“ JOE LEDLEY “

Joe Ledley on why he left Cardiff City, working with Neil Warnock and the chances of a Celtic return


Wednesday 6th March 2019


The Wales international has opened up on a range of topics, including his exit from the Bluebirds



The Wales international has opened up on a range of topics, including his exit from the Bluebirds

Joe Ledley has revealed Aaron Ramsey's move to Arsenal was one of the reasons behind his decision to leave Cardiff City.

Boyhood Bluebird Ledley graduated from the club's academy and played more than 250 times for the club before joining Celtic in 2010.

And Ledley admits it was difficult being at Cardiff during a time when the club were selling their best players.





When asked if Ramsey's departure influenced his decision to leave the Bluebirds, Ledley told Open Goal : "Yeah. It was different for me because Aaron only played about 20 odd games. I'd played about a 100, and I thought 'my time is up now'. I need to move and be playing in the Premier League.

"You could see the club selling their best players. Aaron went, Chris Gunter was going and it was difficult, I didn't want to be left behind.”


"We had a few bids put in for myself but it just didn't happen.

"When you're in that category of being the young player, you're always in that young player mode.

"It came to contracts and you're seeing them bring in other players who are on more money and you're thinking, 'wait there, I'm captain'. I thought 'that's me, I'm done, I want to move'."

Ledley went on to work under current Cardiff boss Neil Warnock at Crystal Palace following his departure from Celtic in 2014.



But Ledley admits he thoroughly enjoyed his time working with Warnock.

"Warnock was class. I liked him," added Ledley.

"Old school, a nice guy and said it how it was. He'd say 'if you have family issues or someone's ill, just ring me'.

"Training was good and people enjoyed it. Unfortunately for him it just didn't work out. It just wasn't meant to be and obviously now he's done well at Cardiff."



The central midfielder is currently without a club after leaving Derby County during the January transfer window.

And Ledley admits he'd jump at the chance to return to Celtic, but admits he's also open to a move abroad.

"Obviously I'd love to go back, but it's all changed now. New manager, new staff so it's all changed," he added.

"You'd never say no to a club like that. I had a fantastic time there.

"I wouldn't mind going abroad and trying something different, but in football you don't really get a choice anymore, especially when you're older. We'll see what happens."

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Awww bless him. He makes himself sound so entitled. Hasnt changed.

Still says he had to leave for prem football. Goes to scotland. Gimp

Sadly wasn’t valued by the City to the point where as he says players were coming in on more money ,local lad taken advantage of ,not for the first time, went on to have a career in the premier via Celtic of course we’ll done l say

Sadly wasn’t valued by the City to the point where as he says players were coming in on more money ,local lad taken advantage of ,not for the first time, went on to have a career in the premier via Celtic of course we’ll done l say

Spot on sir, I have no problem whatsoever with Ledley and would welcome him back anytime. It’s easy to have a go at players when you don’t know the reasoning behind their moves. To all the haters, give the local lad a break

Sadly wasn’t valued by the City to the point where as he says players were coming in on more money ,local lad taken advantage of ,not for the first time, went on to have a career in the premier via Celtic of course we’ll done l say

Spot on sir, I have no problem whatsoever with Ledley and would welcome him back anytime. It’s easy to have a go at players when you don’t know the reasoning behind their moves. To all the haters, give the local lad a break

Joe was great for us, it probably was time for him to move on to better things when he went.
As for a return - I dont think so, we have other areas we need to cover first other than midfield.

I also don't get why he's vilified by some when he played literally 100s of more games for his local club than Ramsey ever did. It was up to the club to allow his contract to run down like it did. Could of been sold at anytime with a year left on contract

One of the best local players produced by our club,if our academy was developing players as good as Joe we would definitely be staying in the Premier League.An yet some on here continue to criticise local boys like Joe and Gunter, I think both could still be good squad members.We certainly should have small local boys in our team!

I don't really care about him either way to be honest, obviously he is no where near the quality we want if we stay up or if we go down.

Awww bless him. He makes himself sound so entitled. Hasnt changed.

Still says he had to leave for prem football. Goes to scotland. Gimp

Spot on. Didn't really do anything when he left us

One of the best local players produced by our club,if our academy was developing players as good as Joe we would definitely be staying in the Premier League.An yet some on here continue to criticise local boys like Joe and Gunter, I think both could still be good squad members.We certainly should have small local boys in our team!

Small local boys only?

Hang on, didn't Cardiff turn down good offers for him, then offered him an improved contract which he turned down? he then decided to stay at Cardiff to see out his contract before leaving on a free for the mickey mouse league in Scotland for the money? I liked Joe but like many city supporters wouldn't want him back.

Sadly wasn’t valued by the City to the point where as he says players were coming in on more money ,local lad taken advantage of ,not for the first time, went on to have a career in the premier via Celtic of course we’ll done l say

Spot on sir, I have no problem whatsoever with Ledley and would welcome him back anytime. It’s easy to have a go at players when you don’t know the reasoning behind their moves. To all the haters, give the local lad a break

Joe was great for us, it probably was time for him to move on to better things when he went.
As for a return - I dont think so, we have other areas we need to cover first other than midfield.

Next season we loose Arter and Camarasa. I think midfield is a priority. That said, joe isn't good enough for the prem now. The time to join would have been in the last couple of seasons in the championship, but that ship had sailed now.

I like Joe Ledley and have no issue with him. But he didn't go to the Premier League. He went to Celtic because he could get more there because they didn't have to pay us compensation unlike the Premier League clubs.

Sadly wasn’t valued by the City to the point where as he says players were coming in on more money ,local lad taken advantage of ,not for the first time, went on to have a career in the premier via Celtic of course we’ll done l say

Spot on sir, I have no problem whatsoever with Ledley and would welcome him back anytime. It’s easy to have a go at players when you don’t know the reasoning behind their moves. To all the haters, give the local lad a break

Joe was great for us, it probably was time for him to move on to better things when he went.
As for a return - I dont think so, we have other areas we need to cover first other than midfield.

Next season we loose Arter and Camarasa. I think midfield is a priority. That said, joe isn't good enough for the prem now. The time to join would have been in the last couple of seasons in the championship, but that ship had sailed now.

If we stay up then I believe Arter is nailed on to sign. Camarassa less likely but still a possibility.

If we go down I agree on both counts... He isn't good enough for us anymore.

I like Ledley but was annoyed he went to Celtic and Cardiff got nothing for him when he could have gone to stoke 6 months before for 4 million however that could have been Ridsdales fault don't know but he always gave his best for Cardiff when he played and remember scored the goal to get us to the FA cup final.

But if Derby released him maybe he is not good enough for the championship now

ledley left because despite being one of the key players at the club, was on a pathetically low salary and was undervalued by the club. i remember players like capaldi being on triple his money.

Deliberately ran his contract down when our club was on its knees facing winding up orders, and this was after we shelled out a small fortune paying for his hip op. I would have understood if Ledley signed for a Premiership club to progress his career, but jumping to an inferior standard up Scotland for the biggest pay check on offer showed him up for what he is. I will never have any sympathy or respect for him.

Deliberately ran his contract down when our club was on its knees facing winding up orders, and this was after we shelled out a small fortune paying for his hip op. I would have understood if Ledley signed for a Premiership club to progress his career, but jumping to an inferior standard up Scotland for the biggest pay check on offer showed him up for what he is. I will never have any sympathy or respect for him.

Agree totally with this. In fact, it amazes me that some think otherwise. They clearly didn't folllow the goings on at the time and especially Ledley sheepishly ignoring reporters at Rhoose airport when he was heading off to sign for Celtic

Read today that Swansea Youth had beaten us again in Welsh Youth Cup which they have won for the last 10 years! Our Academy is way behind the Jacks so we wouldn’t have any local players to criticise for some years!

No strong feelings either way for me. There's no loyalty in football whether your a fan, player, manager or owner. Everybody does what's right for them.

No strong feelings either way for me. There's no loyalty in football whether your a fan, player, manager or owner. Everybody does what's right for them.

Fans should support a local club but I agree on players & managers

Deliberately ran his contract down when our club was on its knees facing winding up orders, and this was after we shelled out a small fortune paying for his hip op. I would have understood if Ledley signed for a Premiership club to progress his career, but jumping to an inferior standard up Scotland for the biggest pay check on offer showed him up for what he is. I will never have any sympathy or respect for him.

what would you do if you was in a job and you was the best at what you do but there's other mediocre workers on 3x more than your on with no intentions of your boss uping your pay? Then a different company comes in with a massive wage offer (one that your worth) ? I know what I would do, there's staying loyal and then there's getting pissed on.

Deliberately ran his contract down when our club was on its knees facing winding up orders, and this was after we shelled out a small fortune paying for his hip op. I would have understood if Ledley signed for a Premiership club to progress his career, but jumping to an inferior standard up Scotland for the biggest pay check on offer showed him up for what he is. I will never have any sympathy or respect for him.

what would you do if you was in a job and you was the best at what you do but there's other mediocre workers on 3x more than your on with no intentions of your boss uping your pay? Then a different company comes in with a massive wage offer (one that your worth) ? I know what I would do, there's staying loyal and then there's getting pissed on.

None of that is correct though is it. Ledley turned down several contract offers. We offered Ledley a 4 year contract nearly doubling his wages which involved a clause allowing him to talk to Premiership clubs if an offer came in. I'm sure his salary would have been open to further negotiation if Ledley had any interest in sitting down to talk. We paid for his hip operation, offered a fair contract and treated him respectfully. We treated him more than fairly, but he disappointingly chose to shaft his local club to jump ship and follow the money at the first opportunity.

Deliberately ran his contract down when our club was on its knees facing winding up orders, and this was after we shelled out a small fortune paying for his hip op. I would have understood if Ledley signed for a Premiership club to progress his career, but jumping to an inferior standard up Scotland for the biggest pay check on offer showed him up for what he is. I will never have any sympathy or respect for him.

what would you do if you was in a job and you was the best at what you do but there's other mediocre workers on 3x more than your on with no intentions of your boss uping your pay? Then a different company comes in with a massive wage offer (one that your worth) ? I know what I would do, there's staying loyal and then there's getting pissed on.

None of that is correct though is it. Ledley turned down several contract offers. We offered Ledley a 4 year contract nearly doubling his wages which involved a clause allowing him to talk to Premiership clubs if an offer came in. I'm sure his salary would have been open to further negotiation if Ledley had any interest in sitting down to talk. We paid for his hip operation, offered a fair contract and treated him respectfully. We treated him more than fairly, but he disappointingly chose to shaft his local club to jump ship and follow the money at the first opportunity.

This sums it up. I agree 100%. But the more gullible clearly want to give Ledley the benefit of the doubt. But to me there is absolutely no doubt

Deliberately ran his contract down when our club was on its knees facing winding up orders, and this was after we shelled out a small fortune paying for his hip op. I would have understood if Ledley signed for a Premiership club to progress his career, but jumping to an inferior standard up Scotland for the biggest pay check on offer showed him up for what he is. I will never have any sympathy or respect for him.

what would you do if you was in a job and you was the best at what you do but there's other mediocre workers on 3x more than your on with no intentions of your boss uping your pay? Then a different company comes in with a massive wage offer (one that your worth) ? I know what I would do, there's staying loyal and then there's getting pissed on.

None of that is correct though is it. Ledley turned down several contract offers. We offered Ledley a 4 year contract nearly doubling his wages which involved a clause allowing him to talk to Premiership clubs if an offer came in. I'm sure his salary would have been open to further negotiation if Ledley had any interest in sitting down to talk. We paid for his hip operation, offered a fair contract and treated him respectfully. We treated him more than fairly, but he disappointingly chose to shaft his local club to jump ship and follow the money at the first opportunity.

Miles away.

What was a fair contract? He certainly wasn’t offered the 25k Fowler was on or the 20k Hasselbaink was on or even the 15k Sinclair was on.

He was offered far less and this after being valued at 5 million plus by the club. He was our best player for a season and a half.

Deliberately ran his contract down when our club was on its knees facing winding up orders, and this was after we shelled out a small fortune paying for his hip op. I would have understood if Ledley signed for a Premiership club to progress his career, but jumping to an inferior standard up Scotland for the biggest pay check on offer showed him up for what he is. I will never have any sympathy or respect for him.

what would you do if you was in a job and you was the best at what you do but there's other mediocre workers on 3x more than your on with no intentions of your boss uping your pay? Then a different company comes in with a massive wage offer (one that your worth) ? I know what I would do, there's staying loyal and then there's getting pissed on.

None of that is correct though is it. Ledley turned down several contract offers. We offered Ledley a 4 year contract nearly doubling his wages which involved a clause allowing him to talk to Premiership clubs if an offer came in. I'm sure his salary would have been open to further negotiation if Ledley had any interest in sitting down to talk. We paid for his hip operation, offered a fair contract and treated him respectfully. We treated him more than fairly, but he disappointingly chose to shaft his local club to jump ship and follow the money at the first opportunity.

Miles away.

What was a fair contract? He certainly wasn’t offered the 25k Fowler was on or the 20k Hasselbaink was on or even the 15k Sinclair was on.

He was offered far less and this after being valued at 5 million plus by the club. He was our best player for a season and a half.

yes he was our best player for a year and a half, but he was nowhere near as good as he thought he was..
the 3 you name were high profile players and ok they did not exactly set the world on fire here , but those signings changed how people looked at our club.
besides ..was he leaving because we were selling talent , because we were signing high profile players. or to play in the premier league. it sounds like 3 wolfpac posts glued together.

Deliberately ran his contract down when our club was on its knees facing winding up orders, and this was after we shelled out a small fortune paying for his hip op. I would have understood if Ledley signed for a Premiership club to progress his career, but jumping to an inferior standard up Scotland for the biggest pay check on offer showed him up for what he is. I will never have any sympathy or respect for him.

what would you do if you was in a job and you was the best at what you do but there's other mediocre workers on 3x more than your on with no intentions of your boss uping your pay? Then a different company comes in with a massive wage offer (one that your worth) ? I know what I would do, there's staying loyal and then there's getting pissed on.

None of that is correct though is it. Ledley turned down several contract offers. We offered Ledley a 4 year contract nearly doubling his wages which involved a clause allowing him to talk to Premiership clubs if an offer came in. I'm sure his salary would have been open to further negotiation if Ledley had any interest in sitting down to talk. We paid for his hip operation, offered a fair contract and treated him respectfully. We treated him more than fairly, but he disappointingly chose to shaft his local club to jump ship and follow the money at the first opportunity.

Miles away.

What was a fair contract? He certainly wasn’t offered the 25k Fowler was on or the 20k Hasselbaink was on or even the 15k Sinclair was on.

He was offered far less and this after being valued at 5 million plus by the club. He was our best player for a season and a half.

yes he was our best player for a year and a half, but he was nowhere near as good as he thought he was..
the 3 you name were high profile players and ok they did not exactly set the world on fire here , but those signings changed how people looked at our club.
besides ..was he leaving because we were selling talent , because we were signing high profile players. or to play in the premier league. it sounds like 3 wolfpac posts glued together.

I think he was very disappointed that he wasn’t offered a deal commensurate to his value to the club until towards the end of his contract.

hilarious to see such selective memories. people trying to rewrite the past. ledley was here for the best part of 14 years, and yet some others who have barely been here 5 minutes get nothing but praise.

ledley wanted to go before his contract ended - he had outgrown the club. he made this clear to the club, who rejected several offers of £4m +, culminating in a £6m offer from stoke, which was rejected by ridsdale. the player who had a year left on his contract. ridsdale made many irrational, and incompetent decisions, but this was right up there.