and in fact they recorded their biggest ever win in the Football League, when they destroyed Thames FC by a scoreline of 9-2. Results however continued to be below what was expected by the City faithful, and therefore in May 1933, Fred Stewart resigned after a fantastic 22 years in charge of the club.

Bartley Wilson was chosen to replace Fred Stewart; however the results continued to be extremely dissapointing, and in March 1934, Ben Watts-Jones, was given the opportunity to manage the club he had supported as a youngster. However, he was unable to turn the clubs' fortunes around by the end of the season; meaning Cardiff City were forced to apply for re-election after finishing bottom of the division. Watts-Jones remained in charge for another three years until he was replaced by Bill Jennings, a former Welsh international who had been brought to the club originally as trainer four years previous.

To add to the club's woes, in January 1937 the centre stand at Ninian Park was destroyed by fire. However; this caused the fans and club members to pull together, in order to save the club. Suddenly, there were signs that the worst was over both on and off the field. The teams' results began to improve over the next two seasons, and in turn; this meant that more fans were coming to Ninian Park in order to see their beloved team's revival. The 1938-39 season saw the debut of a resourceful Winger who would be a prominent member of future City sides; Billy Baker, however a final league position of 13th in the division was not thought to be good enough by new chairman Herbert Merrett, and he appointed Cyril Spiers as secretary-manager to replace Jennings for the 1939-40 season. That season; Spiers set about changing the personnel, bringing in a number of new faces including Forward Trevor Morris from Ipswich and also young centre forward Wilfred Wooller, a Welsh Rugby International who was also to captain Glamorgan at Cricket. World War II caused the suspension of the Football League in September 1939; and this suspension continued until the 1947 Season

[edit] Barren spell

Between 1985 and 2003, Cardiff were continuously in the lower two divisions of the league after being relegated to the Third Division. Five years later they dropped into the Fourth Division. Cardiff won the new Division Three championship in 1993 but were relegated two years later, and in 1996 finished in their lowest-ever league position - 22nd of 24 in Division Three, with only Scarborough F.C. and Torquay United below them. They did better the following season, finishing seventh (although they lost in the playoff semi finals), but suffered a setback and slipped into the bottom half of the table in 1998. They finished third in Division Three in 1999 and won automatic promotion to Division Two.

Cardiff struggled in Division Two throughout the 1999-2000 season and were relegated in 21st place. They finished Division Three runners-up the following season and have made impressive progress since then, helped by the investment of Lebanese businessman Sam Hammam.

[edit] Sam Hammam era

Lennie Lawrence guided Cardiff to promotion via a Division Two playoff triumph in 2003 and they have remained at Championship level ever since. However, Lawrence was relieved of his duties to make way for David Jones in 2005.

The record transfer paid by Cardiff City for a player is £1.7 million to Stoke City for Peter Thorne in 2001. The previous record was £1 million for Graham Kavanagh, also from Stoke, set only a few weeks earlier.

The club have also paid fees in excess of £1m for Defender Darren Purse from West Bromwich Albion, £950,000 for striker Andy Campbell from Middlesbrough and £850,000 for another striker, Alan Lee from Rotherham United.

The record transfer fee received is £3 million for Cameron Jerome in 2006 when he transferred to Birmingham City. The club has also received a similar amount for the sale of Robert Earnshaw and a combined £3.5m fee from West Ham United for the services of Welsh International defenders Danny Gabbidon and James Collins.

Cardiff made an excellent start to the 2006-07 season, topping the table by November and becoming most people's favourites for promotion. But their form cooled off over the winter, and as of late February they occupy a playoff place.

[edit] New Ownership

The new ownership has brought happiness back to Cardiff City. After being £40 million in debt, most of which has been cleared, Cardiff City will hopefully be playing for years to come. Cardiff City are currently 7th in the league as of 18th March.

The new ownership didn't start too well with Cardiff going through their worst patch of the season, enduring 13 games without victory. Finally they got their win and have since found their home form, but are still inconsistent on the road.

[edit] Rivalry

Cardiff City's most significant rivalry over the last 25 years was with neighbours Newport County and Swansea City; though traditionally there is also plenty of ill-feeling between the club's supporters and followers of Bristol City. In April 2006 relationships between Cardiff City supporters and Swansea City supporters were not helped after Swansea won the Football League Trophy final against Carlisle United 2-1 in the Millennium Stadium Cardiff. During their celebrations, Lee Trundle and Alan Tate brandished a Welsh flag with an anti-Cardiff obscenity smeared across it in huge black writing. As well as carrying the flag, Trundle was also seen wearing a T-shirt with an image of a Swansea City player urinating on a Cardiff City shirt.[4] The Football Association of Wales (FAW) said the images paraded at the match, which took place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 2 April, were "of an extremely offensive and insulting nature and such behaviour is totally unacceptable". After committing these deeds the two players in question were arrested by the Police on suspicion of section four public order offences, fined £2,000, and handed one match suspensions.[5]

Over several previous meetings between Cardiff City and Wolverhampton Wanderers fighting has broken out between the two sets of supporters resulting in 17 arrests during one meeting last season. This has led to the most recent meeting between the two sides 20/01/07, being moved forward to 1.00pm with no Cardiff City fans allowed to attend the match. This decision which was taken by Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club Chairman, Jez Moxey, was somewhat of a first for British Football, and was met with widespread criticism from many supporter groups throughout the UK, including the FSF (Football Supporters' Federation) [6] A peaceful protest, organised by the FSF, took place in Wolverhampton on the day of the game and was attended by fans of many clubs who wished to show their opposition to such a ban. An FSF statement read: "We are appealing to all football supporters who can make it to be there to show their opposition to all away fan bans. It could be your club next. Time to reclaim the game!"[7] Famous fans include Charlotte Church, who featured in a Walkers crisp ad promoting The Bluebirds.

[edit] Stadium plans

See main article New Cardiff City stadium

Cardiff City are currently hoping to build a state of the art 25,000 seater stadium on the site of the nearby Leckwith Athletics Stadium. The project also includes a retail park and requires the rebuilding of the existing athletics stadium at another location.

The plan requires the demolition of the existing Leckwith athletics stadium, which the council are insisting the replacement of is built before the start of construction on the new football stadium. This will avoid the city being without a major athletics facility for up to 11 months between the demolition of Leckwith and the building of a new athletics facility nearby. But developers have said that the main infrastructure work including highway improvements, drainage, gas supply and electricity cables can be carried out in a way that will allow Leckwith to remain open until July 2007.

Work is scheduled to begin on the new athletics stadium in January 2007 with the track and throwing areas expected to be open for use by the end of July 2007. The new athletics stadium is expected to be completed by October 2007 and it is hoped that Cardiff City F.C.'s stadium will open in December 2008, in a motion agreeing the schedule by Cardiff Council on 27 November 2006.

Ridsdale and rugby union side Cardiff Blues benefactor Peter Thomas are investigating the potential of a shared stadium. Blues currently play at the famous Arms Park ground adjoining the Millennium Stadium.

[edit] Current first-team squad

As of 19 January 2007:

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Scotland GK Neil Alexander
2 Flag of England DF Kerrea Gilbert (on loan from Arsenal)
3 Flag of Scotland DF Kevin McNaughton
5 Flag of England DF Darren Purse (captain)
6 Flag of Netherlands DF Glenn Loovens
7 Flag of England MF Pete Whittingham
8 Flag of England FW Michael Chopra
9 Flag of Scotland FW Steven Thompson
10 Flag of Republic of Ireland MF Stephen McPhail
11 Flag of Wales MF Paul Parry
12 Flag of England DF Roger Johnson
14 Flag of Republic of Ireland MF Willo Flood
15 Flag of Republic of Ireland GK David Forde
16 Flag of Wales MF Joe Ledley
17 Flag of England MF Kevin Cooper
No. Position Player
19 Flag of England MF Riccardo Scimeca
20 Flag of England FW Kevin Campbell
23 Flag of Wales GK Martyn Margetson (also GK coach)
25 Flag of Netherlands FW Iwan Redan (on loan from Willem II)
26 Flag of Italy FW Andrea Ferretti
27 Flag of Republic of Ireland FW Jason Byrne
29 Flag of Wales FW Jamal Easter
31 Flag of England GK Scott Allison
34 Flag of Wales FW Scott McCoubrey
35 Flag of England MF Simon Walton (on loan from Charlton Athletic)
36 Flag of England FW Matt Green
40 Flag of Wales MF Darcy Blake
44 Flag of Wales DF Chris Gunter
–– Flag of Republic of Ireland MF James Simmonds (on loan from Chelsea)
–– Flag of Northern Ireland FW Warren Feeney (on loan from Luton Town FC)

[edit] Out on loan

No. Position Player
4 Flag of Northern Ireland MF Jeff Whitley (on loan to Wrexham until June 2007)
13 Flag of England GK Mark Howard (on loan to Swansea City until February 2007)
21 Flag of England DF Chris Barker (on loan to olchester United until June 2007)
24 Flag of England MF Nick McKoy (on loan to Torquay United until June 2007)
28 Flag of Wales DF Joe Jacobson (on loan to Bristol Rovers until June 2007)
30 Flag of Wales FW Curtis McDonald (on loan to Accrington Stanley until June 2007)
32 Flag of Republic of Ireland DF Michael Corcoran (on loan to Oxford United until February 2007)
33 Flag of Wales MF Gregg Coombes (on loan to Oxford United until February 2007)

[edit] Current Academy Staff

  • Academy Manager

Flag of England Lee Robinson

  • Assistant Academy Managers

Flag of Wales Geraint Twose (12-16 year olds) Flag of England Mark Neville (7-11 year olds)

  • Youth Team Coach

Flag of Wales Geraint Twose

  • Head of Recruitment

Flag of England Paul Compton

  • Head of Education and Welfare

Flag of England Steve Ellis

  • Senior Academy Physiotherapist

Flag of Wales Neil Lewis

  • Academy Physiotherapist

Flag of Wales Jimmy Goodfellow

  • Academy Secretary

Flag of Wales Anthony Redwood

  • Head of Local Schoolboy Recruitment

Flag of Wales Graham Pulling

[edit] Academy Coaches and Offical Scouts

Academy Coaches Official Scouts
Gary Wilmot Howard Ross (HS)
Philip Llewellyn Adam Atteo
Dai Haggett Rod Groves
Lee Moore Peter Jones
Jim Haggett Brian Cullen
Selwyn Burton Steve Green
Shaun Fackrell John O'Sullivan
James Young Jeff Michael
Harry McLean Bob Sully
Lee Skyrme Paul McCarthy
Paul Rainer Martin Poole
Adrian Tucker (GK) Mike Farley
Kristian Rogers Vince Leach

[edit] Notable former players

See also Category:Cardiff City F.C. players
     

[edit] Former Managers

See also Category:Cardiff City F.C. managers
Name Tenure Began Tenure Ended Total Games Won Lost Drawn
Davy McDougall 01-08-1910 01-05-1911 12 4 2 6
Fred Stewart 01-05-1911 01-05-1933 605 244 225 136
Bartley Wilson 01-05-1933 01-02-1934 28 8 16 4
B Watts-Jones 01-02-1934 01-04-1937 141 41 71 29
Bill Jennings 01-04-1937 01-04-1939 92 35 34 23
Cyril Spiers 01-04-1939 01-04-1946 10 3 4 3
Bill McCandless 01-06-1946 01-11-1948 100 53 26 21
Cyril Spiers 01-04-1948 01-04-1954 265 107 85 73
Trevor Morris 01-04-1954 31-08-1958 186 59 87 40
Bill Jones 01-09-1958 30-09-1962 190 73 68 49
George Swindin 01-10-1962 01-04-1964 71 25 30 16
Jimmy Scoular 01-06-1964 07-11-1973 427 143 167 117
Frank O'Farrell 13-11-1973 30-04-1974 27 8 10 9
Jimmy Andrews 01-05-1974 06-11-1978 190 63 76 51
Richie Morgan 01-11-1978 03-03-1981 105 38 43 24
Graham Williams 01-11-1981 28-02-1982 15 4 9 2
Len Ashurst 03-03-1982 01-03-1984 90 41 32 17
Jimmy Goodfellow 01-03-1984 27-09-1984 23 6 13 4
Alan Durban 23-09-1984 21-05-1986 87 22 48 17
Frank Burrows 21-05-1986 31-08-1989 166 64 54 48
Len Ashurst 31-08-1989 01-05-1991 98 30 36 32
Eddie May 01-07-1991 28-11-1994 170 66 58 46
Terry Yorath 01-08-1994 30-03-1995 41 8 24 9
Eddie May 31-03-1995 22-05-1995 8 2 4 2
Kenny Hibbitt 01-08-1996 11-11-1996 19 9 6 4
Phil Neal 30-07-1996 31-07-1996 0 0 0 0
Russell Osman 11-11-1996 23-01-1998 67 22 24 21
Kenny Hibbitt 23-01-1998 16-02-1998 6 0 1 5
Frank Burrows 16-02-1998 01-02-2000 107 36 37 34
Billy Ayre 02-02-2000 14-08-2000 19 5 7 7
Bobby Gould 14-08-2000 03-07-2001 52 24 13 15
Alan Cork 03-07-2001 17-02-2002 40 17 12 11
Lennie Lawrence 18-02-2002 25-05-2005 174 72 52 50
Dave Jones 25-05-2005 Present 87 33 30 24

[edit] Records

Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Original colours

[edit] Honours

[edit] Cardiff City books

[edit] Notable fans

[edit] Trivia

  • Ninian Park is built on a former rubbish dump, and named after Lt.-Col. Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart
  • Bartley Wilson is the founder of Cardiff City/Riverside AFC, a Bristolian and Cricket fan and founded so Cricketers at Sophia Gardens had something to do during Winter Months
  • Cardiff City were originally known as Riverside AFC in 1899
  • Riverside FC became Cardiff City in 1908 after joining the South Wales Amateur League.
  • Cardiff City are the only non-English based football club to win the FA Cup, defeating Arsenal 1-0 in 1927
  • Cardiff City Ladies, a local women's team that plays in the nearby Leckwith Stadium, have not been affiliated with their male counterpart since 2003; they are merely authorized to use the name and kit colours, but have their own badge.

[edit] Contact Details

  • Address: Ninian Park, Cardiff, CF11 8SX
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 2920 221001
  • Chairman: Peter Ridsdale
  • Secretary: Jason Turner
  • Directors: S Borley, A Whiteley, M Hall [8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Fansites

Football League Championship, 2006-2007

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