Cardiff City v Huddersfield Town

It's Time.
1st league game of the season, The wait is over.
Dragons v Terriers,

Our opponents 1st. Cardiff have had much upheaval over the summer.
With the new Malaysian owners dictating a change of their traditional strip,
nickname & club badge, This resulted in division among their fans, A major meeting, & at one stage, many season ticket holders demanding a refund.
The 'dust' seems to have settled, With the claim that the sales of the new Red shirts have gone well, This on top of a very good win at the weekend in front of a decent crowd, Where they beat Newcastle United 4-1 !
The scorers were Gunnersson (16 & 26) Ralls (20) & Velikonja (75)
They have also signed Bellamy from Liverpool.

Their squad comprises of.
1 Marshall
29 Parish. 32 Lewis.

Defenders...
2 Mcnaughton
3 Taylor.
5 Hudson, Capt.
6 Turner.
23 Blake. 28 Keinen.

Midfielders...
4 Kiss
7 Whittingham
8 Cowie.
11 Conway.
13 Bo-Kyung Kim.
17 Gunnersson.
18 Mutch.
19 Harris.
21 Ralls.
37 McPhail.

Strikers...
9 Velikonja
10 Earnshaw.
15 Gestede.
20 Mason
22 Helguson, & 39 Bellamy.
On paper. A tough opponent. Town will have to be at their best to get a result here, They will be confident at home, after beating Premier League opposition, while Town would appear anything but... after going down to PNE in the league cup tie last night.

before we move onto Town, A bit more Info on Cardiff & their new ground.
The capacity is nigh on 27,000. the away section is just 2,000 seats.
access is via GATE 7. situated in the South East corner. There is very limited 'official' parking for away fans, with just 125 spaces available. It's €5 too, so Take care, because regulations appear STRICT, with fines & Tow aways not uncommon.
The entry fee is as follows, Adults €21, OAP's €14, under 16's €13.
take into account ! ....The Tickets have individual bar codes. "Try not to bend the ticket, As this could cause problems upon entry"
By Car.
Set the SatNav to the post code..= CF11 8AZ
Club office 0845- 365- 1115 or,
Ticket Office, 0845-345-1400.

Last season they had very good support, with an 'average' of 22,139 !
They finished 6th. Malky Mackay is the Manager, he took over from Dave Jones in 2011.
They have been at the new ground since the '09/10 season,it cost €48 million, & has made a good impression among visiting fans, being 'spacious' a regular positive. the corners are filled in making a 'bowl' effect, & as is standard today, All covered in a continuous roof. In what I think is a nice touch, 3 sides of the ground have been named after the old Ninian Park equivalents, The 4th side at Ninian was the 'Bob Bank', This is now the 'Ninian Stand' at the new ground.. keeping tradition alive, Should Town have done likewise at 'our' new ground ?

Unfortunately 'away' friendly pubs seem thin on the ground near the stadium.
However, the Lansdowne Hotel on Beda rd in the Canton area is the 'traditional' pub for away fans. ..BUT ! is a 15 minute walk from the ground.

reading the comments on the 'Away grounds' web site, many seem to drink in the city, & use public transport to get to the ground. Although there were positive comments about the day out, most saying they would go again, & 'good banter' & no bother with the locals..! Is this the same Cardiff City who played at Ninian Park ? which had a reputation for intimidation ....Lets hope that is a thing of the past, & a good day out is enjoyed by ALL.

Bit of History before we go onto 'OUR' team. And for a change, A bit of History i think you'll all enjoy !
'Most memorable season'...1923/24,
Yes, That's the 1st time we won the 1st division title, beating .....
CARDIFF in the closest tussle in football History !
Both finished on 57 points, so, down to goal difference then...
TOWN + 27
Cardiff + 27..!!! What now.. It was decided by Goal AVERAGE .
that's right, the closest of margins.
TOWN 1.818 goals per game.
Cardiff 1.794 goals per game.
Town beat Cardiff at Leeds Rd 2-0,(18,000) & managed a draw at Ninian Park for the return fixture, 0-0.(24,000)

TOWN.
Grayson has been busy in the transfer market, opinion guys, do you think he has brought in too many new faces ? has he done what Clark before him did.. spend spend spend ? We have also released a good few players, alas all went 'free'.

IN.
Gerrard €350,000 (from Cardiff)
Wallace, ...Clarks signing. who stayed out 'on loan'.
Southern, 2 year deal (undisclosed)
Scannell (undisclosed)
Lynch ..free.
Clayton (undisclosed)
Norwood, 3 year deal, (undisclosed)
Dixon, free.

GONE. McCombe, Kay, Nathan Clarke, Roberts, Cadermatari, Miller, Chippendale, Naysmith.



'Darn's XI' for Friday

Bennett.
Hunt. Gerrard, Lynch, Dixon.
Norwood, Clayton, Scannell.
Novak, Rhodes. Higginbotham,

Will the Town fans fill the away allocation
Will Grayson leave out the club Captain
Have CARDIFF any 606 contributors
Can TOWN win