Bad times make good times so much better.

Years ago there was talk of a Premier league one and two...they even said that it may consist of Scots, Irish and Welsh teams as well as the English..in the late 1990’s that was our only real hope of joining the elite clubs...how things have changed since then.
A lot of things have changed in the first decade of the 21st century for Cardiff City and their fans, go back to October2000 we were beating Mansfield home with goals from Earnie and Brayson in front of a bumper crowd of 4,625 in a season that would see the start of our rise from Division 3. We would finish second that season , 10 points behind Champions Brighton...our average attendance was 6,219...even though Sam Hammam had now joined the club..but we were moving in the right direction.
The following season saw the beginning of the Valley R.A.M.s and many a great adventure was had by the members of the notorious but sadly now defunct organisation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8x1H2xdHZ8

Think back a little further to 1999 and operation Javelin..last game of the season saw us relegated at Stole...nearly 100 arrests many of my mates got 5-10 year bans and many were not to bothered either...ha ha...times were bad and it was almost a relief being banned...but things were about to change...even though we would have to endure over 25 “bubble matches”, voucher exchanges, over policing etc...the next ten years proved to be nothing more than incredible compared to the years since the Toshack days..a rollercoaster....Temme, Hammam,Ridsdale, Nash, Issacs,Borley, Guy...just a few of the names that we think of during that time.
Think back to Stoke in the play offs when we got dumped so late at Ninian...think how you felt then...try comparing that to the Andy Campbell goal against QPR that saw us promoted, that felt so good because we had suffered previously...it made the victory that much sweeter.
Remember being so high in the league in 2006 before finishing 13th...the following season we finished 12th and then we had the disaster at the end of the 2009 losing to Sheffield Weds....think back to that trip home...how low did we feel? Was there any hope for the following season.

Remember last season and all the money troubles, protests, Ridsdale and his lies and dirty dealings which are still causing us trouble but never forget the feeling you felt at Wembley losing to little Blackpool...what hope did we have in our minds driving home that day...everyone felt we had blown our last chance that day...and even way into the summer months but we had the one last scenario still left to be played out...TG and VT...YES THE MALAYSIANS...and although you can never be sure about anyone in charge of football teams( ask the plastics from Man U and Liverpool) we seem to have struck gold....no platinum.
Anyway back to the present and expectation levels from our fans have reached fever pitch, fans now think we will win every game, some even are demanding we win every game..ha ha...but we have to be realistic. We have huge debts and narrowly escaped administration this year...on more than one occasion...so by mid July most of us feared the worse although there were mutterings of possible good things about to happen...more to the point the club were paying bills...then came the signings topped off by the amazing Bellamy signing that shocked the world of football.

We are now 12 games in and riding high despite the rare appearances of Bellamy and Chopra through injury...we have a fantastic player in Oli in midfield and Drinkwater to come back...there are signs that JK is starting to look sharper...we are winning games ugly waiting for the “real” City to take centre stage...I am sure that time will come but we have to be realistic with our current squad..we cannot afford too many injuries as Ipswich and Leicester games demonstrated.
We need VT to continue his fantastic work and build our squad in January...I am not sure how many loans we can still acquire but maybe we can buy a couple of players? In the meanwhile we need everyone to back our players whilst they are playing especially our defenders....look guys they are not Collins, Gabbidon, Loovans or Johnson..they are what they are...decent average defenders at this level...having a go will not help and to be honest they have not done that bad, they just have to cut out the silly errors...Hudson coped well with the Coventry battering rams last night but give the ball away that cost us a goal.
The points I was making earlier about remembering the bad times is important because the harder you try to get something the sweeter it is when it finally happens...Promotion in May will mend many wounds and make up for years of disappointment..but even if that happens...we will not play well every game and we will not go through unbeaten...I think the future is looking so much safer now regardless of the on the field results...but time will tell.

Corky, A Brilliant Post, We've Come a long long way

Corky, a great post.

gotta be honest really enjoyed that post

Spot on again Corky.



Last night was a great night to be a City fan . 1300 there for a midweek game, great win despite a shaky performance, great support, and importantly for our clubs future - no police and NO TROUBLE.

The future is bright.

Corky, A Brilliant Post, We've Come a long long way

Just a shame we are not at Ninian Park.

Cracking read Paul!!

Good advice for everyone too!

cheers corky

Absolutely fantastic post. Thanks Corky!

Superb post mate.


Future is bright, Future is Cardiff

brilliant post corky, spot on!!

superb post corky spot on.

Years ago there was talk of a Premier league one and two...they even said that it may consist of Scots, Irish and Welsh teams as well as the English..in the late 1990’s that was our only real hope of joining the elite clubs...how things have changed since then.
A lot of things have changed in the first decade of the 21st century for Cardiff City and their fans, go back to October2000 we were beating Mansfield home with goals from Earnie and Brayson in front of a bumper crowd of 4,625 in a season that would see the start of our rise from Division 3. We would finish second that season , 10 points behind Champions Brighton...our average attendance was 6,219...even though Sam Hammam had now joined the club..but we were moving in the right direction.
The following season saw the beginning of the Valley R.A.M.s and many a great adventure was had by the members of the notorious but sadly now defunct organisation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8x1H2xdHZ8

Think back a little further to 1999 and operation Javelin..last game of the season saw us relegated at Stole...nearly 100 arrests many of my mates got 5-10 year bans and many were not to bothered either...ha ha...times were bad and it was almost a relief being banned...but things were about to change...even though we would have to endure over 25 “bubble matches”, voucher exchanges, over policing etc...the next ten years proved to be nothing more than incredible compared to the years since the Toshack days..a rollercoaster....Temme, Hammam,Ridsdale, Nash, Issacs,Borley, Guy...just a few of the names that we think of during that time.
Think back to Stoke in the play offs when we got dumped so late at Ninian...think how you felt then...try comparing that to the Andy Campbell goal against QPR that saw us promoted, that felt so good because we had suffered previously...it made the victory that much sweeter.
Remember being so high in the league in 2006 before finishing 13th...the following season we finished 12th and then we had the disaster at the end of the 2009 losing to Sheffield Weds....think back to that trip home...how low did we feel? Was there any hope for the following season.

Remember last season and all the money troubles, protests, Ridsdale and his lies and dirty dealings which are still causing us trouble but never forget the feeling you felt at Wembley losing to little Blackpool...what hope did we have in our minds driving home that day...everyone felt we had blown our last chance that day...and even way into the summer months but we had the one last scenario still left to be played out...TG and VT...YES THE MALAYSIANS...and although you can never be sure about anyone in charge of football teams( ask the plastics from Man U and Liverpool) we seem to have struck gold....no platinum.
Anyway back to the present and expectation levels from our fans have reached fever pitch, fans now think we will win every game, some even are demanding we win every game..ha ha...but we have to be realistic. We have huge debts and narrowly escaped administration this year...on more than one occasion...so by mid July most of us feared the worse although there were mutterings of possible good things about to happen...more to the point the club were paying bills...then came the signings topped off by the amazing Bellamy signing that shocked the world of football.

We are now 12 games in and riding high despite the rare appearances of Bellamy and Chopra through injury...we have a fantastic player in Oli in midfield and Drinkwater to come back...there are signs that JK is starting to look sharper...we are winning games ugly waiting for the “real” City to take centre stage...I am sure that time will come but we have to be realistic with our current squad..we cannot afford too many injuries as Ipswich and Leicester games demonstrated.
We need VT to continue his fantastic work and build our squad in January...I am not sure how many loans we can still acquire but maybe we can buy a couple of players? In the meanwhile we need everyone to back our players whilst they are playing especially our defenders....look guys they are not Collins, Gabbidon, Loovans or Johnson..they are what they are...decent average defenders at this level...having a go will not help and to be honest they have not done that bad, they just have to cut out the silly errors...Hudson coped well with the Coventry battering rams last night but give the ball away that cost us a goal.
The points I was making earlier about remembering the bad times is important because the harder you try to get something the sweeter it is when it finally happens...Promotion in May will mend many wounds and make up for years of disappointment..but even if that happens...we will not play well every game and we will not go through unbeaten...I think the future is looking so much safer now regardless of the on the field results...but time will tell.

Operation Javelin..

That game at Stoke was mad, but it was a mad mad season.

Missed the two Division 2 Play Off Seasons, the Third Division Promotion Season, our first seasons in the Championship, The Play Off Final at the Mill Stad, Leeds in the FA Cup.

Talk about bad luck, just emphasises that it realy isnt worth it.

Anyone now, who gets into bother could potentialy miss the best years, Premiership etc., walk away, easier said that done I know.

Remember when Sam took over, Exeter Away, 2000 of us on that dinky terrace and a few seats on the left, think his first home game was Blackpool in Division 3 and there were 9000 there. That was massive. He walked on to the pitch waving a flag, then 10 years later we were playing Blackpool in a Play Off for the Premiership! Mad. I remember Blackpool getting Promotion and watching their Latvian owners say that the aim was the Premiership. They got there, so will we, under the Malaysians, hopefuly under Dave Jones to, I think he deserves it.

My Dad was at the Friendly Hotel when Sam first came over and met with a group of fans, there was a proper excitement wasnt there, remember the Cwrt Rawlin in Caerphily, absolutely packed with Sam sat on top of the Fruit Machine!!!

Ill always remember Sam as the one who believed in us and started us off, sure he made mistakes along the way, but so I have, so has everyone havnt they? Where would we be now if Sam hadnt come in, impossible to know, we could have done a Blackpool, we could have done a Luton, but we are where we are now, 2nd in the Championship with Craig Bellamy, Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra as our Strikers, let the good times roll..

You should apply for a job with the Western Mail/Echo mob Corky, as that was a fabulous read!

Excellent read Corky

Excellent read Corky

cracking post fair play corky

What a cracking post. So many nights have come flooding back!

Nice one Corky me ol mooka!!

top drawer fella reform the Rams i say great times.

Top post Corky, prob best post i've read on here. And you are spot on regarding the defenders, they aint the money purchases such as Chopra n Bellamy so we need to cut them a bit of slack

great post m8! really enjoyed reading it....

what a good thoughtful and reflective post putting life as city fan into perspective.

Really enjoyed reading that - well done Corky

I feel really guilty now Sorry Mark and Gabor if i could say sorry to them i would

Cracking post Gwyn

SORRY CORKY What a cock i am

great post Corky !!

excellent post

Top post Corky. Right up my street with the era as well. First started going to games regular in 98, ironically when I moved to Brizzle to live / study. First year of proper disposable income when I was 18 . Thank you student loans.

Top notch post Corky!!!

Re: Defenders, the problem we have is we have been spoilt over the last few years with class defenders as you stated! Now we just have to get on with the fact we have championship defenders who will make mistakes, but we have premiership strikers to put that right!!!!

Top post again Corky, just brings it all into a bit of perspective, we have moved forwards dramatically on and off the pitch in the last few years, lets just hope that we can make that final push to realise the dream in the near future!