by Forever Blue » Tue May 03, 2022 8:58 am
2021-2022 CCFC SEASON AT HOME:
By TLG:
In statistical terms, Cardiff City's 2021/22 home Championship campaign was not only the club's worst in decades, but it was also one of the poorest in the Bluebirds' entire history. While the stats alone don't tell the whole story, I reckon they paint a reasonably accurate picture of a season in which the team struggled badly at the Cardiff City Stadium from the opening-day draw with now-relegated Barnsley through to Saturday's stalemate with fellow strugglers Birmingham.
Defeats
The Bluebirds were beaten in no less than 12 of their 23 home league matches during 2021/22. The only other time the club has lost 12 home games in a 46-match Football League season was in 1994/95, when City were relegated to Division Three. However, the club's worst home campaign was 1984/85, when Alan Durban's side was beaten in 13 of its 21 home games during another dreadful season that ended in relegation.
There have been just seven seasons in which the team has lost ten or more of its home league games. All the others ended in relegation with the exception of 1933/34, when City finished rock bottom of the Third Division (South) and were forced to apply for re-election to the Football League.
Those seven seasons were:
1933/34 - 11 home defeats (22nd in Division Three South, re-elected)
1981/82 - 10 home defeats (20th in Division Two, relegated)
1984/85 - 13 home defeats (21st in Division Two, relegated)
1985/86 - 11 home defeats (22nd in Division Three, relegated)
1994/95 - 12 home defeats (22nd in Division Two, relegated)
2018/19 - 11 home defeats (18th in the Premier League, relegated)
2021/22 - 12 home defeats (currently 19th in the Championship)
Goals
City failed to find the back of the net in 11 home league games during the 2021/22 campaign and scored just 22 goals in their 23 Championship matches at the CCS, which equals a club record for the lowest total of home goals scored in a 46-game Football League season. The only other campaign in which the Bluebirds netted just 22 goals from 23 home games was the disastrous 1985/86 season, when the club was relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time in its history.
There have been just five seasons in which the team has scored 22 or fewer home league goals, and two of those were the recent Premier League campaigns.
The seasons concerned were:
1979/80 - 21 goals from 21 home games (15th in Division Two)
1985/86 - 22 goals from 23 home games (22nd in Division Three, relegated)
2013/14 - 20 goals from 19 home games (20th in the Premier League, relegated)
2018/19 - 21 goals from 19 home games (18th in the Premier League, relegated)
2021/22 - 22 goals from 23 home games (currently 19th in the Championship)
Cardiff were beaten 4-0 at home by West Brom and Swansea during 2021/22. The last time City suffered two home defeats by four-goal margins during a Football League season was back in 1999/2000, when Preston and Cambridge both won 4-0 at Ninian Park as the Bluebirds were relegated to the bottom division.
Points
City collected just 25 points from their 23 home games in 2021/22 (7 wins and 4 draws). The last time the club won so few points at home during a Football League season was back in 1999/2000 (5 wins and 10 draws).
Using the 'three points for a win' system, there have been just seven seasons in which the Bluebirds have gained 25 points or less from their home matches.
Those seven seasons were:
1933/34 - 22 points from 21 home games (22nd in Division Three South, re-elected)
1984/85 - 18 points from 21 home games (21st in Division Two, relegated)
1994/95 - 21 points from 23 home games (22nd in Division Two, relegated)
1999/00 - 25 points from 23 home games (21st in Division Two, relegated)
2013/14 - 20 points from 19 home games (20th in the Premier League, relegated)
2018/19 - 20 points from 19 home games (18th in the Premier League, relegated)
2021/22 - 25 points from 23 home games (currently 19th in the Championship)
As things stand, Cardiff are 20th in the Championship home table, although Hull and Peterborough could move above them next Saturday. Given their woeful home results throughout the majority of 2021/22, it's remarkable that the Bluebirds have never once found themselves in the relegation zone. I think it's fair to say City have been extremely lucky to find a small cluster of clubs at the bottom end of the Championship this season who, for one reason or another, are in even worse shape than they are.
One thing for certain is that Steve Morison and his staff have got one hell of a job ahead of them this summer if they are to arrest a slide which has seen City produce some of the club's worst Football League stats for decades during 2021/22.