" Cardiff City - How the hell did it come to this? "

Cardiff City was a great old football club. Not in the sense that it ever won much, nor in the sense that it had a particularly huge following, but it was great in plenty of other ways.

In a small country with a rugby obsessed media it was great to feel that you were part of something that felt anti establishment and always pretty edgy. It was great that when the chips were down - as they were for much of its history - the homely underachieving South Wales club could muster almost as many supporters away from home as it could at Ninian Park. What was particularly great though was that no matter how bad things were on the pitch, no matter what factions there were in the fanbase, come match day there was a real unity of purpose. We all wanted Cardiff City to win so much it literally hurt. I swear there were times when a few thousand half pissed Welshman almost physically sucked the ball into the net when a late late goal was desperately needed.

We were in it together.

No boycotters, nobody struggling to identify with a team in the 'wrong' colour, no fans feeling apathetic because a good result might prolong something unwanted, nobody feeling that the experience was a tad diminished.

It was real. It was often shit but it was totally authentic. The Cardiff City experience was one of lots of lows but...oh, bloody hell! the highs were immense! Whether tumbling 30 yards down the terrace when Tony Bird stuck one in over in Liege or evading the grasps of Dai Hunt after a mental scrambled equaliser at some nondescript division 4 ground, watching the bluebirds was a nerve shredding, soup of mentalness.

Truth be told, unlike a lot of other long standing fans, I wasn't unduly troubled by the move to CCS. I was no longer in danger of wading ankle deep in piss everytime I got caught short, nor was I at risk of catching something potentially life threatening by biting into a half time burger. We could still get the new stadium rocking too. The late derby day win over the jacks, the night we clung on against Leicester after Gabors 'rugby' tackle. The play off semi against the same opponents and a fervent January evening versus Palace. All life affirming, spine tingling, special nights.

Of course nothing last forever.

One man had a really terrible idea. A couple of people in a position of influence acted as apologists. Some previously respected fans gave it their seal of approval and attempts at protest were shouted down.

And here we are two and a half years later. A club up to its eyeballs in debt, in a lower league position than they were before the nonsense started and with a fair chunk of the fanbase either totally disconnected from the club or in a state of progressive disconnection. To cap it all, the bluebirds play in colours that are totally alien to the football club.

I'm fully aware that there are still fans who feel the same passion as ever. Fair play to you.

No doubt there'll be lots of people who'll dismiss my ramblings as those of an old sentimentalist but bring it on, as far as I'm concerned we've surrendered something really special here.

What's the answer? How do we get our club back? I just don't know. I do know that there's nothing wrong with red, nothing wrong with dragons but they just don't belong at Cardiff City and neither does Vincent Tan.

Good post, echoing my thoughts.

You sum up my thoughts exactly ,great post absolutely spot on

Cardiff City was a great old football club. Not in the sense that it ever won much, nor in the sense that it had a particularly huge following, but it was great in plenty of other ways.

In a small country with a rugby obsessed media it was great to feel that you were part of something that felt anti establishment and always pretty edgy. It was great that when the chips were down - as they were for much of its history - the homely underachieving South Wales club could muster almost as many supporters away from home as it could at Ninian Park. What was particularly great though was that no matter how bad things were on the pitch, no matter what factions there were in the fanbase, come match day there was a real unity of purpose. We all wanted Cardiff City to win so much it literally hurt. I swear there were times when a few thousand half pissed Welshman almost physically sucked the ball into the net when a late late goal was desperately needed.

We were in it together.

No boycotters, nobody struggling to identify with a team in the 'wrong' colour, no fans feeling apathetic because a good result might prolong something unwanted, nobody feeling that the experience was a tad diminished.

It was real. It was often shit but it was totally authentic. The Cardiff City experience was one of lots of lows but...oh, bloody hell! the highs were immense! Whether tumbling 30 yards down the terrace when Tony Bird stuck one in over in Liege or evading the grasps of Dai Hunt after a mental scrambled equaliser at some nondescript division 4 ground, watching the bluebirds was a nerve shredding, soup of mentalness.

Truth be told, unlike a lot of other long standing fans, I wasn't unduly troubled by the move to CCS. I was no longer in danger of wading ankle deep in piss everytime I got caught short, nor was I at risk of catching something potentially life threatening by biting into a half time burger. We could still get the new stadium rocking too. The late derby day win over the jacks, the night we clung on against Leicester after Gabors 'rugby' tackle. The play off semi against the same opponents and a fervent January evening versus Palace. All life affirming, spine tingling, special nights.

Of course nothing last forever.

One man had a really terrible idea. A couple of people in a position of influence acted as apologists. Some previously respected fans gave it their seal of approval and attempts at protest were shouted down.

And here we are two and a half years later. A club up to its eyeballs in debt, in a lower league position than they were before the nonsense started and with a fair chunk of the fanbase either totally disconnected from the club or in a state of progressive disconnection. To cap it all, the bluebirds play in colours that are totally alien to the football club.

I'm fully aware that there are still fans who feel the same passion as ever. Fair play to you.

No doubt there'll be lots of people who'll dismiss my ramblings as those of an old sentimentalist but bring it on, as far as I'm concerned we've surrendered something really special here.

What's the answer? How do we get our club back? I just don't know. I do know that there's nothing wrong with red, nothing wrong with dragons but they just don't belong at Cardiff City and neither does Vincent Tan.

May I congratulate you in producing one of the best posts I have seen for a long, long time!

its completely true.

Ive been saying since we moved our club died when ninian park was closed.
atmosphere and faces changed..

even away games we lost our edge. our fans were some of the best.
and it changed alot

You've described my feelings exactly. Particularly related to the line about how City always felt anti establishment. Tan's approach is so corporate. That's not unusual in the modern game but the colour change has pushed it too far.

That was a really good read... Great post!

Post of the season so far for me!

It feels like we had a rock band showing great potential, local following and going to a gig felt a bit on the edge.

All of a sudden, we're controlled by Simon Cowell. It sucks.

Well done mucker. Top banana!!!

Cardiff City was a great old football club. Not in the sense that it ever won much, nor in the sense that it had a particularly huge following, but it was great in plenty of other ways.

In a small country with a rugby obsessed media it was great to feel that you were part of something that felt anti establishment and always pretty edgy. It was great that when the chips were down - as they were for much of its history - the homely underachieving South Wales club could muster almost as many supporters away from home as it could at Ninian Park. What was particularly great though was that no matter how bad things were on the pitch, no matter what factions there were in the fanbase, come match day there was a real unity of purpose. We all wanted Cardiff City to win so much it literally hurt. I swear there were times when a few thousand half pissed Welshman almost physically sucked the ball into the net when a late late goal was desperately needed.

We were in it together.

No boycotters, nobody struggling to identify with a team in the 'wrong' colour, no fans feeling apathetic because a good result might prolong something unwanted, nobody feeling that the experience was a tad diminished.

It was real. It was often shit but it was totally authentic. The Cardiff City experience was one of lots of lows but...oh, bloody hell! the highs were immense! Whether tumbling 30 yards down the terrace when Tony Bird stuck one in over in Liege or evading the grasps of Dai Hunt after a mental scrambled equaliser at some nondescript division 4 ground, watching the bluebirds was a nerve shredding, soup of mentalness.

Truth be told, unlike a lot of other long standing fans, I wasn't unduly troubled by the move to CCS. I was no longer in danger of wading ankle deep in piss everytime I got caught short, nor was I at risk of catching something potentially life threatening by biting into a half time burger. We could still get the new stadium rocking too. The late derby day win over the jacks, the night we clung on against Leicester after Gabors 'rugby' tackle. The play off semi against the same opponents and a fervent January evening versus Palace. All life affirming, spine tingling, special nights.

Of course nothing last forever.

One man had a really terrible idea. A couple of people in a position of influence acted as apologists. Some previously respected fans gave it their seal of approval and attempts at protest were shouted down.

And here we are two and a half years later. A club up to its eyeballs in debt, in a lower league position than they were before the nonsense started and with a fair chunk of the fanbase either totally disconnected from the club or in a state of progressive disconnection. To cap it all, the bluebirds play in colours that are totally alien to the football club.

I'm fully aware that there are still fans who feel the same passion as ever. Fair play to you.

No doubt there'll be lots of people who'll dismiss my ramblings as those of an old sentimentalist but bring it on, as far as I'm concerned we've surrendered something really special here.

What's the answer? How do we get our club back? I just don't know. I do know that there's nothing wrong with red, nothing wrong with dragons but they just don't belong at Cardiff City and neither does Vincent Tan.

Awesome read Alfie what a great club Cardiff is, you managed to put your finger on why that is

Top post!

Leige? Don't remind me, I'm only just sobering up from that trip!

A few others spring to mind for me too, wrexham and scunthorpe away when Eddie mays team romped the league, going deep undercover at the vetch field when the jacks tried to ban us - amazing amazing days following the city.

It's heart breaking that the club by the same name bears no connection with us as fans they fell in love with it.

Many don't understand this and may be critical of me , but I've not attended a game since Cardiff City lost its identity. 38 years supporting the club, 11 years without missing a competitive game home or away but I cannot and will not watch an alien football club.

I've had this argument with people so many times recently, but for me, has the last five years (shiny new stadium, premier League, sky tv, million pounds players etc) been worth what we are left with?

Absolutely not.

Great post

Cardiff City was a great old football club. Not in the sense that it ever won much, nor in the sense that it had a particularly huge following, but it was great in plenty of other ways.

In a small country with a rugby obsessed media it was great to feel that you were part of something that felt anti establishment and always pretty edgy. It was great that when the chips were down - as they were for much of its history - the homely underachieving South Wales club could muster almost as many supporters away from home as it could at Ninian Park. What was particularly great though was that no matter how bad things were on the pitch, no matter what factions there were in the fanbase, come match day there was a real unity of purpose. We all wanted Cardiff City to win so much it literally hurt. I swear there were times when a few thousand half pissed Welshman almost physically sucked the ball into the net when a late late goal was desperately needed.

We were in it together.

No boycotters, nobody struggling to identify with a team in the 'wrong' colour, no fans feeling apathetic because a good result might prolong something unwanted, nobody feeling that the experience was a tad diminished.

It was real. It was often shit but it was totally authentic. The Cardiff City experience was one of lots of lows but...oh, bloody hell! the highs were immense! Whether tumbling 30 yards down the terrace when Tony Bird stuck one in over in Liege or evading the grasps of Dai Hunt after a mental scrambled equaliser at some nondescript division 4 ground, watching the bluebirds was a nerve shredding, soup of mentalness.

Truth be told, unlike a lot of other long standing fans, I wasn't unduly troubled by the move to CCS. I was no longer in danger of wading ankle deep in piss everytime I got caught short, nor was I at risk of catching something potentially life threatening by biting into a half time burger. We could still get the new stadium rocking too. The late derby day win over the jacks, the night we clung on against Leicester after Gabors 'rugby' tackle. The play off semi against the same opponents and a fervent January evening versus Palace. All life affirming, spine tingling, special nights.

Of course nothing last forever.

One man had a really terrible idea. A couple of people in a position of influence acted as apologists. Some previously respected fans gave it their seal of approval and attempts at protest were shouted down.

And here we are two and a half years later. A club up to its eyeballs in debt, in a lower league position than they were before the nonsense started and with a fair chunk of the fanbase either totally disconnected from the club or in a state of progressive disconnection. To cap it all, the bluebirds play in colours that are totally alien to the football club.

I'm fully aware that there are still fans who feel the same passion as ever. Fair play to you.

No doubt there'll be lots of people who'll dismiss my ramblings as those of an old sentimentalist but bring it on, as far as I'm concerned we've surrendered something really special here.

What's the answer? How do we get our club back? I just don't know. I do know that there's nothing wrong with red, nothing wrong with dragons but they just don't belong at Cardiff City and neither does Vincent Tan.

Haven't been here for a while but this heartfelt post is a good one that begs a response from me.
Not going into Tan/save the club/rebrand.
The thing is that football has changed. I used to run transits to northern shitholes and just turn up on the day. Train days out etc but it's all gone and won't come back.
The whole police surveillance thing and ticket controls has taken the majority of the buzz away. No more cheap train tickets. All seater stadium. Ticket prices. - That's nothing to do with Cardiff City that's the Taylor Report/NCIS/Sky etc and you can't blame the Club or the owner for that.

Phil aka Alfie, TOP POST

Cardiff City was a great old football club. Not in the sense that it ever won much, nor in the sense that it had a particularly huge following, but it was great in plenty of other ways.

In a small country with a rugby obsessed media it was great to feel that you were part of something that felt anti establishment and always pretty edgy. It was great that when the chips were down - as they were for much of its history - the homely underachieving South Wales club could muster almost as many supporters away from home as it could at Ninian Park. What was particularly great though was that no matter how bad things were on the pitch, no matter what factions there were in the fanbase, come match day there was a real unity of purpose. We all wanted Cardiff City to win so much it literally hurt. I swear there were times when a few thousand half pissed Welshman almost physically sucked the ball into the net when a late late goal was desperately needed.

We were in it together.

No boycotters, nobody struggling to identify with a team in the 'wrong' colour, no fans feeling apathetic because a good result might prolong something unwanted, nobody feeling that the experience was a tad diminished.

It was real. It was often shit but it was totally authentic. The Cardiff City experience was one of lots of lows but...oh, bloody hell! the highs were immense! Whether tumbling 30 yards down the terrace when Tony Bird stuck one in over in Liege or evading the grasps of Dai Hunt after a mental scrambled equaliser at some nondescript division 4 ground, watching the bluebirds was a nerve shredding, soup of mentalness.

Truth be told, unlike a lot of other long standing fans, I wasn't unduly troubled by the move to CCS. I was no longer in danger of wading ankle deep in piss everytime I got caught short, nor was I at risk of catching something potentially life threatening by biting into a half time burger. We could still get the new stadium rocking too. The late derby day win over the jacks, the night we clung on against Leicester after Gabors 'rugby' tackle. The play off semi against the same opponents and a fervent January evening versus Palace. All life affirming, spine tingling, special nights.

Of course nothing last forever.

One man had a really terrible idea. A couple of people in a position of influence acted as apologists. Some previously respected fans gave it their seal of approval and attempts at protest were shouted down.

And here we are two and a half years later. A club up to its eyeballs in debt, in a lower league position than they were before the nonsense started and with a fair chunk of the fanbase either totally disconnected from the club or in a state of progressive disconnection. To cap it all, the bluebirds play in colours that are totally alien to the football club.

I'm fully aware that there are still fans who feel the same passion as ever. Fair play to you.

No doubt there'll be lots of people who'll dismiss my ramblings as those of an old sentimentalist but bring it on, as far as I'm concerned we've surrendered something really special here.

What's the answer? How do we get our club back? I just don't know. I do know that there's nothing wrong with red, nothing wrong with dragons but they just don't belong at Cardiff City and neither does Vincent Tan.

Haven't been here for a while but this heartfelt post is a good one that begs a response from me.
Not going into Tan/save the club/rebrand.
The thing is that football has changed. I used to run transits to northern shitholes and just turn up on the day. Train days out etc but it's all gone and won't come back.
The whole police surveillance thing and ticket controls has taken the majority of the buzz away. No more cheap train tickets. All seater stadium. Ticket prices. - That's nothing to do with Cardiff City that's the Taylor Report/NCIS/Sky etc and you can't blame the Club or the owner for that.

Two great posts

I am really glad you added this second post as it is spot on and adds some balance, football will never be the same again. I feel sorry for our kids, although they enjoy football, they will never get to love it in the way we did ......

excellent read and spot on

f**k me another sob story.

Like a lot of long term supporters the poster harks back to the 'good old days' but football has moved on, it had to because of Hillsborough.I don't miss those days when it was more about gang violence, you could not take children, fans were treated like animals herded and shepherded to and from the grounds and fenced in.
Now, it has become sanitised, corporate because of the Sky TV money, but it is also a safe environment to take children everyone has a seat, and most stadiums are modern and safe.
As to City we will have to see how this season pans out,I personally cannot see Tan being prepared to continually pump in millions every month if we don't get promotion.I think that he will either bale out or have a massive cost cutting exercise in terms of players and back room staff.

Like a lot of long term supporters the poster harks back to the 'good old days' but football has moved on, it had to because of Hillsborough.I don't miss those days when it was more about gang violence, you could not take children, fans were treated like animals herded and shepherded to and from the grounds and fenced in.
Now, it has become sanitised, corporate because of the Sky TV money, but it is also a safe environment to take children everyone has a seat, and most stadiums are modern and safe.
As to City we will have to see how this season pans out,I personally cannot see Tan being prepared to continually pump in millions every month if we don't get promotion.I think that he will either bale out or have a massive cost cutting exercise in terms of players and back room staff.

Its about how much the corporates make out of it and not about the fans. That's modern football for you.

Like a lot of long term supporters the poster harks back to the 'good old days' but football has moved on, it had to because of Hillsborough.I don't miss those days when it was more about gang violence, you could not take children, fans were treated like animals herded and shepherded to and from the grounds and fenced in.
Now, it has become sanitised, corporate because of the Sky TV money, but it is also a safe environment to take children everyone has a seat, and most stadiums are modern and safe.
As to City we will have to see how this season pans out,I personally cannot see Tan being prepared to continually pump in millions every month if we don't get promotion.I think that he will either bale out or have a massive cost cutting exercise in terms of players and back room staff.

Thanks for the reply.

I tried to convey in my opening post that I am not against modern stadiums and highlighted my reasons why. Likewise, having a passionate and edgy atmosphere isn't something that should ever spill over into violence. A good example is the recent Wales v Bosnia game - a match played in a safe modern stadium, in front of a fervent noisy crowd with a large passionate away support.

I think you're right about Tan's intentions if promotion isn't achieved. I think he's brought Slade to the club with an eye on 'downsizing' but remaining relatively reasonably stable next season if Cardiff aren't a PL club.

Thanks for all the replies btw.

I try not to get too caught up in rebrand/Cardiff City 'politics' related threads these days but wanted to get something written down. Perhaps it was a wake up call with old adversaries Leeds coming to town and personally feeling absolutely nothing for something I was once so passionate about.

Spot on, and all true,

Although I am not as obsessed with the colour shirts as most on here, I can appreciate a lot of the sentiments expressed in this well written, non hysterical post. Even though I do not agree with some of it, I do respect the poster's opinions .

Excellent post Phil

No-one else seems to have the bollocks to say so I will. Or as the OP said I'm bringing it on.
As for the Red well I agree!
All the rest is sentimental, rose tinted rubbish, posted in an ethnocentric way.
You can't bring the past back and neither should we want to! As for things like debt the club as always been in debt. Only difference was years ago we couldn't afford to pay the pies supplier and the tea lady and that was when the debt was smaller.

If u live in the past u are destined to stay there

No-one else seems to have the bollocks to say so I will. Or as the OP said I'm bringing it on.
As for the Red well I agree!
All the rest is sentimental, rose tinted rubbish, posted in an ethnocentric way.
You can't bring the past back and neither should we want to! As for things like debt the club as always been in debt. Only difference was years ago we couldn't afford to pay the pies supplier and the tea lady and that was when the debt was smaller.

Fair enough.

As much as I romanticised about how much fun it was a few decades ago, hopefully I also made it clear that my post was about embracing some of the many positive elements of the modern game.

Regarding debt, I wouldn't for one moment try to rewrite history by suggesting that Cardiff City haven't had a big problem with debt for many years. The difference this time is that the supporters have been left with a shell of a club with a major identity crisis and for what? A mountain of debt and a very uncertain future, by the looks.

Brilliant post and sums up why so many no longer go to games.

Great opening post. Bang on as ever Phil. Always a thoughtful poster and well constructed. It should be a depressing read due to the subject matter but because it strikes a chord with me and my decisions regarding something that for 20 odd years regulated my whole mood and being, it helps me understand my reasoning and why I couldn't take the thought of such a radical, non-sensical change to the club.

Thanks once again for all the kind words. I really appreciate it.

I've written loads of blogs and posts over the past few years (some would say - with plenty of justification - far too many!) but I wrote this in about 10 mins - in between ferrying my kids all over Cardiff - and it's probably the post I'm most happy with. I'm really glad it struck a chord with a few people.

Thanks once again for all the kind words. I really appreciate it.

I've written loads of blogs and posts over the past few years (some would say - with plenty of justification - far too many!) but I wrote this in about 10 mins - in between ferrying my kids all over Cardiff - and it's probably the post I'm most happy with. I'm really glad it struck a chord with a few people.

Ive Pm you Phil