July
Newsfile

Newsfile Archive

Cardiff City have spent relatively little time in the third tier of
the English League (old 3rd Division, new 2nd).  All together, the
Bluebirds have spent 15 seasons at the top level, 32 at the second
level, 17 at the third, and 10 at the fourth.  However, if you deduct
nine straight seasons spent in the old Division 3-South (1931-32 thru
1946-47), you'll find that City have only ever spent eight years in
the old 3rd/new 2nd, first opened for business in 1958.

Of those eight seasons of postwar, third-tier football, only two were
successful, the first two.  Back in 1975-76, City dipped into the old
Third following relegation but finished as runnersup and bounced right
back up to the Second.  Again in 1982-83, City played in the old Third
following relegation and again went straight back up with another
second-place finish.  It wasn't until the 1985-86 campaign that City
began to struggle at the third level.  In that season they followed up
relegation to the Third with a second straight relegation season,
finishing 22nd. City was summarily dumped in the Fourth Division for
the first time in history.  Though City have managed to win no fewer
than four promotions since the back-to-back relegations of 1984-85 and
1985-86, the first three of those trips back up to the third tier have
netted only five seasons at just-above-the-basement level with no
better than a 16th place finish to show for any of them.

If City can finish at least 15th, then, it will mark the Bluebirds'
best third-tier-or-better finish in 17 years, since 1984-85, when they
played in the old Second Division.  With the way City have played in
the preseason, it looks as though 15th should be well within reach.

Not only have City spent little time at the third level of the
English League, they have had less success there than at any of the
others.  An easy way to see this, I think, is to look at how often
City have managed to finish in the top half of the table, level by
level.  Then City's ineptitude in the old Third/new Second Division
really stands out.

Let's look at seasons spent at each level again, but this time
include top-half and bottom-half finishes as well: 

* Top level (old Division 1) - 15 seasons, six of them featuring
top-half finishes.  That's a 40% "success" rate. 

* Second level (old Division 2) - 32 seasons, 14 of them in the top
half, or 44% of the time. 

* Third level (old Div 3/new Div 2 only) - eight seasons, only two in
the top half, a 25% rate. 

* Third level (old Division 3-S only) - nine seasons, three in the
top half, or 33%. 

* Fourth level (old Div 4/new Div 3 only) - 10 seasons, six in the
top half, a 60% rate.

Looking at things this way, you can see that the third tier has
always been tough for City, even back to the days before 1958, when
the third was divided into 3-N and 3-S and the Third was the lowest
you could go.  While City have fared worst in the old Third/new
Second, their next worst performances were in the old 3-S.

Grand totals for City show 74 seasons in the English League, 31 of
them resulting in top-half-of-the-table finishes, with the other 43
bottom-half finishes.  In short, City have made it to the top half of
the 74 league tables 42% of the time. 

John Heyda