Stant for me.
Maybe not the greatest, but certainly my favouritest
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He may not have scored the greatest number of goals but for sheer fox in the box and what the feck is he going to do next its Michael Chopra
Gilligan was good , hemmerman was great till be crocked his knee at Bristol rovers , loved stantona too but chopra was the real deal , assisted by Thompson , a great target man
Stant for me.
Maybe not the greatest, but certainly my favouritest
carld dale and jay bothroyd in his prime
most overated peter thorne
Technically speaking, I haven't seen a better striker down the City than Jay Bothroyd. He could do everything, skilful, good finisher, powerful shot, could pass, good link up play and was actually quite quick for a tall bloke. If only the attitude matched and he would have a lot more than just the 1 England cap in my view. (although he wouldn't end up at City if that's the case!).
I've only been going down since around 2001 so don't have the experience some here do, but we were very blessed with forwards when we could boast Chopra and Bothroyd as a front 2! Shame we were a soft touch back then.
Jay Bothroyd
The greatest centre forward ever to play for Cardiff City must be John Charles. Well past his best years when he came to us but in his prime a true football legend ( a proper one not a “media speak” one). Was voted both the best centre half and the best centre forward in Europe during his career and is one of a very small number of foreign players in the Juventus Hall of Fame
John Charles, end of thread !!!!!
Bothroyd was probably the best all round player. But Chops had a real sense of positioning and an eye for goal.
Chops.
Not only a goal scorer, but an intelligent player too. Would take defenders away from the ball when he didn't have it to make space for others.
Chopra in my time.In my fathers Gerry Hitchens
Full name Gerald Archibald Hitchens
Date of birth 8 October 1934
Place of birth Rawnsley, Staffordshire, England
Date of death 13 April 1983 (aged 48)
Place of death Hope, Clwyd, Wales
Playing position Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1952–1953 Highley Miners Welfare
1953–1955 Kidderminster Harriers 14 (6)
1955–1957 Cardiff City 95 (40)
1957–1961 Aston Villa 132 (78)
1961–1962 Internazionale 39 (17)
1962–1965 Torino 89 (28)
1965–1967 Atalanta 58 (10)
1967 → Chicago Mustangs (loan) ? (1)
1967–1969 Cagliari 19 (4)
1969–1971 Worcester City 51 (25)
1971 Merthyr Tydfil 6 (0)
National team
1961–1962 England 7 (5)
Based on how 'great' a player was, John Charles was in a league of his own. I don't think any other centre forwards we've had could be categorised as great.
Personally, I would rate John Toshack as very good, if not Liverpool wouldn't have snapped him up.
Bothroyd and Chopra were both good and at times very good.
Of the rest I would say that Carl Dale, Earnie, Stant, Alston, Tony Evans were just below that level.
Derek Showers.....in a category all by himself !
Bothroyd, Stant and Carl Dale.
Also would rather have kept Ross McCormack than Chisora 2nd time around.
Oh and Brian Clark possibly a tad below Chopra and Bothroyd.
Brian Clark, John Toshack, Alan Warboys.Tony Evans, Adrian Alston, Jimmy Gilligan, Kevin Bartlett, Michael Chopra and Jay Bothroyd were all favourites of mine. Chopra was definitely a class act. Others like Andy McCulloch, Phil Stant, Chris Pike, Carl Dale I liked too.
Bothroyd for me, he was unplayable on his day.
Eddie Johnson![]()
Bothroyd.
Bothroyd in terms of raw ability. As a finisher and goal scorer, my favourite has to be Earnshaw.
Gary Lineker outside the lord sandwich
Peter Thorne was a hell of a footballer, not in the same league as Charles & Tosh obviously but for some to dismiss him out of hand is a bit unfair, the season we got back to this division he played every single game including the play offs and got the vital semi final goal. Although I saw John Charles in a City shirt I think it’s Tosh for me, young, hungry, a goal maker and scorer whereas John Charles, a genuine legend but he was a bit past it by the time he signed for us.
Honourable mentions for Chris Pike and Gary"Basil" Stevens. Neither were the most skilfull forwards but both had good goalscoring records for us and we paid peanuts for them.