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Things to a turn for the better at Ninian Park when Sam Hammam arrived with the Wimbledon money and invested in the club. They were a club that had fallen on hard times and as recently as 1999 were playing 3rd Division football.
But having won one promotion Hammam came in and invested in the club to try and get them higher and that he achieved last season when they won the play off final somewhat fortunately against Queens Park Rangers.
There had been major investment in the team over two years and big fees had been paid out for players such as Spencer Prior from Manchester City, Andy Campbell from Middlesbrough and Stoke pair Peter Thorne and Graham Kavanagh whilst there were other high profile signings on frees and Bosmans.
It all finally worked out and this season they are playing at First Division level for the first time since 1985 when they were relegated under the management of Alan Durban.
Everyone expected big signings during the summer but there was a lot of frustration amongst the fans when there was little activity although they did bring in two free signings during July with the captures of John Robinson from Charlton and Tony Vidmar from Middlesbrough.
They were the only signings before they opened the season with a 0-0 draw at Millmoor against Rotherham. Against them that day was former Claret Alan Lee and by the time Cardiff were making their home bow in the new division a week later he was one of two further signings.
They paid £850,000 to sign the Irish international striker and a further £200,000 for Richard Langley from QPR. Langley had missed the play off final against them in May having been sent off in the first leg of QPR’s semi-final against Oldham.
To add to that they have also signed Julian Gray on loan from Crystal Palace. Gray has been trying to get away from Selhurst Park but has failed to win himself the top deal he thought he could walk into. He has now been told he has no future at Palace and is hoping to win a permanent deal at Ninian Park.
They lost their first home game of the season against strugglers Bradford City but have been unbeaten since and with a couple of away wins at Forest and Coventry that are currently in the top half of the table in 11th place.
They have played twice at home in the last week and the last of these was on Tuesday when they comprehensively beat Watford by three goals to nil. They went in front inevitably through Robert Earnshaw, the division’s leading scorer. The 22 year old Zambian born striker has now scored and 74 goals in 143 league games for Cardiff.
Further goals from Vidmar and Kavanagh late in the game ensured a comfortable victory as far as the result was concerned.
They don’t concede many goals and this fact was picked up by midfielder Kavanagh after the game who admitted the result was flattering but pointed to the defence for their recent good win.
"It was a slightly flattering scoreline but I think we fully deserved the win," said Kavanagh.
"It wasn't perhaps the best we have played and it wasn't pretty, but the first goal settled us down and we are well pleased with another clean sheet," said Kavanagh.
"Tony Vidmar was outstanding again and his partnership with Danny Gabbidon was superb, but then all the back four had been doing well. Five clean sheets in seven games says it all and we will be looking for at least four if not six points from our next two matches."
The Cardiff team was: Neil Alexander, Gary Croft, Tony Vidmar, Danny Gabbidon, Chris Barker, Richard Langley (Julian Gray 77), Graham Kavanagh, Mark Bonner, John Robinson, Robert Earnshaw (Stuart Fleetwood 88), Gavin Gordon (James Collins 85). Subs not used: Spencer Prior, Martyn Margetson.
The Clarets will be looking to get back to winning ways and hoping to move up the table from their current 16th. We have dropped eight places in the last week.
Click HERE to see all Cardiff's results this season.
Past Results in the last 20 years
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
a | |||||
1986/87 | 4 | h | 1-3 | 1,717 | Hoskin |
a | 0-1 | 2,003 | |||
1987/88 | 4 | a | 1-2 | 3,401 | SP Davis |
h | 1-2 | 8,421 | Oghani | ||
1990/91 | 4 | h | 2-0 | 6,348 | Deary Francis |
a | 0-3 | 3,591 | |||
1991/92 | 4 | a | 2-0 | 16,030 | Randall Conroy |
h | 3-1 | 12,408 | Painter Farrell Conroy | ||
1993/94 | 2 | h | 2-0 | 11,276 | Philliskirk Francis |
a | 1-2 | 5,469 | SM Davis | ||
1999/2000 | 2 | h | 2-1 | 9,753 | Armstrong Johnrose |
a | 2-1 | 6,487 | Davis Payton |
Click HERE
to see more results against Cardiff back to our first meeting in 1922.One from the past
Time for a Mexican Wave
Burnley 3 (Painter Farrell Conroy) Cardiff 1 (Blake)
Barclays League Division Four – Wednesday 22nd April 1992
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We didn’t know it at the time but it was Eli’s last goal for the Clarets after he was injured in that game. We’d even had the Saturday Easter game called off because of a waterlogged pitch at Spotland, Rochdale.
You could be forgiven for thinking that we weren’t having the best of times but nothing really could have been further from the truth. We were top of the league on goal difference but with three games in hand and simply we needed seven points from the remaining five matches to not only finally get ourselves out of the Fourth Division but to leave it as the last ever Champions.
The Turf was expected to be in party atmosphere but in fact it was very tense. After so long at the bottom the Clarets’ fans were taking nothing for granted. There were a couple of familiar faces on the pitch. In goal for Cardiff was former Claret Roger Hansbury and the referee was Spennymoor’s George Courtney who had been in charge just under five years earlier at the Orient game.
"We’ve got to get a good start, said the regular season ticket holder sat right behind me in the Bob Lord Stand. Did he know something?
The game kicked off and we attacked down the right hand side with John Francis but he lost the ball to the Cardiff full back. But wait a minute, the full back gave the ball away almost immediately to Ian Measham and our full back got in a cross. Mike Conroy stepped over it and our there at the back just a few yards out and totally unmarked was our newest player Robbie Painter.
As his shot crossed the line to give us the lead there were a full sixteen seconds of the contest gone. Turf Moor rose like it hadn’t done for years, it was just the start we wanted and how on earth we didn’t increase the lead in the opening quarter no one will ever know as we totally dominated the game.
But as so often happens we were caught in a rare Cardiff attack when Cohen Griffith made a superb run down the right seeing off both Joe Jakub and Steve Davis with ease. He got the ball to Carl Dale whose cross found Nathan Blake, a sub against us at Wolves this week, and he converted in front of the Bee Hole End supporters.
The tension returned and we were no longer on top as Cardiff began to test us. That continued into the second half but then with just over an hour gone it all changed, and changed dramatically.
Andy Farrell won the ball not too far into the Cardiff half and played the ball out wide to Measham. The right back got in a cross that was headed down by John Deary for Farrell to volley home superbly at the end of a 35-yard run.
We’d hardly settled down when we won a corner. Both central defenders John Pender and Davis got heads on it and as the latter appealed for a penalty for handball in came Conroy to head home from right on the line.
3-1 and the tension was lifted and Turf Moor was rocking, the atmosphere was incredible, We are born pessimists but as that Conroy header hit the net I think we all knew that our long wait to get out of the basement division was well and truly coming to an end.
It wasn’t just the Longside either, all four sides of the ground were joining in. Chants of "Jimmy Mullen’s Claret & Blue Army’ preceded what I think was the first ever Mexican Wave at Burnley. Jimmy was even starting the waves in the Burnley dug out.
It was premature, there were still more points to collect but Burnley wanted to celebrate. The next three games were all away from home (as it happened Rochdale was again postponed) and the feeling was now that the next time we took to the Turf Moor pitch against Wrexham we would be promoted.
We were right, we went to Carlisle in our thousands, and then to York in our thousands and we came home as Champions. That night against Cardiff was the night we virtually assured ourselves of winning the promotion we so wanted. It was a great Turf Moor night with Jimmy Mullen’s Claret & Blue Army.
The teams were,
Burnley: David Williams, Ian Measham, Joe Jakub, Steve Davis, John Pender, Andy Farrell, Robbie Painter, John Deary, John Francis, Mike Conroy, Adrian Randall (Steve Harper 52). Sub not used: Mark Yates.
Cardiff: Roger Hansbury, Neil Matthews, Damon Searle, Eddie Newton, Gary Bellamy, Jason Perry, Paul Ramsey, Cohen Griffith, Paul Miller, Carl Dale, Nathan Blake. Subs not used: Lee Baddeley, Gary Gill.
Referee: George Courtney (Spennymoor).
Attendance: 12,408.