Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in, the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C., the club changed its name to Cardiff City in 1908 and entered the Southern Football League in 1910 before joining the English Football League in 1920. The team has spent 17 seasons in the top tier of English football, the longest period being between 1921 and 1929. Their most recent season in the top flight was the 2018–19 Premier League season.
Cardiff City is the only team from outside England to have won the FA Cup, doing so in 1927. They have also reached three other cup finals in English competitions, the 1925 FA Cup final against Sheffield United, the 2008 FA Cup final against Portsmouth and the 2012 Football League Cup final against Liverpool, suffering defeat on each occasion. They have competed in the Premier League for two seasons and have never entered the UEFA Champions League. They have won the Welsh Cup on 22 occasions, making them the second-most successful team in the competition's history behind Wrexham.
With the exception of a short period this century, the team has played in home colours of blue and white since 1908, from which their nickname "The Bluebirds" derives. Cardiff's first permanent ground was Ninian Park, which opened in 1910; it remained in use for 99 years until the club moved into the Cardiff City Stadium in 2009. Cardiff has long-standing rivalries with nearby clubs Swansea City, with whom they contest the South Wales derby, and Bristol City, with whom they contest the Severnside derby. The club's record appearance holder is Billy Hardy, who made 590 appearances in a 20-year playing spell with Cardiff City, and their record goalscorer is Len Davies with 179 goals.
History
Early years (1899–1920)
Following a meeting at the home of lithographic artist Bartley Wilson in Cardiff, the club was founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C. as a way of keeping players from the Riverside Cricket Club together and in shape during the winter months. In their first season, they played friendlies against local sides at their Sophia Gardens ground. In 1900 they joined the Cardiff & District League for their first competitive season. When King Edward VII granted Cardiff city status in 1905, the club put in a request to the South Wales and Monmouthshire Football Association to change their name to Cardiff City. The request was turned down as they were deemed not to be playing at a high enough level. To enhance their standing, the team arranged to join the South Wales League in 1907. The following year they were granted permission to change the name of the club to Cardiff City.Although growing in stature, the club was forced to turn down the opportunity to join the newly formed Second Division of the Southern Football League due to a lack of facilities at their Sophia Gardens ground. Over the next two years, Cardiff played friendlies against some of Britain's top professional sides, including Middlesbrough, Bristol City, and Crystal Palace. The matches were played at grounds in Cardiff and nearby towns so as to gauge the level of public interest in the team. The club eventually secured land to build their own stadium, Ninian Park, which was completed in 1910. The club turned professional the same year. They made their first signing the following year with the acquisition of Jack Evans from fellow Welsh side Cwmparc.
With the new ground in place, Cardiff joined the Southern Football League Second Division and appointed their first manager, Davy McDougall, who became player-manager. They went on to finish in fourth place in their first year in the league. The board decided to replace McDougall with Fred Stewart, who had previous managerial experience with Stockport County. He set about adopting a more professional approach, signing several players with Football League experience, including brothers John and George Burton and Billy Hardy. Stewart led the team to promotion in his second season by winning the Second Division title. They remained in the First Division for the next decade, and finished in the top four on two occasions.
1920s success and later decline (1920–1945)
In 1920, the club submitted a successful application to join the Football League and were placed into the Second Division for the 1920–21 season. Stewart brought in several players with Football League experience, breaking the club's transfer record on two occasions to sign Jimmy Gill and later Jimmy Blair from The Wednesday. They played their first match in the Football League on 28 August 1920, defeating Stockport County 5–2. The side finished the season in second place to win promotion to the First Division. They finished behind Birmingham City on goal average, and reached the semi-final of the FA Cup. In their third season in the top-tier, the team finished runners-up to Huddersfield Town because of a goal average difference of 0.024. Cardiff drew their final match 0–0 as club record goalscorer Len Davies missed a penalty.The following season was the first time Cardiff appeared at Wembley Stadium, having reached their first FA Cup final. The team lost 1–0 to Sheffield United following a goal from England international Fred Tunstall. The 1926–27 season, when they finished in 14th position, was Cardiff's worst performance in the top tier of English Football since winning promotion six seasons before. However, they reached their second FA Cup final in the space of two years. On St George's Day, 23 April 1927, at Wembley Stadium in London, Cardiff became the only non-English side to win the FA Cup by defeating Arsenal 1–0 in the final; Hughie Ferguson scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute. He received the ball from Ernie Curtis and hurried a tame shot toward the goal; Dan Lewis, the Arsenal goalkeeper, allowed the shot to slip through his grasp and knocked the ball into the net with his elbow. Captain Fred Keenor received the FA Cup trophy at the end of the match from King George V only seven years after Cardiff City had entered the Football League. When the team returned to Cardiff the next day, a crowd of around 150,000 people lined the streets to welcome them.
The side also won the Welsh Cup in 1927, defeating Rhyl 2–0 and so becoming the only club to win the national cups of two countries in the same season. They went on to win the FA Charity Shield after beating amateur side the Corinthians 2–1 at Stamford Bridge. The club entered a period of decline after their cup success. They were relegated from the First Division in the 1928–29 season, despite conceding fewer goals than any other side in the division. They suffered a second relegation two years later, dropping into the Third Division South for the first time since they joined the Football League. During their first season in the division, Cardiff recorded their biggest-ever win when they beat Thames by a scoreline of 9–2. They finished the 1932–33 season in 19th place, resulting in manager Fred Stewart tendering his resignation from his post after 22 years in charge. Club founder Bartley Wilson stepped in to replace Stewart. Results continued to be disappointing, and in March 1934, Ben Watts-Jones was given the opportunity to manage the club he had supported as a youngster. He was unable to turn the team's fortunes around; they finished the season at the bottom of the table, and had to apply for re-election to the league. Watts-Jones remained in charge for another three years until Bill Jennings replaced him. Cardiff remained in the Third Division South until the Football League was suspended following the outbreak of World War II.
Post war and European competition (1945–2000)
In their first season since the resumption of the Football League, under new manager Billy McCandless, Cardiff finished the 1946–47 season as champions of the Third Division South and returned to the Second Division. McCandless left the club soon after and was replaced by Cyril Spiers who led the side to promotion in the 1951–52 season. Cardiff returned to the top tier of English football for the first time in 23 years and stayed there for five seasons. They were relegated after in 1957, after struggling in the bottom half of the table for three seasons. They returned to the First Division for two seasons between 1960 and 1962 before they were again relegated.File:Canton End at Ninian Park geograph-2999342-by-Steve-Daniels.jpg|thumb|right|Cardiff City playing Oxford United at Ninian Park in 1983|alt=A black and white image of a football match.
During the 1960s, Cardiff participated in European competition for the first time as a result of winning the Welsh Cup, which granted qualification to the newly created European Cup Winners Cup. Their first ever match in European competition was in the tournament during the 1964–65 season against Danish side Esbjerg fB. The team won 1–0 on aggregate over two legs, the only goal being scored by Peter King. They went on to reach the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Real Zaragoza. Despite their exploits in Europe, the team were still struggling in league competition under the stewardship of Jimmy Scoular, finishing in 20th position in the Second Division. Two years later the team reached the semi-final of the Cup Winners Cup after victories over Shamrock Rovers, NAC Breda, and Torpedo Moscow set up a tie with German side Hamburg, whose squad contained several German internationals. This remains the furthest any Welsh side has advanced in European competition. After a 1–1 draw in the first leg, over 43,000 fans turned out at Ninian Park to watch Hamburg win 3–2. During the 1970–71 season, Cardiff reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners Cup where they faced Spanish side Real Madrid. The first leg of the tie was held at Ninian Park where 47,000 fans watched one of the most significant victories in Cardiff's history when Brian Clark headed in to give Cardiff a 1–0 win. They were later eliminated after losing the second leg 2–0. The team remained in the Second Division for 19 of the 20 seasons between 1962 and 1982, having been relegated to the Third Division for the 1975–76 season.
Cardiff were continuously in the lower two divisions of the Football League between 1985 and 1993. The club appointed several managers in attempts to turn the team's performances around with limited success. They were relegated to the Fourth Division once in the 1985–86 season and, despite returning to the Third Division on two occasions, they finished in their lowest-ever league position in 1996—22nd of 24 in Division Three. In 1995, Cardiff and other Welsh clubs competing in English leagues were banned from entering the Welsh Cup by the Football Association of Wales after pressure from UEFA, who did not want teams playing in two national cup competitions. Their final match in the competition was a 2–1 defeat to Wrexham in the 1995 final.