Originally Posted by
the other bob wilson
A hundred years ago, Cardiff was, arguably, at its most powerful and influential as it was still a thriving port on the back of all that exporting of coal and, from this distance, it's surprising that a place of such importance only made it into the Football League just as Cardiff's status was beginning to decline in the run up to the Depression and General Strike,
My guess is that Cardiff City's place in lists like Eric's would be a fair bit higher if we'd, say, joined the Football League at the time Riverside FC came about in 1899.
I would argue that the first fifty years of City's existence in the Football League is more successful in terms of major trophies contested and time spent in the top flight than the second one, despite the city and surrounding areas being in something of a decline between 1920 and 1970. Okay, the partial recovery of the city in particular since 1970 has not restored it to its former glories, but its football and rugby clubs have still under achieved in the past half a century when it comes to matching the prosperity and status of the city they represent.