The last three City v Birmingham matches in Cardiff have produced three home wins with an aggregate score of 10-6 in our favour. Furthermore, Birmingham have only taken one point from their last four matches (that’s one more than us mind), conceding fourteen goals in the process, so everything points to a goal fest to bring the 21/22 season to an end at Cardiff City Stadium!
The reality will, almost certainly, be very different. To be fair to Birmingham, they’ve managed to score five times while all of those goals have been flying into their net, but we’ve been very poor in front of goal lately – even if tomorrow does live up to the goal laden recent history of the fixture, it won’t alter the fact that it is has been a second consecutive thoroughly miserable home season for Cardiff City.
If the game turns out to be as bad as our recent ones have been, maybe attempting this quiz will be able to take your mind off what’s being played out in front of you – I’ll put the answers on here on Sunday.
60s. What unwanted record relating to all but the first decade of City’s Football League existence was created at a game against Birmingham at Ninian Park early in this decade – as a bit of a clue to identifying the game, a City player scored a hat trick in it.
70s. He played for Birmingham against City during this decade and was sent off over twenty times in his career for club and country – who?
80s. A few beers mend midfielder – plus a right lead! (3,7)
90s. Professor’s equal?
00s. Born in a place which sounds like, but isn’t, a capital city, this competitive midfielder was first a Rover before moving on to Birmingham for most of this decade. He once angered supporters when, as captain of the team, he threw his armband and shirt on the floor after being substituted. More typical of him though was the time when he carried on playing despite having his jaw broken in two places after being elbowed by West Brom’s Paul Robinson. Another injury eventually led to him heading south west for a short while before a move to Yorhshire had him wearing the third variation of blue and white in his career. He finished by helping ensure a force of fishes introduction into the Football League was an acceptable one and on the international front he played fifty six times for his country without scoring – a record in keeping with what you’d expect from someone who only scored nine times in his nearly three hundred and fifty league appearances. Who am I describing?
10s. He sounds like a writer and was beaten in his one encounter with City as a Birmingham player. Today he’s back home playing for the Glorious One – who is he?
20s. He’s played international football in front of crowds of 90,000 and been sent off in an international Semi Final. On the club scene, he was once loaned to the Tanners and, since records on this subject have been kept, only an Omani and an American have bettered what he did in a Premier League season, who am I describing?
Answers.
60s. Derek Tapscott scored all of our goals in the 3-2 win over Birmingham at Ninian Park on 21 April 1962 in front of a crowd of just 8,608. Although attendances of less than ten thousand at Ninian Park for First Division fixtures in the 1920s were fairly common, this is the only instance of it happening in a top flight home game for City since then.
70s. Scottish winger Willie Johnston played in Birmingham’s 2-1 win over City at St. Andrews in December 1979, a year and a half after he had been sent home from the World Cup In Argentina for failing a drugs test.
80s. Des Bremner.
90s. Dean Peer.
00s. Lisburn born Damien Johnson played fifty six times for Northern Ireland and turned out for Blackburn, Birmingham, Plymouth, Huddersfield and Fleetwood during his club career,
10s. Jota was in the Birmingham side beaten 3-2 at Cardiff City Stadium as we closed in on promotion in March 2018. Currently, he plays for Alaves (nicknamed the Glorious One) in Spain.
20s. Since records were first kept on the subject in the mid noughties, only Ali Al Habsi of Wigan and Brad Freidel, with four each, have bettered Neil Etheridge’s three penalty saves in a Premier League season.
