The question on all of your lips - leap year fixtures

[Eric the Half a Bee]

I have been inundated with less than one message asking how well we've done whenever we've played on February 29th.

Incredibly we've only ever played one league or cup game on that date, back in 1936 when we beat Exeter City 5-2 at home, the only time we had scored 5 that season. It hadn't been much of a season in Division 3 South, when we finished 20th. Only 9 years before we'd won the FA cup.

[Mr Soul '68]

I have been inundated with less than one message asking how well we've done whenever we've played on February 29th.

Incredibly we've only ever played one league or cup game on that date, back in 1936 when we beat Exeter City 5-2 at home, the only time we had scored 5 that season. It hadn't been much of a season in Division 3 South, when we finished 20th. Only 9 years before we'd won the FA cup.

It's amazing how far we plummeted, withing such a short space of time, after winning the cup.

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

I have been inundated with less than one message asking how well we've done whenever we've played on February 29th.

Incredibly we've only ever played one league or cup game on that date, back in 1936 when we beat Exeter City 5-2 at home, the only time we had scored 5 that season. It hadn't been much of a season in Division 3 South, when we finished 20th. Only 9 years before we'd won the FA cup.

Thanks - I actually was wondering that earlier. I should have messaged you, then you'd have been inundated by one message!

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

It's amazing how far we plummeted, withing such a short space of time, after winning the cup.

Didn't they invest in the stadium rather than in players, and paid the price for that on the pitch?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

It's amazing how far we plummeted, withing such a short space of time, after winning the cup.

The slump in Welsh club football was alarming.

We were (controversially) allowed into Division 2 as we were thought of as the top Welsh club. We won promotion at the first time of asking and had our best decade in our history. We were relegated in 1929 and again in 1931. Crowds went from nearly 33k in our first season ever in Division 1 to 7k in the third tier in a decade. By 1938 we were averaging 20k again in Division 3 (S). The Great Depression hit South Wales harder than some places and certainly had a bad effect on football.

Aberdare had 6 seasons in Division 3 before controversially losing their place in the league. Their crowds dropped from 9.5k to 2.5k. Merthyr lasted 3 more seasons. Newport did drop out of the league for a season and, after re-election, were fortunate to stay in the league. Swansea did manage promotion and were the top Welsh club in the 1930s, though their crowds were hit as well.

Here are the average crowds for 1922, 1927, 1933 and 1938

Cardiff: 32,760 - 15,454 - 7,008 - 20,009
Swansea: 11,685 - 14,286 - 9,566 - 12,015
Newport: 7,345 - 5,193 - 4,401 - 9,249
Merthyr: 8,985 - 3,170 - n/a - n/a
Aberdare: 9,525 - 2,500 - n/a - n/a

[tpcnw]

I have been inundated with less than one message asking how well we've done whenever we've played on February 29th.

Incredibly we've only ever played one league or cup game on that date, back in 1936 when we beat Exeter City 5-2 at home, the only time we had scored 5 that season. It hadn't been much of a season in Division 3 South, when we finished 20th. Only 9 years before we'd won the FA cup.

Burnley Home 29 February 1992 in Division 4. 2-0 to Burnley and a crowd of 16,030

[tpcnw]

Burnley Home 29 February 1992 in Division 4. 2-0 to Burnley and a crowd of 16,030

And another Huddersfield away 29 February 1964. 2-1 to Huddersfield.

[tpcnw]

And another Huddersfield away 29 February 1964. 2-1 to Huddersfield.

Wrexham Welsh Cup at home on 29 February 1956. 5-3 to Cardiff

I think that is it.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

And another Huddersfield away 29 February 1964. 2-1 to Huddersfield.

You're right. I hadn't spotted that I had filtered one column on my spreadsheet, so all games that weren't wins weren't included. Schoolboy error!!

There's the Burnley and Huddersfield fixtures, plus Brentford away in 2020 when we drew 2-2.

[splott parker]

Was chatting about the Burnley game today, bit of a let down in front of a huge crowd. Didn’t one ‘ridiculous’ report claim that there were 8000 Burnley fans there and the crowd was half and half between both clubs?

[Mr Soul '68]

Didn't they invest in the stadium rather than in players, and paid the price for that on the pitch?

Oh, I wasn't aware of that. I always wondered why we fell so far from grace after winning the cup

[Mr Soul '68]

The slump in Welsh club football was alarming.

We were (controversially) allowed into Division 2 as we were thought of as the top Welsh club. We won promotion at the first time of asking and had our best decade in our history. We were relegated in 1929 and again in 1931. Crowds went from nearly 33k in our first season ever in Division 1 to 7k in the third tier in a decade. By 1938 we were averaging 20k again in Division 3 (S). The Great Depression hit South Wales harder than some places and certainly had a bad effect on football.

Aberdare had 6 seasons in Division 3 before controversially losing their place in the league. Their crowds dropped from 9.5k to 2.5k. Merthyr lasted 3 more seasons. Newport did drop out of the league for a season and, after re-election, were fortunate to stay in the league. Swansea did manage promotion and were the top Welsh club in the 1930s, though their crowds were hit as well.

Here are the average crowds for 1922, 1927, 1933 and 1938

Cardiff: 32,760 - 15,454 - 7,008 - 20,009
Swansea: 11,685 - 14,286 - 9,566 - 12,015
Newport: 7,345 - 5,193 - 4,401 - 9,249
Merthyr: 8,985 - 3,170 - n/a - n/a
Aberdare: 9,525 - 2,500 - n/a - n/a

Cheers Eric, that makes for some interesting reading. My dad went down the first season after WWII as an 11 year old and has always said the crowds were huge. Any idea of our average crowd that season, and our highest and lowest gates. We won the old Division South that season.

[Mr Soul '68]

Was chatting about the Burnley game today, bit of a let down in front of a huge crowd. Didn’t one ‘ridiculous’ report claim that there were 8000 Burnley fans there and the crowd was half and half between both clubs?

There were a lot of Burnley fans at this game, and if memory serves me well, they were packed into the grange End. Maybe 3,000 or 4,000 max, I'd guess. I think they were top of the league at the time, so would have bought a fair few down with them but no way were they half the crowd.

[the other bob wilson]

There were a lot of Burnley fans at this game, and if memory serves me well, they were packed into the grange End. Maybe 3,000 or 4,000 max, I'd guess. I think they were top of the league at the time, so would have bought a fair few down with them but no way were they half the crowd.

Who was the ex City player who was Burnley manager that day?

[splott parker]

Who was the ex City player who was Burnley manager that day?

Shot in the dark.....Jimmy Mullen?

[the other bob wilson]

Shot in the dark.....Jimmy Mullen?

Correct.