PU PREVIEW 42: CARDIFF CITY

Cardiff City was founded in 1899 as Riverside AFC, changing its name to Cardiff City in 1908. The club joined the English league system in 1910 and became members of the Football League in 1920. Cardiff reached the FA Cup final in 1925, losing to Sheffield United, but won the trophy two years later by defeating Arsenal, and are still the only non-English side to win the competition. They also won the Welsh Cup in the same year, a unique achievement. The club began their existence playing at Sophia Gardens, moving to Ninian Park in 1910 and to their present ground, the Cardiff City Stadium, in 2009. Cardiff entered European competition in the 1960s, their first match coming in the 1964-65 season when they reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup. Two years later, they reached the semi-finals, losing to Hamburg. In 1970-71 they famously defeated Real Madrid at Ninian Park, but eventually lost on aggregate. Cardiff reached the FA Cup final again in 2008 as a Championship club, but lost 1-0 to Pompey. They also reached the League Cup final in 2012, where they lost to Liverpool. The next year saw the club promoted to the Premier League, but they were relegated after one season.

Cardiff are managed by Neil Warnock and finished twelfth in the Championship in the 2016-17 season. The club is nicknamed The Bluebirds.

Pompey have met Cardiff on sixty occasions. Seven meetings have come in the League Cup, with Cardiff winning four and Pompey two, one game being drawn. Pompey won the only FA Cup meeting in the 2008 Final. The most recent Cup meeting was in the League Cup on 8 August 2017, when Cardiff won 2-1 at the Cardiff City Stadium. Of the fifty-two League meetings, Pompey have won twenty, Cardiff eighteen and fourteen were draws. Cardiff won the first meeting in October 1927, and also won the most recent League meeting between the sides in January 2012.

(Information via Wikipedia and www.11v11.com)