Seven decades of Cardiff City v Bradford City matches.

Posted on September 18, 2025 by The other Bob Wilson

First v second on Saturday when Bradford City, who owe their place in this division to a goal they scored deep into added time in their final game of the regular season campaign in League 2, come to Cardiff City Stadium.

A feature of this season’s third tier has been how three of the four promoted sides, Doncaster, Bradford and Wimbledon, have settled in so seamlessly in the higher level. In fact the first two named have done more than that, they have been challenging at the top of the table and now, with the other promoted side, Port Vale, having won for the first time last Saturday, there’s the chance that they can start to put themselves well clear of the bottom four as well.

As for Bradford, it’s their home form which has catapulted them towards the top, they’ve beaten some good sides at Valley Parade already (e.g. Luton and Huddersfield) while winning four out of four. Away from home, it’s been more patchy – there’s been an eye catching 2-1 win at Stockport, draws, by 0-0 and 1-1 respectively at Northampton and Peterborough and a 3-1 loss at Doncaster in their last away game.

It shouldn’t be forgotten either that Bradforf have pulled off notable wins at Championship teams Blackburn and Stoke to reach the Third Round of the League Cup. Therefore, I don’t think to dismiss them as being in a false position, as I’ve seen some do, is fair or true. I would have thought that they’re bound to be the most confident side we’ve faced at home so far in a season where, up to now anyway, the woeful performances and results at Cardiff City Stadium over a period of five seasons have looked to be a thing of the past.

I think if City can play like they did once they got going against Plymouth, like they did against Rotherham and like they did against Cheltenham in the League Cup, they should win. However, a repeat of last Saturday at Stockport and, to a lesser extent, Tuesday at Exeter and I reckon we’ll be facing up to our first case of dropping home points. Maybe it will come down to how many of our players who have been trying to overcome injuries actually do so – for example, was the withdrawal of new signings Osho and Kellyman at Exeter just precautionary or was there more to it than that?

On to the quiz, questions dating back to the 60s on Bradford City with the answers to be posted on here on Sunday.

60s. Two games played about three months apart which produced just the one goal between them during the 68/69 season had great meaning to Bradford City and their opponents – who were the opponents in question and why were the fixtures so noteworthy?

70s. His parents were part of the Windrush generation, he played over five hundred league games during his career with more than half of them coming for Bradford City in two spells with the club (the first, longer, one being during the 70s and the second one in the 80s). Equally effective at both ends of the pitch, he has a sister who went on to become a presenter on the Children’s BBC programme Playdays between 1988 and 1996. She has also written scripts for episodes of Eastenders and Doctors. Who is the footballer I’m describing?

80s. Deduction for the Great White Shark?

90s. Great beer and pie served up by winger! (5.7)

00s. Who is the current Championship manager who was in the Bradford City team the last time we played them?

10s. Which current City player made one appearance, against Notts County, for Bradford City in a loan spell during this decade?

20s. Legacy for royal bird?

Answers

60s. Bradford City were promoted to the Third Division in 1968/69 and with their neighbours Bradford Park Avenue stuck in a terminal decline which would see them lose their place in the Football League at the end of the following season, the two games between the clubs were the last time they ever faced each other in competitive action. Bradford City won the first game between the teams 1-0 at Valley Parade in November 1968 and the return match at Park Avenue in January 1969 finished goalless.

70s. Joe Cooke started out as a centre forward with his first club Bradford City in the early 70s, before becoming a centreback later on . In a career where he ended up with 97 goals from just over 500 league games, he returned to Bradford City in 1982 for a couple of season. His sister Trish was a presenter on BBC Children’s Television and has also worked as a scriptwriter on programmers such as Eastenders and Doctors.

90s.Greg Fee – Greg Norman the golfer is known as the Great White Shark.

90s.Peter Beagrie.

00s.Current Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom was a member of the Bradford City team beaten 1-0 at Valley Parade by City on 17 January 2004.

10s. .Jak Alnwick played against Notts County for Bradford City during a loan spell at the club from Newcastle during the 14/15 season.

20s. Will Swan.

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Encouraging showing by youngsters, but injuries and daft red card are concerns.

Posted on September 17, 2025 by The other Bob Wilson

Just a quick piece about tonight’s EFL Trophy game at Exeter. 

Goals are at a premium when Cardiff City play away this season. After tonight’s game, it’s a total of five goals in five matches, with the good news being that four of them have been scored by us. Stockport’s penalty on Saturday remains the only one we’ve conceded in a match which was something of a goal spree by our away match standards as it finished 1-1. 

The other three goals have secured 1-0 wins with Callum Robinson’s second half header tonight adding to the victories at Wimbledon and Luton to go along with the goalless draw at Port Vale.

Now, as someone who has occasionally expressed how 1-0 away wins have their own kind of special satisfaction to them, I’m not going to start moaning about us winning by that score.However, I have to admit that there is a part of me wishing that we could show that we’re capable of scoring more than the 0.8 of a goal per game on our travels that we are at the moment.

Is our lack of goals on our travels a cause for concern? Clearly, while the only goals were conceding are penalties, it’s something we can live with, but, just as with our previous four away matches, there were periods tonight when we rode our luck and so I think the time will come pretty soon when we’re going to need to carry more of a goal threat on our travels.

Perry Ng was the only one out of Saturday’s starting line up to begin tonight’s match, but, with Exeter making eight changes themselves, it was effectively something akin to a Development game tonight. 

Gabriel Osho and Omari Kellyman both made their City debuts, but, neither of them completed ninety minutes. Osho seemed to have a groin injury which forced him off about twenty minutes from time, but Kellyman didn’t make it to half an hour played. There was no obvious sign of an injury for him and I suppose the plan may have been to give him just the thirty minutes. However, given his recent struggles with hamstring issues (he’s had to have an operation on one of them), it’s got to be concerning to see him leaving the game so soon.

Turner, Giles, Mafico and  Nyakuhwa were all starters for City and there was another debutant when Troy Perrett came on to replace Kellyman – I thought Perrett looked one of our best players on the night as well.

The first half was a little like the one at Wimbledon as City looked very impressive at times with the way they moved the ball, but, apart from a shot by Robinson beaten out by Exter’s debutant keeper seconds before the interval and a scuffed Giles effort that drew a diving save , we barely threatened to score. Isaak Davies was sharp on the left and you felt something might come from his lively running down that flank, but nothing ever did really and he was replaced by Cian Ashford for the second half.

By contrast, Exeter, for all that they spent most of their time keeping their defensive shape, while out of possession, had the better opportunities such as when a long range shot almost squirmed past Turner, a header was cleared off the line by Ng, a one on one was missed and a shot flashed across the face of our goal.

City had the end product to go with their domination of possession in the second half and the goal came when Turnbull and Ashford worked a quick corner routine which enabled the latter to drive in a fierce cross which Robinson glanced in via the underside of the crossbar.

David Turnbull probably came as close as anyone to adding a second with a shot just wide, but there was an element of thinking they’d done enough to win already to City’s approach as the clock wound down. Truth be told they probably were right to think that if it had remained eleven against eleven, but Ashford, having been yellow carded for his part in a dust up with the home captain Sweeney, then received a second one shortly afterwards, apparently for kicking the ball away following the award of a free kick against City. 

Ashford’s stupidity almost cost City as, within seconds, what looked a very tight offside call went in our favour as the home team netted with a bullet header.

City now have home games against Newport County and Arsenal’s under 21s to complete their group and, if we make it through, I presume it then becomes a knock out tournament?

There seems to be a lot of days this season when both first team and the under 21s are playing and it was no different today when our youngsters travelled to Huddersfield – no details as to our scorers I’m afraid, but I think we’ll be satisfied wwith a 2-2 draw.

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