MONTHLY NEWSFILE
NOVEMBER 1998

Monday 30th November 1998

Bluebirds aim to soar to the top of Division 3.
City make the long journey North to Carlisle tomorrow knowing the a win will put them on top of Division 3. Providing Scott Young is passed fit after a knock against Southend, the starting XI will be the same as it has been for the last 3 matches. Cardiff will be looking for another powerful performance, hopefully this time for 90 minutes. While rarely troubled in the second half against Southend, Cardiff must be careful not to throw games away like they did against Swansea.

Join the chatroom for coverage of tomorrow's game.
The chatroom will be in full swing during tomorrow's match when overseas Bluebirds will be able to keep in touch with the happenings at Brunton Park via the contributions of local members who will be listening to radio coverage. The game kicks off at 7:45pm BST.

Saturday 28th November 1998

CARDIFF CITY 2 - 0 SOUTHEND UTD. Match report.

Friday 27th November 1998

Unchanged? Maybe. Eckhart to play? Maybe. Dai Thomas back? Maybe.
Cardiff get back to the football tomorrow when Southend Utd come to Ninian Park. Southend were relegated last season and have yet to make an impact on this division. They are currently 14th in the league, 8 places and 7 points behind Cardiff and they have played a game more. Cardiff are likely to field an unchanged starting XI for the third consecutive match. When you look at the last two matches this team played they have performed excellently. In both halfs against Chester and in the first half against Swansea. The Swansea match turned upside down when John Williams went off and the team lost all control. The suprises will come on the subs bench. Last week it was Chris Allen, Danny Hill and Jeff Eckhardt. Jeff is still with the Bluebirds and todays press hints that he is likely to stay with Cardiff. Chris Allen is now into his second loan spell and has not won a lot of fans at Ninian Park yet. If he is committed to Cardiff for the remaining period of his loan then he will be itching to be involved tomorrow to show us what he can do. Danny Hill has only just arrived from Oxford so he will be grateful for any action he can get. Their places on the bench are under threat from Dai Thomas who has now receovered from an ankle injury. Dai is another player desperate to impress the home fans. He has scored 5 times away from Ninian this season but never at home. Mark Bonner is also in contention but with Richard Carpenter, Jason Fowler and Craig Middleton playing well and Danny Hill pushing hard Mark will find it difficult to get back in. Next we come to raw forward talent. Chris Roberts is still knocking on the door but cannot get into the team, he will be hoping for a place in the final 14 tomorrow. The last name I'll mention is a certain Mr Earnshaw. At youth and reserve level he is a goal scoring machine, he tends to get hat tricks instead of the odd goal, he has scored at least 3 hat tricks that I can think of so far this season. He also scored the opening league goal of the current campaign, it will probably be the goal of the season from a Cardiff player. We all have our opinions but at the end of the day the descision is down to one man. I trust Frankie implicitly, I'm positive he is doing what is right. We are in a far better state this season than we were last season. I would only like to see one thing, Earnshaw in from the start tomorrow. Give him a crack, if he fails whats the great loss, we have only scored twice in our last 4 league matches, something is missing. Give the boy his chance.

Thursday 26th November 1998

ARMY XI 0 - 4 Cardiff City XI
Several first team hopefuls played in the training game at Chepstow yesterday. Goals from Dai Thomas, Chris Allen, Mark Bonner and Christian Roberts wrapped up a comfortable win. Two players who played for 90 mins yesterday but will not get into Frank Burrow's reckoning for Saturday were assistant manager Billy Ayre and youth team coach Colin Pascoe. Chris Allen scored the goal of the game after a Danny Hill corner was knocked back across goal by Lee Jarman for Allen to put away a stunning volley. Chis Allen, Dai Thomas and Danny Hill all played well. The full team was: S Kelly, Cadette, Allen, Ayre (c), Jarman, Phillips, Bonner, Pascoe, Thomas, Roberts, Hill. Subs not used Loveless, Higginson.

Eckhardt back in training.
Jeff Eckhardt is back training with the first team for Saturday's home game against Southend. Jeff is still speaking to Hull City but will continue to give 100% to Cardiff until the matter is sorted.

Wednesday 25th November 1998

Jeff Eckhardt to leave Ninian Park?
It's reported that Jeff Eckhardt is on the verge of joining third division basement club Hull City. The report says that Eckhardt along with Andy Saville will sign for the Tigers in deal worth £20000 for the pair. This will come as a great shock to all City fans who think Jeff should be in the starting line up and not struggling to get on the bench. His presence was sorely missed when he remained an unused substitute at Swansea last weekend. Hull made an aproach to Frank Burrows who told the player about the interest. Eckhardt is 33 and still wants first team football, he is not getting it at the moment so the offer from Hull is interesting for him. The departure of Andy Saville, with all due respect, is no great loss. Saville has been trying to return North for a while and has had a loan spell at Hull earlier this season. There is no future for him at Cardiff so the move is certainly beneficial for him. Best of luck to Andy, remember he was our top scorer last season. Again if Jeff does go best of luck to him, you cannot blame the player in this type of situation.

City to fight the Army.
Cardiff are playing a behind closed doors friendly / training match at Chepstow today against an Army XI. The match is noticeable because Burrows is using it give players a a chance to prove themselves. Chris Allen, Dai Thomas, Mark Bonner, Danny Hill, Lee Jarman and Christian Roberts amonst others have been included in the team.

Tuesday 24th November 1998

Southern Junior Foodlit Cup
Cardiff City 3 - 1 Oxford Utd.

A hat trick for Earnshaw, including a spectacular second. A last minute
consolation for a stroppy and petulant Oxford side who had a sheaf of
bookings and a man (kid) sent off for constant mouthy behaviour.
Phil Owen, Phil Kelly & Ian Skelly outstanding alongside Earnie.
Report by Rev Joe Jordan.

Rob Earnshaw is in action for the youth team tonight in a cup game against Oxford. Kick off at Ninian Park 7:00pm.

Chris Allen loan extention.
Chris Allen's loan period at Ninian Park has been extended by one month. Allen has so far failed to repeat the form he showed in his opening game, but Frank Burrow's must be happy if he has kept him on.

Sunday 22nd November 1998

SWANSEA CITY 2 - 1 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

After completely dominating the first half Cardiff let Swansea back into a game they should have had no part of. Total possession and a corner count of  7 - 1 at half time only saw Cardif having a one goal lead. The second half was all Swansea and they managed to beat Hallworth in the 69th   and 89th minutes. The half time team talk given by John Hollins was obviously far better than Frankie's. City stay sixth and still have a game in hand on the teams above them but think what could have been. Throughly gutted.

Rhyl fixture doubt.
Cardiff's planned opponents in the FAW Cup next Wednesday, Rhyl, drew in their Welsh Cup game yesterday with Flint. The FAW game will have to be rearranged. (probably in the new year).

Saturday 21st November 1998

Position after todays games.
Cardiff have dropped to sixth place in the table after this afternoon's results. Hopefully this will be short term. A City win at Swansea tomorrow will see them jump 5 places to second place, a draw will only gain us one place to fifth. We do have 2 games in hand on all 5 teams above us, the leaders Halifax are 4 points ahead.

Friday 20th November 1998

Swansea preview.
The time for talking is nearly over. All the "we are better than you" arguments will be sorted out by the players. One of the most highly charged atmospheres at the Vetch for years will be created by 40 coach loads of Cardiff fans who have snapped up all 1500 tickets available to them and a partizan home support. Cardiff go into the game on a roll which have seen them lose only once in the last 13 matches while keeping clean sheets in the last 6 matches. Swansea have been boosted by a win at Plymouth and a 3-0 home victory over Millwall in the FA Cup. Frank Burrow's will name an unchanged starting XI from last Saturdays 6 - 0 home cup win over Chester. Chris Allen and new signing Danny Hill will probably start on the bench along with Jeff Eckhardt (subs to be confirmed). The starting XI will be Hallworth, Delaney, Ford, Young, Mitchell, O'Sullivan, Carpenter, Fowler, Middleton, Nugent and Williams. Dai Thomas and Mark Bonner will not be in contention for the game but both are hoping to play against Rhyl in the FAW Cup next Wednesday. According to todays Echo Thomas is looking fit and trim after training hard to overcome the ankle injury sustained at Torquay a few weeks ago.

Cardiff are just one point from the top of Division 3 and other results pending could be aiming for top spot on Sunday. If that situation were to arise it would give the game on Sunday an added edge.

City appoint 9th Director.
Kim Walker - owner of KW Construction in Newbridge - has been announced as the
9th City director. He has invested £100,000 to be made solely available for
team strengthening and will also, at cost, renovate areas of Ninian - mainly
catering and hospitality apparently.

Wednesday 18th November 1998

Swansea tickets sold out.
All 1500 tickets available to Cardiff fans have been sold. 40 coaches will make the trip to the Vetch on Sunday. Fans must be at Ninian Park for 0900 hrs.

Portugal U21 3 - 0 Wales U21.
Just a brief not to say that Jarman captained the team and Rob Earnshaw came on as sub.

Jarman to captain Wales U21.
Well done to Lee Jarman who will wear the captains armband for the Wales U21 team in Portugal tonight. Rob Earnshaw and Nathan Cadette are also in the squad.

Rhyl Fixture arranged.
The first of our two FAW Premier Cup matches against Rhyl has been arranged. The game at Rhyl is planned for Wednesday 25th November, kick off 7:15pm. The game at Ninian Park (which will be Cardiff's last in the group stages) will be played in the new year. The game will go ahead next Wednesday providing Rhyl do not require a replay from their Welsh Cup clash with Flint Town on Saturday.

Tuesday 17th November 1998

MERTHYR TYDFIL 0 - 0 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

City drew with Merthyr at a very cold Pennydaryn Park tonight. Not a lot to report, both sides had a couple of chances but finishing was not top of the agenda and the keepers had little to do. A draw was probably a fair result, City earned it through trying to play football, Merthyr through being physically strong and committed. Cohen Griffith is still a quality player and his mazy style gave the City defence something to think about. Danny Hill played and looked to have potential but not on the poor pitch we played on tonight.

FAW Premier Cup preview.
New signing Danny Hill is likely to make his debut for the Bluebirds tonight after his arrival from Oxford Utd last Thursday. Hill was unavailable for selection against Chester. Also added to last Saturday's squad is Chris Allen, who was cup tied for the Chester game, Phil Kelly, who scored a hat trick for the youth team last weekend, Lee Phillips and goalkeeper Ian Loveless. The only City players not on duty tonight are Rob Earnshaw, Lee Jarman and Nathan Cadette who are with the Wales U21 squad and injured players Dai Thomas, Gareth Stoker and Andy Saville.

City are level on points with Merthyr in group 1 of the competition but the Martyr's have a game in hand. Victory for either side will take them top of the table, (see Premier Cup page) and one step nearer to qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition.

Monday 16th November 1998

FA Youth Cup Rd 2.
Peterborough youth 2 - 1 Cardiff City youth.

The youth team were beaten by 2 goals to 1 at London Rd tonight. Craig Davis gave Cardiff the lead after only 2 mins but a late first half equaliser was followed by a winner in the second half from Peterborough.

The highly successful youth team travel to London Rd, Peterborough tonight for a second round FA Youth Cup fixture against a highly fancied POSH team. City will be without Rob Earnshaw (see below). Kick off is at 7:00pm and the score will be posted on this site later this evening.

Cardiff City youth 6 - 1 Yeovil youth
The youngsters prepared for tonights Cup game with a crushing 6 - 1 win over Yeovil on the weekend. There was a hat trick for Phil Kelly and goals for Steven George, Warren Givans and Darryl Phillips. The victory came in the South West Counties League and it was the seventh straight victory in that competition. The boys are the only team in the league with a 100% record. They have scored 24 goals in those seven games and conceded only 3. The only match they have lost this season was the 2 - 0 reverse in the Welsh Cup against Llanelli last week.

Earnshaw, Jarman and Cadette get international call ups.
Rob Earnshaw will miss the Youth Cup game tonight through international duty. Earnshaw along with Lee Jarman and Nathan Cadette were on the plane that left for Portugal today. Wales U21 play a friendly against the Portuguese on Wednesday. Its a fantastic acheivement for a division 3 team to get so many players into international reckoning.

Early team news for the Merthyr game tomorrow.
Danny Hill looks likely to make his City debut at Merthyr tomorrow night in the FAW Premier Cup. One player that will definately miss the clash is defender Graham Mitchell. Mitchell is suspended from the game after picking up 2 FAW Premier Cup bookings.

Kick off notice.
Cardiff play Shrewsbury on Boxing Day. The kick off at Ninian Park is 12 midday.

Saturday 14th November 1998

FA CUP RD 1.
CARDIFF CITY 6 - 0 CHESTER CITY. Match report.

Cardiff gave Chester City a sound thumping today in the first round of the FA Cup. Goals from Jason Fowler (2) and Craig Middleton in the first half were added to by John Williams (2) and Mark Delaney in the second. Matchfacts internet website site described it as "Cold blooded butchery".

Cardiff have been drawn at home in the second round of the FA Cup to non league Hednesford. No counting chickens yet but the mind races to a potential big third round tie.

Full Second Round Draw

Preston North End - Walsall;
Darlington or Burnley - Manchester City;
Scunthorpe United - Bedlington Terriers;
Kingstonian - Leyton Orient ;
Swansea City - Stoke City;
Fulham or Leigh RMLI - Hartlepool United;
Hendon or Notts County - Wigan Athletic;
Oldham Athletic - Brentford;
Doncaster Rovers - Rushden & Diamonds;
Lincoln City - Runcorn or Stevenage Borough;
Borehamwood or Luton Town - Hull City;
Torquay United - AFC Bournemouth;
Wycombe Wanderers - Plymouth Argyle or Kidderminster
Harriers;
Macclesfield Town or Slough Town - Cambridge United;
Cardiff City - Hednesford Town;
Yeovil or West Auckland Town - Northampton Town;
Wrexham - Enfield or York City ;
Tamworth or Exeter City - Bristol Rovers;
Scarborough or Rochdale - Emley or Rotherham United;
Mansfield Town - Southport

Ties to be played on December 4, 5 or 6 1998

Sullivan take over off.
The Football League has blocked David Sullivans planned take over at Cardiff City. The situation is irretrievable for the time being. Sullivans attatchment to Birmingham City through his Sport Newspapers company is the problem. A deal had been agreed with the City board but now they will have to forget about any multi million pound sugar daddy for the time being.

Friday 13th November 1998

FA Cup preview.

Thursday 12th November 1998

Danny Hill signs for City.

Born:           Edmonton 1.10.74 Height:         5'9" Weight:       11st 3lb. Career:        FA/GM School of Excellence, Spurs trainee July 1991,                     professional September 1992. Spurs debut:20.3.93 v Chelsea (A) Honours:      England Under-18 1 cap. England U21 4 caps. Position:      Midfield.

City have today signed 24 year old Danny Hill. Hill a quality midfielder was on loan at City last season and made a big impression. He left after his loan spell to return to Spurs but was later transferred to Oxford. Hill was Frank Burrows first signing when he came to Cardiff earlier this year. Frank had been in the job 3 days in February when Hill arrived. Danny progressed through the youth ranks at Tottenham. He is a promising midfield player with 4 England under-21 caps under his belt. Danny made 20 appearances for the North London club.

Swansea res 5 - 3 Cardiff res
Cardiff played Swansea in a reserve / practice match at the Morfa in
Swansea yesterday. Rob Earnshaw scored at hat trick, inc two goals
in the first 13 minutes but it was not enough to stop Swansea winning.

Wednesday 11th November 1998

Sullivan on verge of quitting Birmingham.
Thanks to NigelBlues for the following breakdown of todays events.

1. The Football League have their monthly meeting tomorrow & Sullivan's
proposed take-over will be discussed. Some sort of decision will be
forthcoming too.

2. Whilst hoping to stay with Birmingham, Sullivan has now reportedly told the
League that he is ready to give up involvement with them for CCFC - presumably
if the decision is unfavourable and says he can only have interest at one
club. Looks like he has made the decision for the league then - Sully is a
Bluebird!

3. He has also, according to a source, "asked the League to look closely at
his Birmingham City shareholding as he has no personal shares in the club.
They belong to Sport Newspapers, David is one of five directors. He cannot
make any individual decisions at the club". Personal view but I don't think
that particular argument has a chance of being accepted.

4. The League seem to have already decided that Eve Vorley being a front
person is unacceptable unless she buys shares from her personal funds or
guarantees her own security with no involvement whatsoever from Sullivan.
Even if this happens, there seems to be a view that the relationship is too
close to approve and seems to have forced the choose Cardiff or Birmingham
dilemma for Sullivan.

Looks like a momentous day coming up but the suggestions are, that whatever
ruling is now made by the league, Sullivan is on verge of getting involved at
Ninian. It seems to be a case of finalising talks with City and knowing
whether he can be involved with City only or Birmingham as well but City come
first! Without being premature, this could easily blow up in our faces, I
think the directors must have done a superb job selling CCFC to Sullivan.

We all know the debate about Sullivan because of the morals of his business
and the fact that he stood back before but I hope we credit him too if this
goes through. If he gives up Brum for Cardiff after he has worked years to
get them to where they today, firmly banging the Premier Division door, that's
a man putting his heart before his balance sheet in my eyes. For sure, City
have the potential, he may be buying cheap according to some (but not me) and
1.5 million is loose change for him but if you were a businessman, would you
swap those clubs at this moment in time?

Tuesday 10th November 1998

CARDIFF CITY 1 - 0 SCARBOROUGH. Match report.

City went into the top 3 tonight with a less than convincing 1 - 0 home win. While always the better team Cardiff failed to capitalise on the chances created. Rchard Carpenter, Jason Fowler and Scott Young all went close in the first half but City could not get the ball into the net. In the second half Cardiff started on the attack and scored the only goal of the game on 50 minutes through John Williams. Chances were again spurned with the best of them falling to goalscorer Williams who was thwarted by and excelent save from City old boy Tony Elliott.

Kevin Nugent while holding the ball up well seemed a lot slower tonight and the pacy Chris Allen lacked any sparkle in the second half. Hallworth was rarely troubled but Scarborough did put on a fighting display without looking like scoring. But as my preview says three points was the main concern. They were acheived and some favourable results in the other matches has seen us climb two places. We are 1 point behind leaders Halifax and level on points with second place Rotherham. We do though have a game in hand on both teams.

Top 6.

                               HOME            AWAY  
                         P  W  D  L  F  A   W  D  L  F  A   Pts   GS

Halifax Town            18  5  3  1 16 10   4  2  3 11  6    32   27
Rotherham United        18  5  3  2 19  9   4  1  3 18 15    31   37
Cardiff City            17  6  1  3  9  6   3  3  1 10  8    31   19
Brentford               16  7  0  1 19  7   3  0  5 12 16    30   31
Scunthorpe United       18  6  1  2 18 16   3  2  4 13 13    30   31
Cambridge United        18  3  2  3 12 12   6  1  3 18 11    30   30

Scarborough preview.
Cardiff take on Scarborough in a match the Bluebirds must win. City have scored only once in the last 4 matches and will be looking to improve on that tonight. Dai Thomas is injured and will be replaced by either Christian Roberts or John Williams, who ever plays Roberts or Williams they must inject pace into the City attack. Jason Fowler and Mark Bonner are both in contention for tonight's match.
It is still very tight at the top of the table and Cardiff can't afford to drop any more home points. Scarborough come to Cardiff after being hammered at Rotherham last weekend, City old boy Tony Elliott will be in goal for Scarborough tonight.
It is possible at Cardiff could go top of the league again but it very much depends on the other results, I think most fans will be satisfied with the win to keep us well in contention.

Sunday 8th November 1998

City youth are finally beaten.
The Cardiff City youth team were beaten for the first time this season in a Midland Bank Welsh Cup game yesterday. They lost 2 - 0 to Llanelli.

The aftermath of yesterday.
Today's Wales On Sunday reports that Dai Thomas has picked up an ankle injury. The striker limped off yesterday and had to be carried to the changing rooms. No time has been mentioned but he's likely to be out for a while. Jason Fowler and Mark Bonner who were both unfit for yesterday's game should both be available for the match on Tuesday against Scarborough. Full credit goes to Jon Hallworth for producing two world class saves yesterday.

Thomas' injury should now open the door to Christian Roberts. Roberts came on for Thomas yesterday but made little impact along with the rest of the team. Last week though he provided the pass for Craig Middleton's winner against Exeter. Roberts must fly at Scarborough on Tuesday, we have been complaining about lack of pace up front Christian must now inject it and prove he's worth a starting place for every match.

Saturday 7th November 1998

TORQUAY UTD 0 - 0 CARDIFF CITY. Match report.

Cardiff earned a point at Plainmoor today to see them move one place up the table to 5th. I understand we need to thank Jon Hallworth for keeping out the Torquay attack. Cardiff highlighted the poor goalscoring record we have in a game with few chances for the City forwards. We have now scored only once in the last 4 games. Although we are still very much in the top of the table battle. We have a game in hand on all four teams above us. Halifax in fourth place are one point ahead of us on 29 pts and the front three of Rotherham, Scunthorpe and Cambridge are two points ahead. We are back in action again on Tuesday. Lowly Scarborough are the visitors to Ninian Park. They were given a 4 - 0 thumping at Rotherham today. A convincing City victory is all that will be tolerated. History was against us today, we last won at Plainmoor in 1938. A draw is better than a defeat but we must start to score some goals. Only seven teams out the 24 in the division have scored less than us.

Friday 6th November 1998

Torquay preview.
Cardiff travel to the South coast tomorrow with the top of the table in their sights. Fourth from bottom Torquay await a Cardiff team who have lost only once in the last 10 league matches. Don't expect a formality though, City have not won at Plainmoor since before the war. Post war encounters have seen 11 matches, 9 defeats and two draws. Cardiff are in 6th place in the table at the moment but are level on points with all five teams above them. Victory tomorrow could see City go top depending on other results. The teams to look out for are Rotherham Scunthorpe, Brentford, Cambridge and Plymouth. Thinking the unthinkable a defeat could see City drop to 10th in the table again depending on other results, its that tight. Cardiff take a squad of seventeen to Plainmoor, the fourteen who were on duty against Exeter last Saturday, Hallworth, Delaney, Eckhardt, Mitchell, Young, Carpenter, Fowler, Middleton, Allen, Thomas, Roberts, Nugent, O'Sullivan, Williams with Lee Jarman, Mark Bonner and Mike Ford being added. Jarman is unlikely to play a part as he is still recovering from injury, he did though however play for the reserves in midweek. Mike Ford will be looking to return to the team and to regain the captains armband. Scott Young has a knee injury but stil hopes to play. Ford is the obvious replacement if he does not play but Ford will hope to play anyway. Jason Fowler has recovered from a head injury sustained in an accident in the changing room at half time last week.

Scott Partridge is a name that all Bluebirds fans will remember, he played for City last season and was released by Frank Burrows in the summer shake up. Partridge is doing for Torquay what he failed to do for Cardiff, score goals. He has netted six times so far this season. One player we will not have to face is Chris Waddle, the former England international left Torquay earlier this week after a problem with having to travel from his home in Yorkshire to the South coast all the time.

City must fancy their chances as away form this season has been excellent. Time for Dai Thomas to come up with a goal or two as his speciality is scoring away from Ninian Park. Cardiff are back in League action again next Tuesday against Scarborough who are one place below Torquay. Hopefully by next Wednesday morning we will have bagged six points and established ourselves at the top of the table.

Thursday 5th November 1998

Exeter res 3 - 3 Cardiff res.

Wednesday 4th November 1998

David Sullivan in negotiations with Football League.
David Sullivan has faxed a two page letter to the Football League stating his case for his potential involvement in Cardiff City. Sullivan claims it will be his girlfriend Eve Vorley will be the person putting the money into Cardiff along with other associates. Vorley, real name Emman Benton-Hughes is a business woman in her own right and it will be her money used for the deal. Sullivan claim it is no different to the case of Nigel Wray who is leader of the consortium that runs Notingham Forest, while Wray along with associates and family run Watford. Sullivan apears to be intent on getting his way and will take this challenge all the way. Meanwhile City directors were involved in a five hour board meeting yesterday with Samesh Kumar, Paul Guy and Steve Borley explaing the full details of the meeting with Sullivan on Monday.

Jarman returns to action.
Lee Jarman will play a part in tonights reserve team match at St James park against Exeter City. Jarman has been out since injuring himself against Merthyr in the FAW Cup. Jarman has been called up to the Wales U21 squad for the friendly against Portugal next month so he will be trying hard to prove his fitness. The City reserve squad for tonights game also includes a triallist goalkeeper Craig Dootson and first team players Robert Earnshaw, Lee Phillips, Nathan Cadette, John Williams, Christian Roberts and last Saturday's match winner Craig Middleton.

Chester game to get Saturday go ahead.
The FA Cup 1st round game against Chester City at Ninian Park will go ahead on Saturday 14th November at 3:00pm.

Torquay warn City fans to arrive early.
Torquay Utd have advised Cardiff fans to arrive early for the game at Plainmoor on Saturday. There is only 1000 spaces available for away fans and its though that over 1300 City fans may be planning to travel.

Tuesday 3rd November 1998

Plymouth beat Brentford tonight to create a six way tie at the top of Div 3.
Brentford who had up to 3 games in hand at the top of the table were beaten 3 - 0 by Plymouth tonight. The Pilgrims victory lifts them above Cardiff and we now drop down to 6th place. We are still however joint top on 27 pts.

Sullivan 90% sure deal can go ahead.
David Sullivan emerged from a 3 hour meeting with City Directors Samesh Kumar, Paul Guy and Steve Borley last night to say he was 90% certain a deal can be done. Kumar says that progress was made on Sullivan increasing his offer from 50p a share. The City Directors say they would have no problem working with Mr Sullivan. There was common ground on most things and they will talk again in a couple of days to see where they are going. Sullivan said that it was a friendly and contstructive meeting and he believed the manager and board had done a good job and done their best for Cardiff City.

The one stumbling block is the Football League, as reported earlier there are rules to stop one person being involved in more than one club. David Sullivan was meeting the Football League this morning to begin to sort the problem out.

Again we must wait.

From today's Western Mail...

DAVID SULLIVAN’S bid to bankroll any purchase of Cardiff City will be contested by the Football League.
Sullivan, who met a delegation of the club’s directors at his Essex mansion yesterday, is barred from becoming directly involved in any take-over by Football League rules forbidding one person having an interest in more than one club.
The Birmingham City owner has said that he has associates ready to move into Ninian Park, including his girl-friend,former topless model Eve Vorley.
But the Football League insists that this is outside the rules and, if necessary, will go to court to protect the principle of one owner, one club.
League spokesman Chris Hull said, “Our rules state that any individual with a shareholding or majority shareholding in a football club cannot be involved in the running of another. It’s as black and white as that, and David Sullivan will not be allowed to buy Cardiff City unless he sells Birmingham City first.”
Hull also warned that any use of Sullivan money – the newspaper and magazine publisher is said to be worth £350m – being invested in Cardiff City by a third party would not be tolerated.
He said, “The regulations were tightened after the Maxwell family’s ownership of both Derby and Oxford.
“The tactic of bringing in associates to take over a club is covered by these regulations. There is no way around it. People in the game know only too well the regulations concerning dual ownership.
“It is a simple issue, and something the Football League will do everything in its power to uphold.”
Already this season Peter Johnson has become embroiled in a row over his dual interests at Everton and Tranmere Rovers.
Everton chairman Johnson, the former owner of First Division Tranmere, has been reported to have at least £6m tied up in the Prenton Park club.
Two weeks ago the Football League warned Johnson that he had 90 days to get rid of his interest in one or other of the two clubs or face the consequences.
Stories have been circulating on Merseyside that Everton could be docked league points or even thrown out of the Premiership itself – and Johnson has had to face up to the fact that he may have to cut his losses at Tranmere.
It’s a point that has not been lost on Cardiff City chairman Samesh Kumar, who owns 44 per cent of the shares at Ninian Park.
Kumar said, “I am only too aware of Mr Peter Johnson with regard to Everton and Tranmere.
“The legal implications of a similar situation involving Cardiff City and Birmingham City is the last thing we want to get involved with.”

Monday 2nd November 1998

Sullivan meeting with Board today,
David Sullivan is meeting today with the Cardiff City board, including Samesh Kumar. The meeting is taking place at Sullivan's Essex mansion. Also present are represenatives of Sullivan and a football agent who has been watching Cardiff City to give an independant view on the playing ability of the Club.

Sullivan met The Echo at St Andrews last Saturday and had a lot to say. I'm not
copying it all but for the benefit of those of you away from the area, here's
some interesting comments. (Thanks to Nigel for putting this lot together).

"I have several backers waiting in the wings ready to invest" (in CCFC) The
people willing to invest in my home club will also be present at the meeting"

"If Kumar attends the meeting, at least it will be constructive....he is still
the largest single shareholder. If someone wants to invest in the club, it
will be very difficult without Kumar's agreement. I believe he has 44% of
shares with the option to build it to more than 50%. So the onus is on Kumar
with the ball very much in his court."

Sullivan has had a "football agent tracking Cardiff for the last couple of
months and he will give his views on the playing staff and an independent
opinion. When you watch the same side week-in, week-out, you can delude
yourself about what you really have....at Nininian Park, let's face it - it's
not a lot".

"The way Cardiff are going at the moment, it is virtually impossible to
progress through the divisions.....I am pretty sure that the best Cardiff will
do is get promoted and then probably be relegated next season. You need
somebody who can take the club forward but I do feel the directors of Cardiff
want that to happen. And whether it is myself or people I confide in - there
is every likelihood that a possible move will be made in the next month or two
- maybe sooner."

(I and my investors are) "not interested in making the City directors
instantly richer. (We want our) money to go directly into the club."

"When I spoke to you in May, when City issued new shares, I told you it was no
more than a case of plugging the leaks on a dilapidated old ship instead of
investing in a new one. They have no long-term infra-structure to build on if
they get promotion this season."

"I would not spend the time or effort for any other club than Cardiff City.
Wherever you go or whatever you do in life, you only have 1 home club and it's
the Bluebirds for me. It's not an ego trip, I'm not interested in Sullivan
Stand or Sullivan Stadium. We don't have that at Birmingham - my driving
force is my love of football. If someone asked me to buy Bristol City, I
would not be interested one bit. They have a better stadium and are one step
away from the Premiership but I would bnot give it the time
of day. I would not ask investors and friends to look at any club other than
Cardiff City."

"Cardiff is a capital city...the public should have, and deserve, a football
side to match. I have always regarded Cardiff as a football city. With all
its potential business investment, it is big enough to have a Premiership
club".

FA Cup fixture date in doubt.
Cardiff have applied to Chester City to change the date of the FA Cup 1st round clash at Ninian Park from Saturday 14th December to either Sunday 15th or preferably Friday 13th November. The reason being that Wales rugby play S.Africa at Wembley, the match being shown live on TV.

New Carlisle date / other fixture news.
The postponed match at Carlisle has been rearranged for Tuesday December 1st 1998. The Autowindscreen Cup game at Millwall is on Wednesday 9th December 1998 and not Tuesday the 8th as was previously reported. The FA Youth Cup 2nd round match away at Peterborough is on Monday 16th November at London Rd. Should a replay be required it will be on Thursday 26th November 1998.