MONTHLY NEWSFILE
January 1999

Sunday 31st January 1999

To confirm details for Plymouth away, it is ALL TICKETS for City fans.

We have been allocated 2,640 terrace tickets & 166 seats.

Prices are
Terrace - 8.50 adult / 7.00 children or o.a.p.'s
Seats - 13.00 adults / 11.00 children or o.a.p.'s

The City ticket office is open 10am - 4pm Monday to Friday for callers.
Credit card/Switch/Delta bookings can also be made with a 1.00 booking fee
for the order (i.e. not per ticket)

Ticket office numbers are (01222) 222857 / 222858

Saturday 30th January 1999

CARDIFF CITY 4 - 1 BRENTFORD. Match report.

City served up a five star display to reiterate to the footballing world that they are a class act. The first goal, a header by John Williams on 20 minutes, was provided by a pin point cross from Mark Delaney. Bobby Gould, who was sat in front of me, would have been very impressed by the speed of Delaney's run and acuracy of his cross. Delaney won the Ball from Hreidasson who scored Brentford's winner at Griffin Park. Justice indeed. The second goal was again the result of a perfect cross from Jason Fowler, Jeff Eckhardt met the ball at the far post to make it 2 - 0 on 28 minutes. City were playing some glorious football and it was no shock when the third goal came. This one from Jason Fowler took the crowd's breath away. He picked up the ball 30 yards out took two steps and chipped the most delightfully weighted ball over the keeper. The 11,509 crowd were ecstatic. Brentford got their consolation after Boxall ran onto the ball just outside the box and fired an unstoppable shot into the bottom left hand corner. To put the icing on the cake Kevin Nugent got his foot to the ball after a goalmouth scramble and Super Kev was celebrating his 15th goal of the season. City now go 10 points clear of Brentford and stay 5 points clear of second placed Cambridge.

Friday 29th January 1999

Brentford Preview.
So back to League action tomorrow and the game could not be much bigger. City have a point to prove against Brentford who beat us 1 - 0 at Griffin Park just 5 weeks ago. That day will be remembered by the thousands of City fans who went to Griffin Park. Over 1,500 of them were refused entry due to the ground alledgedly being full. 4,000 did get in and came away disappointed after the single goal defeat. Brentford are 7 points behind City but have two games in hand. Victory for Cardiff will see them climb 10 points away from the Bees and games in hand or not thats a very comforable cushion. Victory for Brentford will give them the oportunity to overtake City by winning the extra matches. A near sell out of approx 13000 is expected at Ninian Park with tickets on sale up to 4pm today only. Memories from Wednesday night must be forgotten now and Cardiff are looking for an 8th consecutive league victory at home. Brentfords away form is not great they have lost 9 matches on their travels this season conceeding 26 goals. They have not drawn a league game all season. The odds must be in Cardiff's favour, it will be a very special occasion.

On the team front City are likely to keep faith in the same XI that started the game at Sheff Utd. Jason Bowens performance after coming on as a sub will surely earn him a place on the bench, possibly instead of Dai Thomas.

Wednesday 27th January 1999

FA CUP Rd 4
SHEFF UTD 4 - 1 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

City crashed out to Sheff Utd tonight after a spirited 1st half which saw the Bluebirds drawing 1 - 1. It all went pear shaped in the first 11 minutes of the second half with City conceding 3 goals. I'm not bitter, all attention now shifts to the game v Brentford at Ninian on Saturday. I'm not saying I'm happy we lost, I'm a realist we did lose and now we must concentrate on promotion. That campaign restarts on Saturday.

Later today City play Sheff Utd in the FA Cup 4th round. We've been to the 4th rd before, only last season we were beaten on penalties by Reading in the 4th rd, if we had won we would have played Sheff Utd in the 5th rd. This time the incentive can come no higher. The winners of tonights clash will play not only the FA Cup holders, but also the current Premiership champions. Arsenal also happen to be the team City beat in 1927 to take the cup out of England for the one and only time. I will not speculate further on the 5th round. The boys tonight have to get past 1st division opposition. If City win this tie it will be an upset in itself. With Steve Bruce as manager Sheff Utd will know from his experience how great the FA Cup is. We must hope that the extra time victory over Notts County last Saturday has taken some of the sharp edge off the Blades.

City have taken an 18 man squad to Sheffield. The starting XI is likely to be Hallworth, Delaney, O'Sullivan, Ford, Eckhardt, Mitchell, Fowler, Carpenter, MIddleton, Nugent and Williams. Subs (5 can be named) from Kelly (g/k), Thomas, Legg, Bowen, Jarman, Phillips and Hill. Jason Bowen could be on the bench for his first taste of football with Cardiff City.

The Sheff Utd squad is. Kelly, Borbokis, Quinn, Henry, Morris, Sandford, Holdsworth, Woodhouse, O'Connor, Ford, Marcelo, Jacobsen, Twiss, Stuart, Devlin and Derry.

Sunday 25th January 1999

City have been given the prefect incentive to beat Sheff Utd next Wednesday. A visit to HIghbury to play the FA Cup holders Arsenal. Personally for me its the best draw possible with my business partner a die hard Gooner. What a fantastic occasion if we manage to get past Sheff Utd.

Fifth round draw
Arsenal v Sheffield United or Cardiff
Wrexham or Huddersfield v Derby
Leeds v Wimbledon or Tottenham
Barnsley v Bristol Rovers
Sheffield Wednesday v Oxford or Chelsea
Everton v Coventry
Newcastle v Blackburn
Manchester United v Fulham
Ties to be played on w/e of February 13/14

Saturday 23rd January 1999

CARDIFF CITY 3 - 2 DARLINGTON. Match report.

City extended their lead at the top of Div 3 to 5 points. This was Cardiff's 7th straight league victory at Ninian Park. After going down 0 - 1 to a first minute goal from Naylor City rallied and equalised in the first half from Richard Carpenter (left, in action v Darlington), his first goal for the Club. City extended the lead on 51 mins with a John Williams header and Craig Middleton seemed to make the game safe with a strike on 81 mins. Darlington then made it an agonising last few mins when they scored their second from Gabbiadini on 87 mins. Brentford's defeat at Rochdale made it a very satisfactory day.

FA CUP Rd 3 REPLAY.
NOTTS C 3 - 4 SHEFF UTD AET

City now go away to Bramall Lane/Sheffield for the FA Cup 4th round. The match is on Wednesday Jan 27th and is ALL TICKET.

FAW CUP DRAW
City will play Swansea in te FAW Cup 1/4 final at home if we beat Rhyl. Draw or lose to Rhyl and we will have Barry away.

City youth go down in South West Trophy league match.
The City youth team were beaten 2 - 1 by Bristol Rovers today depite going 1 - 0 up from Phil Kelly. Its the youngsters second defeat in 1999.

Friday 22nd January 1999

Cardiff stay 4 points clear tonight as promotion rivals Mansfield fell to a 3 - 0 home defeat to Rotherham.

Darlington preview.
Despite two defeats in the last three league games Cardiff will be hot favourites at Ninian Park tomorrow. City have won the last six leagues matches at Ninian while Darlington have picked up only one point of a possible 15 in their last 5 away games. Victory for City will ensure a 4 point cushion at the top of the table (it may be cut to two points tonight if Mansfield beat Rotherham but providing we win tomorrow that will be short lived). Cardiff have overcome the flu bug that has hit the players and apart from Scott Young will have a full strength squad to choose from. A confidence building win will put the team in good spirits for the FA Cup 4th rd tie next Wednesday, as long as Notts C v Sheff Utd goes ahead at Meadow lane tomorrow.

Thursday 21st January 1999

Fixture news.
If the Notts C v Sheff U game is postponed again on Sat, City's fixture away at
Rotherham next Tuesday will not be played anyway. It will remain postponed.

City's away game at Brighton on Wed March 10th has been brought forward to
Tuesday March 9th at the Priestfield Stadium / Gillingham.
The game was originally planned to be at Brightons new ground but not anymore.

City's away game at Exeter on Sat March 20th is an 11am kick off and is all ticket.

Wednesday 20th January 1999

Notts County v Sheff Utd called off.
Tonights FA Cup replay has been postponed. Cardiff will now play Darlington at Ninian Park on Saturday.

Providing the Notts County v Sheff Utd game is played on Saturday Cardiff will travel to meet the winners next Wednesday 27/1/99.

At least we will be in the draw for the 5th round.

Cardiff's match at Rotherham next Tuesday will now be cancelled.

City set to unveil new training facilities.
City are on the verge of opening a new training facility. Covering 12 acres it will include 3 pitches, changing rooms and offices. City currently use Sophia Gardens, Cardiff Athletic Stadium and the University playing fields in Llanrumny. This new centre will belong to Cardiff City Football Club. The project will cost in the region of £200,000 and work will commence on the picthes in April, it will hopefully be finished by the end of the year.

Tuesday 19th January 1999

FAW PREMIER CUP
CARDIFF CITY p v p RHYL. Match report.

Tonights match has been postponed due to the heavy rain that has fallen in Cardiff all day. Details of the new date to follow when available.

A win tonight will see Cardiff win the group and collect over £22,000 in prize money. It will also guarentee a home draw in the 1/4 finals. I expect changes to be made to the side that lost at Peterborough last Saturday, some players will be rested and there will be a chance for some of the squad players to impress. No news yet on whether Jason Bowen will be involved but it is possible.

Full site update after the game. It make take until tomorrow though to get all the information to complete the match report.

Monday 18th January 1999

Ticketing plans.
Providing the replay between Notts County and Sheff Utd takes place this Wednesday 20/1/99 the following arrangements will apply.

If Notts County win.
The match will be played at Meadow Lane on Saturday 23/1/99. Kick off 3pm.
The match will not be all ticket.
Fans can pay at the gate.

If Sheff Utd win.
The match will be played at Bramall Lane on Sunday 24/1/98. Kick off at 3pm.
This game will be all ticket.
Tickets will be on sale from the ticket office at Ninian Park on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. An allocation will be held back for season ticket holders on Thursday only. Tickets for the Upper Stand will be £12 / £7 for concessions. Tickets for the Lower Stand will be £11 / £7 for concessions. Due to the short time in which to buy tickets postal applications will not be accepted, you can though reserve tickets on the phone with your credit cards. Ticket office hours are between 9.30am and 5.30pm. Friday and Saturday Between 9.30am and 4.30pm (Please watch the press for any updates)

Ticket Office Telephone numbers are 01222 222857 or 01222 222858

If the Notts County Sheffield Utd match is postponed it will be played on Saturday the 23rd Jan (the date of the 4th round proper)

If this is the case Cardiff City’s match against Darlington will go ahead as planned.

The following article was published over the weekend.
CARDIFF DUO ATTRACT KEV'S INTEREST
By Sunday Mirror staff

Kevin Keegan has joined the list of managers tracking Cardiff City's young stars Mark Delaney and Jason Fowler.

The Fulham boss, a close friend of Cardiff manager Frank Burrows, made the trek to Yeovil last week to see Cardiff squeeze through to the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Keegan has the cash to spend to boost the London club's promotion bid. And he will continue to monitor the progress of Delaney in particular.

Fulham join a cluster of clubs, including Celtic, Ipswich and Norwich, who are all closely following Delaney.

The 22-year-old right-wing back, who has made startling progress since moving from League of Wales club Carmarthen Town back in the summer, has just signed a new deal with Cardiff committing himself until 2001.

But despite their march to the top of the Third Division, Cardiff would still find it hard to resist a big offer.

Burrows has been busy as a buyer in the transfer market recently, bringing in Welsh internationals Andrew Legg and Jason Bowen from Reading.

That has added to the wage bill of a club still strapped for cash. That position would be massively improved if Cardiff can battle through their fourth round tie at either Sheffield United or Notts County, who replay their third round game on Wednesday.

Saturday 16th January 1999

PETERBOROUGH 2 - 1 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

Cardiff fell to a 93rd minute goal from Giuliano Grazioli (remember him from Stevenage v Newcastle last year). City found themselves in a real battle against a 'boro side who comprehensivley beat Cardiff at Ninian earlier in the season. But it was Cardiff who took the lead on 26 mins from Super Kevin Nugent, City kept the lead until half time but conceeded a goal 50 seconds into the second half from 'boro skipper Castle.
Just as the game looked to be heading for a draw Grazioli popped up with the last touch of the match to head home at the near post deep into injury time. City had barely restared when the final whistle blew. Still four points clear but the chasing pack are closing. Brentford, City's closest rivals were rained off today, Mansfield fell but dark horses Scunthorpe have popped up just 4 points behind Cardiff after a run of four victories.

Friday 15th January 1999

Preview of Posh v City.
3 points again tomorrow would keep us ahead of the chasing pack and not embroil us into the scrap unfolding in our wake. Cardiff go into the match high on confidence, Frank Burrows will not let that slip into complacency. 4 points clear in Div 3, we are in the 4th round of the FA Cup, the Bluebirds are definately flying high. City go into the game beaten only 3 times away in the league this season and on a run that has seen us win 6 out of the last 7 league games. New signing Jason Bowen will not play but City will take a full squad to London Road. I would expect 9 of the team to be, Hallworth, Delaney, Mitchell, Ford, Eckhardt, O'Sullivan, Carpenter, Nugent and Williams. The other two midfield places between Hill, Fowler, Middleton and Legg. The two that miss out being on the bench possibly with Dai Thomas.

Thursday 14th January 1999

Jason Bowen signs for Cardiff City.
As reported earlier this week City have signed up midfielder Jason Bowen on a free transfer from Reading. Bowen is back in training after a foot injury so will not be thrown into the game v Peterboro on the weekend. He may be considered as a substitute for the Rhyl game next Tuesday. The arrival of another midfielder makes the battle to get into the team very keen indeed (unlike the Osman days when it was impossible to get out of the team, no matter how bad you were). The 26 year old, Merthyr born player adds more quality to the Bluebirds squad, along with Andy Legg and Danny Hill, all three of whom had been playing in the first division this season.

Wednesday 13th January 1999

Latest ticket news from Ninian Park.
After Cardiff City’s victory against Yeovil Town last night, they now face the winner of 2^nd Division Notts County against 1^st Division Sheffield United.

Ticket information will be available within the next 48 hours on Clubcall.

Tickets presently on sale at Ninian Park are for the away match against Peterborough on 16^th January 1999, which is all ticket for Cardiff Supporters and the home match against Brentford on 30^th January 1999. The Brentford match is again an all ticket home fixture.

We have been informed that the forthcoming away matches against Exeter and Rochdale are all ticket. Again ticket information will be released in ample time for ticket sales.

Ticket Office Telephone numbers are 01222 222857 or 01222 222858

Tuesday 12th January 1999

FA CUP Rd 3 replay.
YEOVIL 1 - 2 CARDIFF CITY AET. Match report.

After leading until the 86th minute after a Jeff Eckhardt goal on 43 minutes, Cardiff survived the scare of an 86th minute equaliser from Yeovil. City started extra time and scored immediately after a Tony Pennock error in the Yeovil goal, the grateful Kevin Nugent putting the ball in the net. It should never have needed extra time as City wasted chance after chance during normal time but the fact is WE ARE IN THE NEXT ROUND. The replay between Notts County and Sheff Utd was postponed tonight so we will have to wait until next week to find out who our opponents will be.

Jason Bowen set to sign this week for City. Bowen was at Ninian park yesterday talking contracts and terms. The 26 year old is available on a free transfer from Reading. The right sided attacking midfielder started his career with Swansea before moving onto Birmingham City for £350,000 in July 95. After a brief loan spell with Southampton he signed for Reading in December 97 for £200,000. Bowen, like Andy Legg who joined City last month, is out of favour with Reading boss Tommy Burns. Jason has two full Welsh caps. Up until the end of last season he had scored 49 career goals.

No pitch inspection is planned at Yeovil, the weather is improving and Yeovil are confident the game will go ahead. Please check with Yeovil before you travel.

Frank Burrows is set to name the same starting XI that comfortably beat Hartlepool last weekend.

www.cardiffcity.co.uk will be active during the match tonight. I will keep the news ticker up to date with latest scores and the chatroom will also be active for the match. Full site update, hopefully including goals will follow later in the evening.

Preview of tonights game.
Here we go again, more nail biting and shouting at the radio. Cardiff travel to Huish Park, Yeovil for tonights FA Cup replay. At the moment the weather is atrocious, heavy rain has been falling for most of the morning. Just adds to the Cup flavour. City take a full strength squad but Burrows will delay naming his side as there is a flu bug in the camp, John Williams, Richard Carpenter, Jason Fowler and others have been affected. City must again be aware of Carl Dale, his goal at Ninian earned the non league team this match tonight. Yeovil welcome James Al Hannigan back to their team, the 27 year old defender played in the Enfield side that beat City in the Cup a few years back, don't let that be a problem though, he also played against City in the Rushden and Diamonds team that Cardiff beat in the FA Cup. The game game will be a near 9000 sell out. Yeovil is gripped by Cup fever and will feel they have every chance to go through, the weather at the moment is certainly going to make it a bit of a lottery. Cardiff though are professionals, we are going through a great period at the moment and I would expect us to win. I predict a 2 - 0 victory for Cardiff.

The Times Newspaper 12th January 1999
THINK of a giant-killing act in the FA Cup and Yeovil Town spring to mind.
At Huish Park tonight, the Somerset club will attempt to claim their
nineteenth victory against Football League opposition when they face Cardiff
City in a third-round replay.

Yeovil, from the Football Conference, almost extended their scalping record
at the first attempt when they were denied only by a late equaliser in the
1-1 draw at Ninian Park ten days ago. Cardiff, the Nationwide League third
division leaders, won 4-1 at home to Hartlepool United on Saturday.

Fifty years ago, Yeovil reached the fourth round of the Cup for the only
time in their history after wins against Romford, Weymouth and Bury. Their
2-1 win against Sunderland, then of the first division, still ranks as one
of the competition's greatest upsets, even though they were subsequently
humbled 8-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford in the fifth round.

Yeovil or Cardiff will play the winners of tonight's replay between
Sheffield United and Notts County at Meadow Lane. Steve Bruce, in his first
season as United's player manager, is prepared to select himself after
criticising his team for a lack of passion and spirit during the 1-1 draw at
Bramall Lane ten days ago.

His comments irked Notts County, who felt that they deserved more credit for
holding United to a draw. Fifth from bottom of the second division, County
have suffered eight defeats at home this season and Sam Allardyce, the
manager, admits he needs to strengthen the team.

Monday 11th January 1999

Delaney and Hallworth commit themselves to Bluebirds.
Mark Delaney 22, and Jon Hallworth 33, have both signed one year extensions their contracts. Both players are now signed up until Summer 2001. Delaney has been the target many clubs in recent weeks but has pledged his immediate future to Cardiff City. His first aim is to be a division 2 player with Cardiff next season. Frank Burrows has kept his word, he gave Delaney a basic 2 year deal last summer and told Delaney he would improve it if he did well.  Mark has certainly done that and has earned an extension and better terms.

Swansea youth 1 - 0 Cardiff youth
City youth fell to their Swansea counterparts on the weekend. Cardiff dominated but ended up frustrated and had two players shown the red card. Warren Givans hit the post, Phil Owen hit the crossbar before Steven George was sent of for two bookable offences. Lee Skelley was booked during the game but received a red card after the final whistle for dissent.
The next fixture for the youth is on Sat 16th at home (Treforest) to Bashley k.o 11am.

Sunday 10th January 1999

Tickets available for Yeovil and Peterboro.
Still 500+ Yeovil tickets available - terrace only (£10+£5) on sale at Clubs
new ticket office Monday 11th Jan 10am-4pm. Credit cards also accepted:
Tel 01222-222-857 or 01222-222-858
(currently also 10am-4pm Mon-Fri,The ticket office will be open 9-12am
match days)

Peterborough away tickets also on sale

NO OTHER TICKETS ON SALE YET

Season Tickets are currently off sale - hundreds were sold last week taking
total to around 2,000

Brentford at home is all ticket.
The game at home to Brentford on Jan 30th is all ticket to all fans. Brentford have been allocated just over 500 Grandstand tickets.

Saturday 9th January 1999

CARDIFF CITY 4 - 1 HARTLEPOOL. Match report.

Cardiff tightened their grip at the top of Div 3 today with a comfortable home win against Hartlepool. Goals from Wayne O'Sullivan (4), Kevin Nugent (12), Jeff Eckhardt (67) and Craig Middleton (68) wrapped up a fine victory. Ian Clark scored a consolation on 70 minutes for Harlepool. City's nearest rivals Brentford went down to a 3 - 1 defeat at Mansfield giving City a four point lead.

Mark Bonner, who is on loan at Hull, scored the Tiger's only goal as they beat play off contenders Rotherham. Carl Dale City's ex striker who scored for Yeovil last week against us was again on target for Yeovil today as he scored the winner to give Yeovil a 3 - 2 at Southport. Cardiff travel to Yeovil on Tuesday for the FA 3rd round replay.

Friday 8th January 1999

Hartlepool preview.
Beardsley's back, the must travelled former England Intnl and multi million pound player faces up to Cardiff for the third time this season. Beardsley was in both Fulham teams that beat us in the Worthington Cup, scoring the Londoner's second goal at Ninian Park. Hartlepool look to be easy meat for City tomorrow but then no games are being taken for granted. Hartlepool have earned one point in their last 6 matches, that coming last weekend against Cambridge, the previous 5 games were all lost. City's home league record is impressive 5 straight wins leading up to tomorrows game. Victory will ensure City stay top of Div 3, second placed Brentford travel to fourth placed Mansfield, victory for Mansfield would leave Cardiff in the driving seat providing we complete our mission at Ninian Park. Brentford would then be 4 pts behind us again with only one game in hand. Either way Brentford failing to win will be a good result for Cardiff.

Competition for places is again a major issue, Richard Carpenter and John Williams have both recovered from flu and are both expected to play. Kevin Nugent will partner Williams up front. The midfield is the problem area, a nice problem though, several fit and eager players all wanting to play, Jason Fowler and Wayne O'Sullivan should both be fit after themselves having the flu. Danny Hill, Craig Middleton and Andy Legg are all vying for a start. Mark Delaney is a sure thing at right wingback and due to the injury to Scott Young, Jeff Eckhardt will continue to play in the back three with skipper Mike Ford and Graham Mitchell. Opinion is that Andy Legg will get his full home debut after playing well at Rhyl earlier in the week. Frank Burrows may name a creative middle three with Danny Hill and Jason Fowler playing off middle man Carpenter. This leaves O'Sullivan and MIddleton on the bench. I would think they will be joined by midweek hatrick man Dai Thomas.

Bonner loan move is confirmed.
As reported here early this morning morning Mark Bonner has joined Hull City on a months loan.

Mark Bonner gone to Hull?
I've heard a whisper that Mark Bonner has joined Hull City on loan. More when I get it.

Wednesday 6th January 1999

Mark Delaney gets the call.
Bobby Gould has confirmed that Mark Delaney will be included in the Wales B squad for the match v Northern Ireland in Wrexham on Tuesday Feb 9th. Well done to Mark and to Frank Burrows for giving him the chance to prove himself at this level.

City win goalscoring award.
Cardiff have won the third division award for being top scorers in December. The Club will receive a plaque and a £500 donation to Frank Burrows' favourite charity. The Bluebirds scored 10 goals in their 5 league matches.

Brentford are innocent, according to Brentford that is...
Brentford have cleared themselves of any wrongdoing at the game v City last week when over 1500 fans were locked out. They lay the blame on Cardiff City for failing to advise them of correct information. They also refuse to to accept they were told by S.Wales Police that there would be a bigger then expected number of fans travelling. Brentford say they were only informed on Christmas Eve that there could be massive support coming from Cardiff, too late for any new measures to be taken. The Police also say that Peter Gilham the spokesperson at Brentford assured them that they had contingency plans, Gilham, has since denied that Brentford had confirmed they had a contingency plan. All that seems to be coming from Brentford now is waffle. Its a further slap in the face to the fans who missed out.

For the return game at Ninian Park Brentford have been allocated 500 tickets for Block A of the Grandstand only. Those places will be all ticket.

All ticket matches.
Cardiff's away games at Peterborough (Sat Jan 16th) and at Exeter (Sat March 20th) have been made all ticket. Tickets for the game v 'boro are on sale at Ninian Park from today. The kick off time v Exeter has been moved to 1100 hrs.

More news......
Gareth Stoker mad a succesful return to competitive action last night when he played for the last 15 minutes against Rhyl. Mark Bonner played the full match along with Lee Jarman, Andy Legg, Seamus Kelly and Dai Thomas, all players trying to get back into the first choice XI. Goods accounts were given by all players with special highlights to Dai Thomas' hattrick and solid performance's from Andy Legg and Lee Jarman. Legg is a real possibility for the starting line up on Saturday against Hartlepool, Richard Carpenter will be back and Jason Fowler will play, with Mark Delaney a sure thing only one midfield place is left for either Danny Hill, Craig Middleton or Wayne O'Sullivan. legg provided a constant battery of crosses last night but the ideal man to finish them off, Kevin Nugent, was rested. Maybe on Saturday we can see the pair together.

As reported earlier in the week Cardiff are trying to increase capacity at Ninian Park. The Grange End will be open to home fans for league matches for the remainder of this season, starting this weekend against Hartlepool. A new ticketing system is being looked at, Ceri Whitehead is in Wrexham today looking at their system and the system used at Wembley has been looked at. The Club say they a new system will be ordered later this month.

Tuesday 5th January 1999

FAW Premier Cup
RHYL 0 - 4 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

Dai Thomas fired a hattrick against Rhyl tonight and set Cardiff up nicely to win the group. Thomas struck in the 22nd, 29th and 90th minutes, the second and third goals an overhead kick from 10 yards and a volley from 18 yards respectively. Rob Earnshaw scored City's other goal on 87 minutes. After Cardiff completely dominated the first half Rhyl put up a fair fight in the second but were put to the sword in the last 4 minutes.

IMPORTANT TICKET NEWS.......Press release from Ninian Park.
Cardiff City have announced arrangements for the sale of their 2,200 ticket
allocation for their third round replay with Yeovil next Tuesday - kick off
7.45pm.
Season Ticket Holders and members of the Cardiff City Supporter's Club can
purchase tickets for the game on Wednesday and Thursday by either calling
at the club or by phoning and booking via a credit card.
Any tickets remaining after Thursday will go on general sale on Friday and
again fans can purchase tickets either by calling at the club or via credit
card.
Any remaining tickets after Friday will go on general sale on Monday. The
club has stressed that no tickets for the Yeovil game will be on sale
during Saturday.
Fans who are unable to purchase a tickets are advised not to travel, as the
game is certain to be a sell out and no further tickets will be available
to Cardiff City fans on the day.

Rhyl preview.
Cardiff travel to Rhyl tonight looking for victory that will (i), guarentee a place in the knock out stages and (ii), put them in pole position to win the group and claim the £15000 for being group winners. There will be a few changes to the normal team tonight as John Williams and Richard Carpenter are still suffering from the flu. Mark Bonner is expected to start and there will be a place on the bench for Gareth Stoker. I would imagine Dai Thomas, Lee Jarman, Rob Earnshaw etc will all expect to be involved.

Monday 4th January 1999

Yeovil tickets available first to season ticket holders.
Cardiff have been allocated 1763 terrace and 500 stand tickets for the FA Cup replay at Yeovil on Tuesday Jan 12th @ 7:45pm. Tickets are likely to be sold first to season ticket holders on Wednesday Jan 6th. Prices are £12 and £6 for the seats and £10 and £5 for the terrace. Cardiff City Supporters Club will get second chance at the tickets with the general public getting whats left.

Ninian Park capacity row.
Due to the bad weather and dodgy gutterings Cardiff had to restrict the crowd at last Saturdays game, as a result nearly 1500 seats were lost causing some home fans to be locked out. The club say they are currently trying to make arrangements to get the capacity back up to 14000. Work has started today to put the guttering problem right so we should get back to the 14000 mark fairly soon. A City safety officer is working with The Safety Advisory Group to reach this goal. They say that new seating is planned for the BobBank Terrace and starting this Saturday home fans will be given the Grange End back for all League matches (cup competitions are different as we have to allocate a higher percentage of tickets to away supporters). Certain home league matches will become all ticket and they will be decided on a match to match basis. A new compuerised ticketing system should help to ease some of these problems.

The sudden overnight transformation from crowds of 4 - 5,000 to sell out matches has taken everybody by suprise. I understand the problems that have been created for the Club but they must act quickly, if we continue to stay at the top of the table there will be more matches with crowds over 12000, esp Brentford and Swansea, lets get it sorted.

Kevin Ratcliffe has won the December Manager of the Month award.
No award last month for Frank Burrows, Cardiff went to the top of the table on December 1st and apart from about 19 hours when Mansfield briefly went top on goals scored, we have remained there, the only blemish on the month was the defeat at Brentford, we won all our other matches, 4 league and 1 FA Cup.

Sunday 3rd January 1999

FA Cup 4th round Draw

Norman Hunter and Nobby Stiles drawing the teams in todays draw

Cardiff or Yeovil have been drawn away in the 4th round of the FA Cup, a less than glamorous tie at either Sheff Utd or Notts County awaits the winners of the replay at Huish Park on Jan 12th. The Sheff Utd v Notts County replay is being played at the same time. The undoubted tie of the 4th rd is the Old Trafford clash between Man Utd and Liverpool.

Full draw is

Sheffield Wed v Stockport
Wolves v Preston NE/Arsenal
Bristol Rovers v Leyton Orient
Wrexham v Huddersfield
Portsmouth v Rushden & Diamonds/Leeds
Oxford v Chelsea
Sheffield Utd/Notts Co v Cardiff/Yeovil
Swindon/Barnsley v Bournemouth
Newcastle v Bradford
Leicester v Coventry
Aston Villa v Southampton/Fulham
Blackburn v Sunderland
West Ham/Swansea v Derby
Manchester Utd v Liverpool
Wimbledon v Spurs
Everton v Ipswich

Ties to be played w/e of Jan 23rd.

Saturday 2nd January 1999

FA CUP Round 3.
CARDIFF CITY 1 - 1 YEOVIL TOWN. Match report.

Cardiff produced a late equaliser from Kevin Nugent on 84 minutes to stay alive in this seasons FA Cup. Nugent scored Cardiff's 50th competitive goal this season after City's 12th corner from 13 in the match. Part timers Yeovil scored against the run of play on 54 minutes from City old boy Carl Dale (he just had to score did'nt he). The match was a true full blooded cup tie, it had it all. It was played for long periods in torrential rain in front of 12,561 fans, City's biggest crowd of the season. In my opinion the real winners today were the Yeovil fans, they were outstanding and made it a great occasion. The flare they set off which was burning when they scored looked brilliant. City dominated for long periods but failed in front of goal. Yeovil battled hard and could easily have won the game.

The Cardiff goal was credited to substitute Christian Roberts but in the after match interviews Nugent said it was his, Roberts agreed he never touched the ball.

The draw for the 4th round is on Sunday Jan 3rd. The replay is at Yeovil on Tuesday 12th January at 7:45pm.

Preview from the Electronic Telegraph
CARDIFF v YEOVIL
ON the last occasion Yeovil reached the fourth round of
the FA Cup, 50 years ago, they beat Sunderland. Yeovil
have beaten 18 League teams and this is their 13th visit
to the third round. They face a team who have had to play
10 non-League teams this decade, losing to Enfield, Bath
and Hayes; in the 1990s the Welshmen have reached the
fourth round only twice. Jeff Eckhardt may start for the
first time in two months while Danny Hill is also likely to
return. Yeovil's Al-James Hannigan and Murray Fishlock
are suspended, Dean Chandler and Darren Keeling
Cup-tied. They include former Cardiff striker Carl Dale,
who scored 102 goals for the Welshmen - including four
in last season's FA Cup run.

Replay if required: Jan 12 (7.45pm).
Cup odds.- Cardiff (750-1):  Yeovil (5,000-1)
Referee: M Pierce (Portsmouth).

Preview from Soccernet.
Dale aims for happy return to the valleys
Saturday, January 2, 1999

Former Cardiff striker Carl Dale aims to continue Yeovil's giant-killing
exploits and earn them a place in the fourth round draw - by dumping
his old team-mates out of the FA Cup at Ninian Park.
Dale scored 102 goals in 233 games for Cardiff during a seven-year
spell at the Third Division club.
The 32-year-old Dale, now an engineer, was forced to leave Cardiff in
the summer because of ankle and shoulder injuries. He joined Yeovil
and now he and strike partner Warren Patmore want to follow the win
over Northampton by firing the part-timers to further Cup glory against
the Third Division leaders.
He said: 'Cardiff may be flying high, but we play better away from home
and we will run until we drop.'

Friday 1st January 1999

Happy New year to all Bluebirds everywhere.

Yeovil preview.
The crowd congestion at Brentford and at Ninian Park a week ago should issue a clear message to all supporters going to Ninian Park tomorrow without a ticket get there early. The game is not all ticket to home fans but several thousand have already been sold from Ninian Park and there is only 11,500 spaces available for home supporters, Yeovil have sold out their 2,600 tickets. We do not want a lock out like we had at Brentford last Monday when over 1500 Cardiff fans were unable to see the game.

As far as the game itself goes its a massive occasion for both clubs with the potential of a premiership club in the next round. Cardiff will be without Scott Young who is out for several weeks after injuring himself last Monday at Brentford. Jeff Eckhardt will probably keep his place after replacing Scott after 13 minutes at Griffin Park. Jeff will join Graham Mitchell and Mike Ford in the back three. I would think that Nugent and Willimas up front will once again pick themselves, Mark Delaney, Richard Carpenter and Wayne O'Sullivan are likely to keep their places, the question mark comes with two from Jason Fowler, Danny Hill and Craig Middleton to be selected, last Saturday it was Hill and Fowler when we won 3 - 0, when we lost on Monday it was Fowler and Middleton. I'm not saying the combination had anything to do with the results as the circumstances were different.

Yeovil come into the match as recognised giant killers. There will be a lot of media attention on this game with many people wanting to see the minnows take a league scalp. I believe that Yeovil are unbeaten away from home this season and they did beat 2nd div Northampton in rd 2. I'm sure though that Frank and the boys will be prepared and will not under estimate the threat of Carl Dale and his colleagues. I wish Carl all the best at Yeovil, he was a great sevant to Cardiff, I hope he has a very successful time there but after Saturday, not on saturday.

Yeovil / Carl Dale report from Electronic Telegraph

Brentford breakdown.
Due to holidays etc I have not been able to keep you fully up to date with the Brentford fiasco. For those who are not aware here is a rough breakdown.

On Monday City took nearly 5000 to Brentford, the game was not all ticket and Brentford only had an away fans facility for some 2-2500 fans. As it turned out over 1000 were refused entry into the ground. City fans were located all over the ground. Before the match Brentford were warned of the possible crowd size and said they had contingency plans, on the day it all went pear shaped, there was no aditional facilities at Brentford and poor stewarding, confusion reigned. Fortunately most of the people who missed the game were very responsible about it and although very angry were also very peaceful. I don't think there were any arrests.

Both individuals and the Supporters Club have written to Brentford complaining of the way they felt they were treated, of the broken promises by Brentford and of the misinformation that was given. The ones who have received reponses from them have been told it was all Cardiff's fault for bringing so many people. It was apparant in S.Wales that this would be a well supported game but Brentford say they were told that only a couple of thousand would turn up.

Mistakes have been made all round, the ones to suffer again were the fans. I hope a lesson has been learned here especially now as we are on a roll and attendances for City matches will be on the up for the rest of the season. The final warning came last Saturday when nearly 12,500 came to watch Cardiff play Shrewsbury at Ninian Park, tomorrow against Yeovil the crowd will be over 13000, and in 4 weeks time we play the return league fixture against Brentford, its virtually assured to be a sell out.

The following was an article from the Western Mail outlining the possible repercussions....

Brentford were unrepentant about their handling of the situation. Gilham said, "We were not told until Christmas Eve that so many Cardiff fans would be at the match. "It was obviously too late to make the game all-ticket. The problem was that too many Cardiff fans turned up. "What were we supposed to do? Let them into areas reserved for home supporters. "I feel sympathy for the people who could not get into the ground, but if we had let them in journalists could be writing about full-scale riots rather than people not getting in to see a game of football.""