Players celebrating after the game
A rather ordinary 0-0 draw v. Charlton at Cardiff City Stadium on April 16th and a match we could've won had Craig Bellamy taken the best chance of the game. Yet the quality of football didn't matter!
Charlton were yet another team who played in away blue, though their colour is red. Their fans, like Forest and Barnsley previously, chanted 'Come on you reds!', while ours chanted 'The blues are going up!' at a team playing in red. Totally bizarre!
Yet, for once, even shirts and crest didn't matter!
Vincent Tan, our corrupt Malaysian owner, sat in the Grandstand bedecked in red coat, 'an evil Santa' as my friend dubbed him.
And he didn't matter!
As the Watford score came through near the end (they were losing), it became obvious that, at long last, we were going up.
Recent years of failure in the play-offs - to West Ham last season and , more depressingly, to Blackpool at Wembley- were finally buried and forgotten.
So used to being nervous, I still counted down to the whistle even though Watford's game mattered more and , judging by all the singing, yelling and chanting, that was probably over.
Exactly 53 years before, Cardiff City had achieved promotion to the top tier with victory over Villa.
I was in a state of utter shock. Delight, of course , and repeated chanting, but I still couldn't take it all in.
Even on the pitch afterwards, with masses of fans taking photos and celebrating, it was hard to believe.
I've been through the very worst of times with the City, when we were in the deepest, darkest dungeon ; when police outnumbered fans and arrested them for fun ; when our reactions to some players was to laugh at them.
Now the Premiership was a reality : Rooney, van Persie, Bale (surely a Kairdiff boy won't destroy us?), Suarez (will he make a meal of it?), Aguero and so on.
Amazingly, I'd arranged to go to Burnley the following Saturday and my son booked tickets in their end , as we didn't have Away membership.
I showed uncharacteristic restraint when Craig Conway scored a cracker in the first half. If anyone asked, I was a neutral from Wrexham. I haven't been so quiet in a game since I went on my own to the North Bank in the old Vetch Field for a derby match! In those days, I was either a lunatic or very naive!
When Burnley deservedly equalised late on, I rose to my feet and clapped politely, not wanting to stand out. I could afford to be generous as news came that Hull were losing and we would be crowned as Champions that day.
We stayed behind to celebrate and , luckily, a few Burnley fans did likewise.
Our manager Malky Mackay was given the bumps, a sure sign of the superior strength and fitness or our players, to throw such a big fella so high at the end of a tough game.
Lots more champagne, but would our squad sober up in time for the Bolton match a week after that?
It didn't matter a jot , of course. As my friend said, ' You might as well give the match to them and get on to the really important stuff afterwards.'
As it happened, we looked sharp and in control early on, with Kim, Mutch and Gunnarsson dominant in midfield.
In the first half , they had one attack and scored from it. Substitute Craig Noone's cheeky free-kick was our equaliser, but everyone was waiting for the ceremony.
I have to say I'm not impressed with the anti-Swansea chanting which is racist ( anti- Gypsies), but it demonstrates the intense rivalry ( I can only hope Michu is injured when we play them next season).
When we chanted 'We're Cardiff City, we'll always be blue!' I was very proud of the many fans who echoed my own allegiances to the history and traditions of the club I love.
(I still have moments of disorientation, when I see 'red' and think I'm next to an away fan!).
The presentation was a time for players (and their little children) to take to the pitch, hold the trophy and acknowledge the fanatical support.
Many claim it's no time to look to the Premier and best to savour the moment, but I've do doubt Mackay has already been preparing.
As QPR have shown, money doesn't guarantee success, though Reading show the opposite is also true : there's a need to invest in new players of proven experience and quality.
Our scouting system abroad doesn't match Swansea's. Of the previously foreign-based players, only Kim Bo-Kyung has become a regular and only recently.
Therefore, I expect our manager to sign players from Premiership clubs either for reasonable fees, on loan , or those out of contract.
What better way to begin than by getting Leon Barnett from Norwich, who did a great job for us on loan? He has pace, calm assurance and the all-round ability to make it at that level.
It's exciting that so many big names are linked, yet much is speculation. If we signed Giggs, Beckham and Phil Neville we'd have a team of pensionable age.
The one player my son and I agree on is QPR's Loic Remy, a class striker who combines movement, pace and goal-scoring prowess. He's top of the wish list.
One thing's certain, next season will be memorable and , I hope, not catastrophic. Hopefully, we can follow the example set by Norwich, Southampton and, dare I say it, Swansea City.
NO MORE THE NEARLY MEN
No more the nearly men
those who write poems
yet never read them
shopkeepers who sell goods,
ignoring customers' feelings
inventors whose creations work
but don't improve the human condition
singers whose songs
only remain in a room
teachers with the qualifications,
fail to bring original thinking
chefs who refuse to share
their recipes with anyone
journalists who believe
headlines are the point of reporting
fans who think money alone
is what makes a team
no more the almost-made-its
no more the nearly men.
Charlton were yet another team who played in away blue, though their colour is red. Their fans, like Forest and Barnsley previously, chanted 'Come on you reds!', while ours chanted 'The blues are going up!' at a team playing in red. Totally bizarre!
Yet, for once, even shirts and crest didn't matter!
Vincent Tan, our corrupt Malaysian owner, sat in the Grandstand bedecked in red coat, 'an evil Santa' as my friend dubbed him.
And he didn't matter!
As the Watford score came through near the end (they were losing), it became obvious that, at long last, we were going up.
Recent years of failure in the play-offs - to West Ham last season and , more depressingly, to Blackpool at Wembley- were finally buried and forgotten.
So used to being nervous, I still counted down to the whistle even though Watford's game mattered more and , judging by all the singing, yelling and chanting, that was probably over.
Exactly 53 years before, Cardiff City had achieved promotion to the top tier with victory over Villa.
I was in a state of utter shock. Delight, of course , and repeated chanting, but I still couldn't take it all in.
Even on the pitch afterwards, with masses of fans taking photos and celebrating, it was hard to believe.
I've been through the very worst of times with the City, when we were in the deepest, darkest dungeon ; when police outnumbered fans and arrested them for fun ; when our reactions to some players was to laugh at them.
Now the Premiership was a reality : Rooney, van Persie, Bale (surely a Kairdiff boy won't destroy us?), Suarez (will he make a meal of it?), Aguero and so on.
Amazingly, I'd arranged to go to Burnley the following Saturday and my son booked tickets in their end , as we didn't have Away membership.
I showed uncharacteristic restraint when Craig Conway scored a cracker in the first half. If anyone asked, I was a neutral from Wrexham. I haven't been so quiet in a game since I went on my own to the North Bank in the old Vetch Field for a derby match! In those days, I was either a lunatic or very naive!
When Burnley deservedly equalised late on, I rose to my feet and clapped politely, not wanting to stand out. I could afford to be generous as news came that Hull were losing and we would be crowned as Champions that day.
We stayed behind to celebrate and , luckily, a few Burnley fans did likewise.
Our manager Malky Mackay was given the bumps, a sure sign of the superior strength and fitness or our players, to throw such a big fella so high at the end of a tough game.
Lots more champagne, but would our squad sober up in time for the Bolton match a week after that?
It didn't matter a jot , of course. As my friend said, ' You might as well give the match to them and get on to the really important stuff afterwards.'
As it happened, we looked sharp and in control early on, with Kim, Mutch and Gunnarsson dominant in midfield.
In the first half , they had one attack and scored from it. Substitute Craig Noone's cheeky free-kick was our equaliser, but everyone was waiting for the ceremony.
I have to say I'm not impressed with the anti-Swansea chanting which is racist ( anti- Gypsies), but it demonstrates the intense rivalry ( I can only hope Michu is injured when we play them next season).
When we chanted 'We're Cardiff City, we'll always be blue!' I was very proud of the many fans who echoed my own allegiances to the history and traditions of the club I love.
(I still have moments of disorientation, when I see 'red' and think I'm next to an away fan!).
The presentation was a time for players (and their little children) to take to the pitch, hold the trophy and acknowledge the fanatical support.
Many claim it's no time to look to the Premier and best to savour the moment, but I've do doubt Mackay has already been preparing.
As QPR have shown, money doesn't guarantee success, though Reading show the opposite is also true : there's a need to invest in new players of proven experience and quality.
Our scouting system abroad doesn't match Swansea's. Of the previously foreign-based players, only Kim Bo-Kyung has become a regular and only recently.
Therefore, I expect our manager to sign players from Premiership clubs either for reasonable fees, on loan , or those out of contract.
What better way to begin than by getting Leon Barnett from Norwich, who did a great job for us on loan? He has pace, calm assurance and the all-round ability to make it at that level.
It's exciting that so many big names are linked, yet much is speculation. If we signed Giggs, Beckham and Phil Neville we'd have a team of pensionable age.
The one player my son and I agree on is QPR's Loic Remy, a class striker who combines movement, pace and goal-scoring prowess. He's top of the wish list.
One thing's certain, next season will be memorable and , I hope, not catastrophic. Hopefully, we can follow the example set by Norwich, Southampton and, dare I say it, Swansea City.
NO MORE THE NEARLY MEN
No more the nearly men
those who write poems
yet never read them
shopkeepers who sell goods,
ignoring customers' feelings
inventors whose creations work
but don't improve the human condition
singers whose songs
only remain in a room
teachers with the qualifications,
fail to bring original thinking
chefs who refuse to share
their recipes with anyone
journalists who believe
headlines are the point of reporting
fans who think money alone
is what makes a team
no more the almost-made-its
no more the nearly men.
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