Did hooliganism hold CCFC back?

[Rjk]

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.

[the other bob wilson]

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.

Good post, the only slight disagreement I have with you is that I never saw the attraction - that's not quite true actually, I saw the attraction between the ages of about ten and twelve.

[qccfc]

Good post, the only slight disagreement I have with you is that I never saw the attraction - that's not quite true actually, I saw the attraction between the ages of about ten and twelve.

I started watching the club in 1992, i was 12. At that time the air of trouble and mischief was an attraction. It felt quite rebellious at the time, hardly any of my friends supported Cardiff City, and it seemed that fewer of their parents wanted them to be there. If i had been caught up in any trouble at that time there would have been no chance that i would have been able to deal with it. However the chance and the rumors about it did give a sense of excitement.

It seemed to me at that age the only chance of young people going to watch Cardiff City was to have an older relative that already went, and knew that it wasn't wall to wall fighting, and that trouble was rare. There was a fear from parents that they couldn't just take their child who was interested in football down to watch Cardiff City for the first time, because they would more than likely get caught up in violence.

This obviously holds a football club back in regards of finances and that is what drives a club forward.