The 6ft 4in striker combined playing for Stevenage with a full-time job as a clerical officer in London.

He is a late arrival into league football - when he left Stevenage for Gillingham in a £5,000 deal he was already 23.

“I never thought professional football has passed me. I was getting on a bit but the Conference is a good standard,” said the former Rotherham player who dropped down a division to sign for the Bluebirds last week.

“A lot of sides who come up do well - Macclesfield, Colchester, Barnet, Wycombe - the list is endless. I was happy playing football in the Conference.”

He had a thorough non-league grounding, playing for Dagenham, Dartford and Bishops Stortford before graduating to the Conference.

“I’m sure there are a lot who could make it full-time but they don’t move because of what they earn part-time on top of their full-time job,” he added.

The fee Sam Hammam paid for Fortune-West breaks the club transfer fee record City paid San Jose Earthquakes for striker Godfrey Ingram in 1983.

The Stratford-born forward, who scored 17 league goals in Rotherham’s promotion campaign last season, said the fact he is City’s costliest ever player does not bother him.

“I don’t feel pressure. Not me,” he smiled. “I’ve done this division for a few years. I know what it’s about really.

“I was surprised I was the record signing because by today’s standard £300,000 is not a huge amount. Considering the chairman the club has, I don’t think I’ll be the last player to come in for that amount.”

He was first linked with the Bluebirds three years ago when Kenny Hibbitt era was in charge of City and Fortune-West was playing for the Bluebirds. The giant striker turned down a move to South Wales.

“I came down and met the people in charge. I looked around, talked and then made my decision,” he recalled.

“I didn’t feel the club has potential then. You look at the squad, see how the team is doing and make your decision. That’s what I did.”

Fortune-West, who is staying in a city centre hotel, will almost certainly make his City debut tonight, against bottom-club Halifax Town at Ninian Park.

“I was sad to leave Rotherham. My wife was very settled there. We’ve just had a baby and I miss them, but I’m sure we’ll settle here pretty soon.

“It was a big decision for me to make. Cardiff has potential and a good manager and chairman while Rotherham are in Division Two, so it was difficult.

“I would only have gone to a Third Division club which could get out of the division immediately.

“There was only one other Third Division I would have signed for. It’s not a city and it doesn’t have as big a fan base, but the club is similar to Cardiff in that they’ve signed a lot of players.”

He scored 12 goals in his first season with Gillingham, struggled at Lincoln and Brentford (he scored one league goal for Lincoln, none for Brentford) before rediscovering his touch at Rotherham.

“My record has been OK. You’re never happy with the amount you score. You think you can score more but I’ve not got a bad record.

“I know for sure that if Cardiff do well this season, we will do well the next. We can go further because it’s a big city.”

As a member of the opposition Fortune-West never played at Ninian Park. Only once has he faced the Bluebirds - in 1995, when he was playing for Gillingham on Priestfield’s puddle-strewn pitch. He scored the only goal of the game that wet afternoon in Kent.

“If I play against Halifax it will be an important game for me. I’ve scored on some debuts, not others. I just want to get on with it.”

Halifax, with only three points, currently prop up the Third Division and they lost 5-1 at Mansfield on the weekend.

But City’s newest recruit believes The Shaymen will be no pushovers. “It’s very difficult to play against a side who was trounced the previous Saturday because everyone is expecting us to win. These are the hardest games to play.”

He watched City’s last game, the 1-1 home draw against Brighton, from the Director’s Box. “We’ve not had the best of starts - it’s been a bit mixed - so I think a crowd of 7,000 was a good return.