Bottom of the table

In 115 years as a professional football club, Cardiff City has finished rock bottom of a league table on just five occasions:

1928/29 - bottom of the First Division
1930/31 - bottom of the Second Division
1933/34 - bottom of the Third Division (South)
2013/14 - bottom of the Premier League
2024/25 - bottom of the Championship

The 2024/25 campaign was the first in which the Bluebirds finished bottom of a 24-team Football League division.

It’s amazing to think that during the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, when the club was often in serious financial trouble and fielding some of the weakest, most hopeless sides in its history, Cardiff City never once finished bottom of a league table, and yet they’ve now done so twice in eleven years while under the control of a multi-millionaire owner.

13/14, I think it was a case of not being ready for the Premier League at the time and the behind the scenes drama between Malky and Tan. We're actually not remembered as one of the absolute worst sides in Premiership history, as that season was quite competitive near the bottom of the table.

28-34. What a time to be a city fan.

Didn't realise we had quite that fall from grace. What happened, we won the fa cup and were just like "completed it mate".

during the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, when the club was often in serious financial trouble and fielding some of the weakest, most hopeless sides in its history
I remember many a Saturday teatime, trudging up and over Ely roundabout with my mates, saying fu*k this, never again, then the next home game would come, and we’d be back down there with rejuvenated vigour 😂😂

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Originally Posted by William Treseder

during the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, when the club was often in serious financial trouble and fielding some of the weakest, most hopeless sides in its history
I remember many a Saturday teatime, trudging up and over Ely roundabout with my mates, saying fu*k this, never again, then the next home game would come, and we’d be back down there with rejuvenated vigour ����

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They were “our” hopeless sides, we were in it together. That’s not currently the case.

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Originally Posted by Trigger

28-34. What a time to be a city fan.

Didn't realise we had quite that fall from grace. What happened, we won the fa cup and were just like "completed it mate".

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1928/29 was a bizarre season even by City’s standards. It began in a very positive fashion with a 7-0 home victory over Burnley which marked the opening of the new Grange End stand. By contrast to the season just ended, the Bluebirds had won three, drawn two and lost two of their first seven games in 1928/29, but things went rapidly downhill from there.

A combination of an ageing squad, injuries to key players, poor signings and a lack of firepower up front saw City end the season with just nine goals and one win (a 1-0 success at Portsmouth) from 21 away games. The Bluebirds failed to score in 17 of their 42 league matches, but amazingly they had the best defensive record in the First Division despite finishing rock bottom of the table.

Sheffield Wednesday finished as champions, having conceded 62 goals, while City were relegated, having conceded just 59. The crowd for the final game of the season, a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ninian Park, was a pitiful 5,738.

The club’s decline from that point was fairly rapid, with the Great Depression apparently playing a part in significantly smaller attendances. By 1934, crowds had dipped to as low as 2,700 for games in the Third Division (South). The final home game of the 1933/34 campaign was a miserable 4-0 defeat to Luton Town witnessed by just 3,080 spectators.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

1928/29 was a bizarre season even by City’s standards. It began in a very positive fashion with a 7-0 home victory over Burnley which marked the opening of the new Grange End stand. By contrast to the season just ended, the Bluebirds had won three, drawn two and lost two of their first seven games in 1928/29, but things went rapidly downhill from there.

A combination of an ageing squad, injuries to key players, poor signings and a lack of firepower up front saw City end the season with just nine goals and one win (a 1-0 success at Portsmouth) from 21 away games. The Bluebirds failed to score in 17 of their 42 league matches, but amazingly they had the best defensive record in the First Division despite finishing rock bottom of the table.

Sheffield Wednesday finished as champions, having conceded 62 goals, while City were relegated, having conceded just 59. The crowd for the final game of the season, a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ninian Park, was a pitiful 5,738.

The club’s decline from that point was fairly rapid, with the Great Depression apparently playing a part in significantly smaller attendances. By 1934, crowds had dipped to as low as 2,700 for games in the Third Division (South). The final home game of the 1933/34 campaign was a miserable 4-0 defeat to Luton Town witnessed by just 3,080 spectators.

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They were in good company that day. While Chelsea were drawing with champions Arsenal in front of 65,000 at Stamford Bridge, Huddersfield had a gate of 4,214, Leicester 6,981, Sheff Utd 4,931, Sunderland 5,926, and Wolves 5,521 - all in the top flight..