November
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Nearly there then. Tomorrow is the big one. The romance that is the FA Cup 3rd round. Cardiff face a daunting task at the Reebok Stadium against Sam Allardyce's Bolton Wanderers. The last time we came up against Allardyce he was managing Notts County, on that day we won 2 - 1, coming from a  goal behid at Ninian Park, as further added enjoyment for the City fans Sam was sent off the bench and relocated in the stand.

Tomorrow will be different. Bolton appear to be taking this game less seriously than the Worthington Cup clash against Wimbledon next week. I hope they roll over and die and let us win the match but the players who will turn out will have a point to prove and they will be trying to keep their place for the Wimbledon game.

I'm not even thinking about a ball in the hat with our number on it for the 4th round draw (takes place on Sunday afternoon btw), if we get a result tomorrow then we can wait for the draw with added excitement.

The squad details appear to be top secret. there is no final confirmation on the 18 players who have travelled. City are though waiting on several players to reach fitness.

Scott Young is struggling and so is Mike Ford, Young could be a serious doubt. It looks as though Jorn Schwinkendorf will make his debut tomorrow alongside Eckhardt and either Ford, Legg, Middleton or Fowler. The midfield all appear to be OK, Jason Bowen has taken a knock as well but there is mystery over Kevin Nugent. He was hoping to play for the reserves yesterday in Swansea but the game was cancelled. Could he be in with a chance for tomorrow??

So for sure we are without Vaughan and Perrett, serious doubt over Young and Nugent and doubt over Ford and Bowen.

Andy Legg is back and will play. Possibly as mentioned earlier in defence.

I will post the starting line up on the match report page at kick off time. I will also post it on the chat room webpage so you can see the team line up when you are in the chat room.

Cardiff City 3rd round stats from John Heyda.
If City can get past Bolton and into the 4th round of the FA Cup, it will mark the third straight year that City has advanced to the 4th round. City hasn't pulled off back to back to back trips to the 4th round since the early 70s, when they advanced at Brighton's expense in 1970-71, beat Sheffield United in the 3rd round in 1971-72, and got past 3rd round opponent Scunthorpe in 1972-73.

Here are some additional items regarding City's 3rd round FA Cup history:

* City's all-time record in 3rd round FA Cup matches stands at 27 wins, 34 losses, and 17 draws.

* At Ninian Park, City's all-time 3rd round record shows 12 wins, 10 losses, and 10 draws. Away from home, City's all-time mark stands at 15 wins, 24 losses, and 5 draws.

* On the face of it, these all-time records do not look that great.  They begin to look a lot better, though, when you consider the very tough opponents City has drawn through the years. City has played 36 of its 78 3rd round matches against top division clubs! That's 46% of all 3rd round matches. During one astonishing stretch beginning in 1976-77, City drew a top- flight opponent six out of a possible seven times.

* City's all-time 3rd round record against top division clubs stands at 11 wins, 17 losses, and 8 draws. City has six wins against top flight opponents since World War II -- West Brom in the 1949-50 competition, Leeds in both 1956-57 and 1957-58, Sheffield United in 1971-72, Tottenham in 1976-77, and Middlesborough in 1993-94. In only one of those seasons was City a top division club as well.

* City has a record of 6 wins, 9 losses, and 2 draws against old 2nd/new 1st division opponents. Against old 3rd/new 2nd division clubs, City stands at 6 wins, 6 losses, and 2 draws. Against old 4th/new 3rd adversaries, City has but six results (2 wins, 3 draws, and a loss).

* When City met Yeovil Town last year, it marked only the second time that the club had met a non-league opponent in the 3rd round.  Peterborough United provided the only other non-league opposition, back in 1953-54. City won that encounter at Ninian, 3-1.

* The most mind-boggling item I found while combing through City's 3rd round history is the quite incredible mid 50's run of matches with Leeds United. For the 3rd round of the 1955-56 competition, City drew Leeds away and beat the then second division side 2-1. The next year City drew Leeds away and won again and by the same 2-1 score (against an Elland Road side now playing in the old first division). Then, in 1957-58, City drew Leeds away in the 3rd round for a third straight year! And, you guessed it, City won 2-1!! Imagine Leeds's relief during the 1958-59 3rd round draw upon learning that they'd get a new opponent for a change. Or, imagine City's dismay! Shouldn't there be a book on this subject?! It'd have to be a great read!

* City's biggest 3rd round win came during the 1921-22 competition, when the Bluebirds blasted Nottingham Forest 4-1 at Ninian Park. City has two 3-0 wins as well, versus Bristol City at Ninian in 1923-24 and at Plymouth in 1958-59.

* City's most lopsided 3rd round defeats: a 6-1 pasting at the hands of Aston Villa at Villa in 1928-29 and a 5-0 loss at Charlton in 1937-38.

* City has never met Bolton in the 3rd round before. On the other hand, the Bluebirds have drawn Leeds five times in the 3rd round!

* City hasn't lost a 3rd round match in ten seasons! Since losing to QPR in a replay to crash out of the 1989-90 competition, City has managed a run of five straight 3rd round matches without a defeat (3 wins, 2 draws). Oddly enough, this unbeaten run covers the same period as City's most barren FA Cup stretch. Following that 3rd round tie with QPR, City made but one 3rd round appearance in the next seven seasons, the club's worst stretch since joining the league in 1920.

* Should City win or draw against Bolton Saturday and extend their unbeaten run in 3rd round matches to six, such a streak would equal the club's all-time mark. During the five successive competitions beginning with the 1923-24 FA Cup, City managed to get through six 3rd round matches without a defeat, winning five and drawing one.

I have picked up the following articles from this mornings press.

From the Daily Mirror.
CARDIFF? I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THEM

CARDIFF CITY suffered an FA Cup slur last night when one of their third round opponents confessed he had never heard of them.

Bolton's Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen makes his Cup debut when Wanderers entertain Cardiff tomorrow.

And Gudjohnsen, 21, admitted: "I've never even heard of Cardiff and I don't even know what league they play in.

"I don't know much about the FA Cup either." Fans of Second Division Cardiff will be only too eager to tell Gudjohnsen about the high point in City's history.

That was in 1927, when the Bluebirds took the FA Cup out of England for the first time, beating Arsenal in the final.

But the former PSV Eindhoven striker has been warned of the giant-killing threat posed by Frank Burrows's side.

"The players say it is a special competition and on paper we should win," said Gudjohnsen. "But they also tell me the Cup is strange."

From TotalWales.
JON HALLWORTH has special reason to relish Cardiff City’s FA Cup trip to Bolton Wanderers tomorrow.

The last time City goalkeeper Hall-worth met the same opponents in the FA Cup his clean sheet booked his side a place at Wembley - to face Manchester United in the 1994 semi-final.

Hallworth was part of the giant-killing Oldham team of the early 1990s that lost two FA Cup semis to United, as well as the 1990 League Cup final to Nottingham Forest.

While acknowledging a win at the Reebok Stadium would still leave Cardiff some way short of the twin towers, Hallworth said a return to Bolton would bring back happy memories.

“We won 1-0 at Bolton in the quarter-final with a goal from Darren Beck-ford,” he said. “I was quite quiet that day, even though they had John McGinlay playing very well at the time.

“It was the only time we ever won at Bolton as Burnden Park (Wanderers’s former ground) was a very tough place to play.” Bolton now enjoy more plush surroundings at the Reebok and Hallworth is looking forward to making his first appearance there. “I’ve heard a lot about it and it’s nice to be playing against higher division opponents,” he said.

“If we can get a draw up there, I think everyone will be happy. You never know what might happen back down here.”

Hallworth said a cup run always lifted a club and would be a great boost for City’s disappointing league campaign.

“We reached the FA Cup semi-final and the League Cup final in one season - 1990 - at Oldham,” he said.

“We ended up playing five games in seven days and missing out on promotion. But I would not swap the memories though - we had some fantastic times in the cups.”