There you are, two hours before kick-off for a non-competitive match to honour and raise funds for a player you admired, outside the stadium with a throng of equally monomaniacal characters.
This was the case on March 26th, alongside my younger daughter for the Kevin McNaughton Testimonial.
There were an assortment of genuine fanatics and downright nutters : older men with pin-point glares and large brown folders full of autographs, families seeking selfies, a few 'on the spectrum' who'd made CCFC their all-consuming interest and ( depending on your angle) the infamous 'legend' or 'madman' Dai Hunt.
For any non-Bluebirds, Dai is a fan who has always been there.
I recall him in the days of Ninian Park, sitting near the front and yelling at individual players during the warm-up to get a response.
The big German Schwinkendorf ( seven-feet-tall-couldn't-head-the-ball) was one who'd always acknowledge Dai.
Others soon learnt to ignore him.....not least Kevin McNaughton, our grey-haired , Scottish, tough-tackling full-back.
Outside the ground that Sunday, Dai was limbering up.
'You playing Dai?' I asked.
'Nope....it's callisthenics!'
But he made a bee-line for McNaughton's agent and engaged him in earnest negotiations.
Dai, dressed in blue baseball cap, home shirt and a scarf down to his toes had, chware teg , been prominent in the back to blue campaign after owner Tan imposed his ludicrous red on us a few seasons back.
It turned out that Dai gave the team-talk that day, telling one-time top scorer Chopra to 'play on the shoulder' and for players to treat it 'just like any other game'.
McNaughton's two 'wee sons' scored the last two goals (apart from the penalties) so little chance of that!
My younger daughter managed to grab quite a few autographs and selfies and , as an obsessive, I can identify with Dai and another bloke who was hanging around outside the stadium on a weekday chatting to a steward about transfers, when I was there to do workshops.
Compared to Wales's outstanding adventure in the Euros and Swansea and Newport's last minute escapes from relegation, our season hasn't been overly exciting.
Yet manager Neil Warnock's transformation of the club has been remarkable and , according to official data, the most successful managerial appointment of the season.
When he joined in October last year we were, under former coach Paul Trollope, second from bottom and looking doomed. We ended the season in 12th position and with an emphatic 3-0 victory away to Huddersfield, who could yet be promoted to the Premiership.
I'm delighted because, prior to his appointment, I was among those clamouring for Warnock on the message-boards.
He immediately brought in two unattached players, Sol Bamba and Junior Hoilett and both galvanised the team.....indeed, Bamba scored on his debut, a home win v. Brizzle City.
Together with his deputies Blackwell and Jepson, he has had a startling effect on certain players, notably full-back Jazz Richards, winger Kadeem Harris and , above all, striker Kenneth Zohore.
In January, his main acquisition was experienced keeper Allan McGregor on loan from Hull and this helped to steady the defence.
Warnock is the first manager for a long time to truly reflect the spirit and identity of the Bluebirds, with his passion, candour and humour.
Commenting on Aron Gunnarsson's cracking winner v. Forest he quipped - 'Normally he knocks the pigeon off the top of the stand!'
He completely changed top goalscorer Zohore's season with a stark warning, telling him he could be sent back to Belgium and to ditch the gloves he always wore while playing.
Zohore has been a revelation, scoring freely yet still working hard for the team.
Ultimately, he has motivated the whole squad to play for each other, with everyone knowing their role ; utilising the pace of Harris, Hoilett and Zohore to the utmost.
He has invariably got a plan B, even plan C and deploying Bamba in midfield v. Villa ensured us victory.
For our final game away to Huddersfield, we even played the dreaded wing-backs which had never worked 'the Wales way' for the hapless Trollope.
As long as Dai Hunt doesn't do the team-talks, I believe Warnock will bring success and hope he's around to annoy the Swansea fans for a derby match in the not-too-distant future.
CARDIFF CITY FANATIC
Old men who should know better
with large brown folders
staring deadly serious
and homing in on anyone
with a suit and flash car.
We are there, father and daughter,
seeking selfies and signatures
which resemble children’s doodles,
I call them by nicknames
as if I’m an old friend.
The infamous fanatic is lurking,
he’s outside the stadium
at crazy o’clock every time
blurting out tactless comments –
‘Lucky if you get picked today!’
Used to hear him from the Bob Bank
as the teams warmed up
yelling out players’ names ;
they soon learnt to ignore him
except one extremely tall German.
Dubbed either legend or madman,
once sat in a tree next to the training ground
as our star striker slammed balls at him
trying to bring him down;
tactics from his flailing arms.
His Bluebirds baseball cap, scarf
so long it trips him up,
players spot him approaching
with gibber and phone and pen,
dodge and weave better than in a game.