Hooliganism absolutely held Cardiff city back.

Yes there were times when a big proportion of the crowd were involved in that kinda thing, but the fact that the crowd was 3000 instead of 13000 for a city of this size without too many other distractions speaks volumes.

Yes the football was crap, but then even more than now money generated by attendances had a big effect on the quality of player you could bring in. If we had bigger crowds the football would have been better.

For those involved it was undoubtedly an incredibly intense, exciting, romantic even time, but for every guy of a certain age who thrived in that environment there were others who would have hated it.
How many kids weren't allowed to go to the football by their parents because of the reputation? How many didn't enjoy the aggressive tension in the atmosphere?
I see no coincidence that the "lost generation" of Cardiff fabs, lost to the likes of Liverpool coincides directly with the worst of the hooliganism days.
Yes every region without a "big" team suffers the same thing but it has always seemed like south Wales, from that era suffered it more than most.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't begin to judge anyone for enjoying it, I can really see the attraction, but looking back after the dust has settled I think it definitely did hold the club back.