Has Cardiff City ever had a worse season for derby matches than 21/22? I daresay there may have been times when we’ve lost all four games, possibly more, in fixtures against clubs that could be considered local rivals, but I’m not sure the levels of performance could have been as bad as they were last season.
I don’t think it’s too strong a criticism to say both of our performances against Swansea last season were disgraceful. In a rivalry where nobody had done a league double over the other before, Swansea won them both in 21/22 with an aggregate score of 7-0 – a margin which didn’t flatter them in the slightest.
It wasn’t as bad against Bristol City – the home match early in the season was a pretty even affair, but I thought that the wurzels were worthy of their 2-1 win. In the away game though, we were lucky to get away with a 3-2 loss – Bristol were a lot better than us as the game turned on us gifting them an equaliser about thirty seconds after we’d gone a goal up and, once that had happened, there was only going to be one winner.
Our two home defeats continued our abysmal sequence of results in games against Swansea and Bristol City in our own stadium, but, last season apart, the wurzels away has been the derby foxture where we’ve enjoyed a fair degree of success in the twenty first century. Therefore, given we have almost a new set of players with no “previous” in derby matches to haunt them, I’m hopeful we can start becoming a lot more competitive in these encounters now, starting with our visit to Ashton Gate on Sunday.
Here’s questions from each decade since the 60s relating to Bristol City, I’ll post the answers on Monday.
60s. Opinions differed on the two sites I was able to research this player, with the sort of name you’d expect a character in a western to have, on. One of them had him as a winger and the other as a “tough tackling half back”. I favour the latter when you consider that he only scored one goal for his first club in six seasons with them. In his early days in the game, a footballing knight, better remembered now as a manager, rather than a player, was a team mate and that one goal came against big rivals in what is probably one of the more fierce of derby skirmishes.
He spent three years at Bristol City, but did not enjoy his encounters with City – a single draw was the best he could manage in his three games against us. His third and final club were poor relations by then in a city rivalry where neither team could be said to be flying high – but I suppose there was always the cricket to watch at the team’s ground in the summer months, who am I describing?
70s. This winger played a few times in the First Division for his local club where I suppose it could be said he needed to be on his metal (sorry). Moving on to Bristol City, he was in their team for a Christmas time game with City, but, again finding first team opportunities scarce, he went out on loan to a club quite close by and played a couple of league matches against one side that has spent some time hopping between league and non league football in the recent past and another with quite an illustrious past which is struggling on after a devastating blew a few years ago. He played most games for his final club who he had to move to the other side of England to join and was involved for them in a game against City which, if it is remembered for anything now, it’s for one incident which had little to do with football, who is he?
80s. Huge respect to anyone who can answer this question without looking them up (I’m fairly confident nobody will be able to though), but who were the players who became known as the Ashton Gate eight?
90s. Prod tragic test victim and you may end up with a forward. (5,9).
90s. Char wobbles perhaps?
10s. This midfielder was a regular in the Bristol City team for more than half of this decade and his ratio of yellow cards to goals scored was more than four to one. Who is he?
20s. One hundred and forty times capped TV star in Bristol midfield? I doubt it.
Answers
60s. Charles “Chuck” Drury’s only goal for West Bromwich Albion was scored in a black country derby fixture with Wolves. A colleague of Sir Bobby Robson for a while in his West Brom days, Drury eventually moved to Bristol City where he was part of a side that won promotion into the Second Division in his first season with them. Drury played in both of Bristol City’s games with City in 65/66 and was in the side beaten 5-1 at Ninian Park on New Year’s Eve 1966 in what was his last season with the club. He then had a couple of seasons with Bradford Park Avenue who were then into their final years as a Football League club with their Park Avenue ground being used for Yorkshire cricket fixtures.
70s.Joe Durrell played half a dozen league games for West Ham before signing for Bristol City where, again, he failed to make it into double figures as far as Football League games were concerned. One of his rare starts for the wurzels came on Boxing Day 1974 at Ashton Gate against City where the teams played out a drab, goalless draw. Durrell spent a month on loan at City at the begining of the following season, starting in City’s first two games of their league season at Grimsby and then at home to Bury. Shortly after that, he signed for Gillingham on a permanent basis and was in their side for a 2-2 draw with City at Priestfield Stadium where Phil Dwyer “died” on the pitch after swallowing his tongue and his life was saved by City physio Ron Durham.
80s. On February 3 1982, I went to watch Newport County play Bristol City at Somerton Park thinking it was going to be the wurzels’ last ever game. Their finances had got into such a mess that it seemed certain that they would not be able to carry on beyond their visit to Newport. Bristol City survived because eight of their players, who were on long term, lucrative deals, agreed to tear up their contracts. Four of the team I watched draw 1-1 that afternoon were members of the “Ashton Gate eight” –Penarth born Peter Aitken, Jimmy Mann, Gerry Sweeney and Trevor Tainton. The other four players who, effectively, saved Bristol City were Chris Garland, Julian Marshall, Geoff Merrick and David Rodgers.
90s.Scott Partridge.
00s. Cole Skuse.
10s. Marlon Pack scored twelve goals during his time at Bristol City and was booked fifty two times – I should add, I think this stat does not alter the fact that Pack was a good player for the wurzels.
20s. Alex Scott played for England one hundred and forty times and presents Football Focus on the BBC each week, she also was a regular contributor to the coverage of the women’s Euros. Her namesake is a very promising nineteen year old midfielder who has already played something like fifty games for Bristol City.
