How and why did you first fall in love with football/CCFC?

Now this is a lot wordier than my usual 2 or 3 paragraph posts but here is my story...

The first time I started to take an interest in football - as far as I can recall anyway - was in about 1976 when I was 5.

I can vividly remember going to stay at my aunties house in Hertfordshire, buying a packet of football cards and getting a Topps All Stars card (remember those ?) featuring a player called Gordon Hill.

Around the same time I can recall lying in bed when my dad returned from the Cardiff v Everton FA Cup game. I think it was fair to say the old man had had a very sociable afternoon as he staggered into my bedroom and pinned a team poster of Cardiff City onto my bedroom wall.

I was pretty unimpressed at this gesture to be honest, after all to my innocent young mind City lost the game and were hardly ever on the telly.

It did sort of sow an embryonic seed of interest though, if not for the game itself but certainly for the paraphinalia that surrounded football.

I wasn't crazy about football straight away but I do remember being deeply impressed by the ticker tape celebrations at the World Cup in Argentina.

Argentina 78' also sticks in my mind for another reason...we were on a camping holiday somewhere wet and windy on the South Coast and in order to watch Ally's Army in action my dad was attempting to 'wire up' our little Black and White portable telly to the car battery on his Hillman Hunter. Clearly basic electronics were not the old mans forte and the silly sod gave himself the mother of all electric shocks.

I should also add that by this time I'd been to several proper football matches - I use the ream loosely. My dad, despite being a lifelong Bluebird had in fact taken me to see our nearest local team, Hereford United. Frankly the football was average at best and the atmosphere was pretty agricultural.

In the late 70's I started getting into the Panini sticker albums ( I still love the smell of those stickers). Those bloody things were the currency in our school, together with loads of well worn retro football cards from the late 60's/early 70's, no doubt hand me downs from older siblings and of course we all collected the Topps football cards with the bubblegum inside the packets. My oldest son was looking through some of my old cards and stickers the other day and ripping the piss out of some of the dodgy barnets...anyone remember Phil Neal's bubble perm or Alan Bileys mullet ?

By this stage I was really starting to get into the game and all that surrounded it and confession time... I was a plastic... my first love was Leeds United...I know, I know, I'm grimacing even typing the words ! It was the usual story, the kid a few years older than me from a few doors away was a Leeds 'fan' and that was that.

My Leeds leanings developed despite my dads best efforts to convert me into a Bluebird; although he was banned from taking me to games as my mother had heard that Ninian Park was not a safe place for a skinny, naïve 9 year old from the rural Welsh borders.

So I loved Leeds from afar, worshipping the likes of Brian Flynn, Tony Currie and Trevor Cherry, even now I have to admit I still love those slightly garish Admiral kits that they used to wear.

I also made regular trips to Edgar Street and saw some memorable games against Newport County. The Newport County of Aldridge and Tynan. Even more memorable though was the entertainment off the pitch. Cewnty seemed to bring thousands and the usually sleepy Hereford streets resembled the Wild West at the final whistle...just as well my over protective mum wasn't there !

It was around the mid 80's that CCFC first really came onto my radar. Saturday afternoons would find the old man with an earpiece in listening to the Radio Wales' sports coverage and my dad would get progressively more agitated as City slipped to another inevitable defeat. It seemed to be like that every week under Alan Durban. City were clearly pretty shit but names like Phil Dwyer, Graham Whithey and Kevin Summerhill were starting to mean more to me than the likes of John Sheridan, Peter Lorimer and Scott Sellars.

In the mid 80's, during the close season I made a 5 minute de-tour to Ninian Pk from a shopping trip to Cardiff , just to take a look at 'mecca,' this cemented my swapping of allegiances from the forces of darkness in West Yorkshire to the land of milk and honey that was Cardiff City Football Club.
Ninian Park looked like a proper football ground, huge terraces, an imposing main stand. It was everything that Edgar Street wasn't.

In about 1986 I bought John Crooks' book on CCFC, I think it was called Cardiff City chronology or something similar and that was it...I properly fell in love with The Bluebirds. Marvelling at stories of daring do against Real Madrid, the cup win in '27 (incidentally my maternal granddad went to the game) and ridiculously huge crowds against the likes of Hamburg and Hereford (them again !)

I paid my first visit to Ninian Pk for a game at Easter 1988. It was against a doomed Newport County and the Cardiff City of Georgie Wood, Jimmy Gilligan and Kevin Bartlett were promotion bound. The football was great, City won 4-1 but my abiding memory of the game was sitting in one of those great old wooden seats in the Grandstand watching the Bob Bank opposite steadily fill up with what seemed like masses of supporters. At it happens there weren't really that many there at all, perhaps only 6-7,000 but the crowd looked huge. Hereford United was toy town.This was the real thing and I loved it.

That was how my love affair with CCFC started.

I've been a season ticket holder for most of the last 20 years and during that time the club have probably disappointed me far more frequently than they've delighted me but like many other 'sufferers' we're in it for life.

Ther first FA Cup Final I can remember watching properly was when I weas about 9, the Ipswich v Arsenal one when Roger Osborne scored the winner. I liked football before then but, being such a young age, my attention span didn't last 90 minutes, especially if the game was dire. I remember my first World Cup was of the same year, in Argentina. I used to do the Panini thing and they seemed such magical things back then. Gold badges, multiple amounts of crap players and if someone had a decent player, it was the talk of the schoolyard. "Jesus, Brian's got a spare Trevor Francis". I remember listening to the 1978 World Cup Final on the radio in a caravanette while on a touring holiday in Belgium.

My first game was v Wrexham in 1977 or 1978 when Ronnie Moore scored the only goal in a 1-0 win and, from then on I was hooked and have never looked back. I have been to games all over the country involving all sortsd of teams from Premiership to Conference when my mates have dragged me along to watch their team with them but only Cardiff City matter to me

Good posts guys, enjoyed that! Think we've all done the Pannini thing, remember finding a picture of Maradona holding the 1986 World Cup aloft somewhat problematic to find.

Anyway, as with most of us, when I became old enough to start appreciating the odd game of footie that was occasionally on the box (how times have changed with coverage now well beyond saturation point), when it came to "supporting" a side, it was done via the tv/ media or even peer pressure/ impressionability more than anything else. It was around 1984 (I would have been around 8) with all and sundry supporting Liverpool and I was watching a Wales game on TV with my Dad (an Arsenal "fan", but more someone who loved the game rather than any side as such) with the likes of Southall, Rush, Hughes et al and for some reason it had entered my head that I would decide who I would support during this game! With not just nearly all my mates proud to be "Scousers" but most of South Wales, my inclination was to do the same, but I distinctly remember Rush having a mare, and given he was a Liverpool player, I began to look elsewhere! Never let it be said that a precise science was not at work in making this decision... My interest was drawn to those playing somewhat better, namely Ratcliffe and especially Southall whom I simply idolised as a keeper myself. Given they both played for Everton, that was my decision made and Everton was my team. Besides, I didn't fancy supporting a side from Liverpool, London seemed more appealing (yes, I know, but I didn't then!). Ironically my "support" had started just as the halcyon days were approaching which I lapped up with wonder with many a school project having Everton FC as it's thesis.

My first real memory of enjoying and truly appreciating football is the 1986 World Cup. I remember being sat in the Mill Tavern pub in Cwmbran with my Dad and his mates being captivated at seeing the world’s finest players, a rarity back then, and being especially mesmerised by Diego Maradona. I still am. I also remember when 2 huge, very intimidating coppers (they were probably barely 6 foot I expect, but they seemed huge at the time) walked in, thus resulting in me nervously scurrying out in case they arrested me for being in a pub full of grown men! Bet the missus wishes I was still like that now.

Despite being passionate about Everton and immersing myself proudly in their history, the more time went on, the more my thoughts turned to Cardiff. In truth, as long as I can remember I always said that if Cardiff played Everton I’d want Cardiff to win as they were Welsh, so the futility of my support was evident from the very beginning. My Dad and occasionally uncle’s when we were all together would recount tales of going down to Ninian with the place packed to the rafters, welcoming great sides like Bill Nicholson’s Spurs side which did the double, not to mention the obvious Madrid game and others that stick out. They would wax lyrical about certain players, Ivor Allchurch drawing particular praise from my Dad, whilst the legendary John Charles too, though not so much for his time at Cardiff when he was past his best. Still bloody good though!

My passion for football by my early 20’s had long since thawed, and whilst still enjoying the game on the whole, began to despair at much of what was going on in the game too. Unfortunately, none of my mates were remotely interested in watching the City for various reasons, something I felt may reinvigorate my appetite for the game (besides which I felt people should support their local side, especially when it’s in a different country!) and it wasn’t until around 2000 when I was 24 that a mate who I was now working with said he and a few boys went down the City and for me to come along, even though he was and is a self confessed Liverpool fanatic. The team we were playing escapes me, someone forgettable anyway which is why I have, whilst the Grange End with it’s uncovered roof and not a seat in sight was somewhat different to what I was accustomed to, having only taken in the land’s finest grounds in person. Despite it being a decent crowd of a few thousand, again it was far less than I was used to. The Grange End, perhaps due to the torrential rain on top of everything else, was all but deserted, more than enough space to run around or even start a game yourself. Two things stuck out, the goalkeeper being so cumbersome that as a keen goalkeeper myself I fancied getting the gloves back on, and Earnie scoring in the last minute to keep our unbeaten home record going having been 1-0 down. Oh, and my clothes being stuck to me as I was soaked through to the extent when we got back to Cardiff Central, I couldn’t have been wetter had I swam there. Suffice to say I was hooked there and then and the following season got a season ticket and have had many more since, though not every year.

In truth, the years under Sam were the years I enjoyed the most, there was more a sense of belonging to the club and making a difference. I’m no advocate of much of what Sam did here, but one thing is undeniable for me, I found his infectious charisma utterly enchanting. My interest and love for the game has again waned with so much that I see in the game being so wrong, unfortunately seeing so much of it at our very own club, ironically Hammam being more guilty than most of such wrongdoing . My love for Cardiff City will always remain, but my love for football has certainly diminished. For me, football needs a huge shake up on so many fronts, I really hope it happens as what I see now is certanly not what I fell in love with.

I agree salad.

Aside from an addiction to CCFC I fell out of love with the modern game of football years ago.

Greedy, uncommitted, lazy & unappoachable players ,even greedier agents, television saturation, media hype, sanitised stadium atmospheres cheating players and the driving away of traditional working class football fans have all combined to diminish my feelings for the beautiful game.

My kids still love it but I just think it's a circus now.

I like nothing better than going on you tube and watching clips of Brazil 70 or 82. Watching Blakey curl one in against Man City, Brian Clark leap like a salmon against Real Madrid or Rodney Marsh, Alan Hudson and Besty play without a care in the world. Much more enjoyable

When first taken to a game as a 4 year old by my late father ( I will leave you to guess what year ).

I was that small (honestly for those who know me now) that I had to take a small stool to the ground (blue of course) to stand on to see over the wall at the front of the Bob Bank.

My father had been a fan for many years before that and continued going to games with me , home and away , until he died nearly 12 years ago. His ashes were scattered at Ninian Park and , as soon as it is completed (hopefully by mid-November this year) I hope that I can get a memorial for him in the new Memorial Garden outside the new stadium.

Keith

I had no option to follow City. My Dad made sure it was the only thing I knew. We have gone to games together for over 30 years. Having just had a son myself I am duty bound to ensure he follows the same path.

Because they shagged on the first date

I was made by my dad to go in the 70's and watch my godfather play - freebie games lol


Ok and i was the tomboy with the footie inetrest from a young age!

Oh soooooooooo lucky for him it gave him an excuse to go to all the games - so no wonder i like the game and the pub so much it was instilled at the ripe ole age of 4 lol

I didn't have a choice i was a Cardiff fan the day i was born, my uncle mad sure of that.

One of the 1st games my uncle took me too i must have been about 6 Years old, 1999 season, not sure who it was against but can remember, my uncle saying this is your team, Cardiff.

He took me to all the Home games until i was old enough to go by myself with my friends, still keeps an eye on me time to time though.

Love Cardiff - Hate the Jacks.

Strongly "influenced" by my older friends got me into Cardiff, and I became hooked for life. Has for football as a sport 1970 had me hooked due the sheer brutality of the Leeds v Chelsea cup final replay, followed by the most magnificent football team I ever seen play the game as it should be played the supreme Brazil 1970 world cup winners = Awesome, majestic football played by footballing gods.