Congratulations to Trust Member Richard Holt who is the winner of the Bluebirds Brainteaser Quiz in the April edition of Moving to a Different Beat – the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust magazine. Richard, who commutes to City home games from Poole in Dorset, was drawn out of the hat and wins the £50 prize.
- We signed this Cardiff City Legend from Scottish Club Burghead Thistle in 1962 the fee being a tractor bought for their use at their home ground – who is he?
This unusual transfer fee brought us the services Don Murray. He arrived at a time when the centre half shirt was mostly worn by Frank Rankmore. Towards the end of the 1962-63 season, at the tender age of 17 he found himself making his City debut away to Middlesbrough where he was marking England International Alan Peacock. The following season he established himself as a regular and he was handed the captain’s armband at the age of 19. The rest is history really. In my youth, you got the impression that Don’s was the first name on the teamsheet each week. His unrelenting attitude, jutting chin and toughness was a feature of the City lineup for many years. After 532 games for the City, he bowed out with a short loan spell at Swansea before signing for Hearts for a season then returning to South Wales to link up with Jimmy Scoular at Newport. One incident about Don that sticks in my mind is the 1971 Cup Winners Cup tie against Dynamo Berlin which went to penalties. All 9 penalties were successful until Don stepped up to the Grange End. It is believed the ball still orbits the Earth and can be seen from the International Space Station. Nevertheless, Don is a City Legend.
- In August 2010 Cardiff City failed to turn up at Hamilton Sherriff Court in Scotland to which we had been taken over non-payment of a transfer instalment to Motherwell for which player?
Paul Quinn. City signed Paul Quinn in June 2009 from Motherwell for a fee of £300,000 at a time when financial storm clouds were looming. HMRC was at the gates threatening court actions and winding up orders over non-payment of tax bills. So, it was probably no surprise to discover that the City had defaulted on instalments of £100,000 and a further £75,000. Motherwell claimed to be even more infuriated watching our other transfer market activity including the loan of Craig Bellamy. Motherwell issued a writ against us but we did not attend court or submit a defence. Anyway, in August 2010 we stumped up the £100,000 due the previous January and it all got sorted in the end but not without a lot of negative publicity for us. Paul appeared 59 times in total for us and, perhaps, the most memorable moment was his X-Certificate tackle on Swansea’s Scott Sinclair in 2011 in the 1-0 win at the Liberty marked by Craig Bellamy’s spectacular goal.
- A former Arsenal player he won 65 caps for Morocco but only managed 2 substitute appearances for us in 2016-17 – who is he?
Marouane Chamakh. Much debate has taken place over the success of Neil Warnock’s transfer dealings. Where fees were involved there were successes and also failures, some with longer term financial implications which we are now getting over. However, there is no doubt that his use of Free Agents was very effective. In October 2016 Warnock engaged 4 such players. Nothing need be said about Sol Bamba and Junior Hoilett but also joining at that time were England International Kieran Richardson and Morocco International Marouane Chamakh. These last 2 players did nothing to persuade Neil Warnock that they were worth engaging and they were both released the following January. Chamakh only made 2 substitute appearances and these turned out to be the last games of his career and, belatedly, in 2019 he announced his retirement.
- In 2016 Michael Van Gerwen said that this Darts playing City forward should concentrate on his football after an encounter on the oche with Eric Bristow – who is he?
Lex Immers. Lex joined us on loan in January 2016 from Feyenoord. During his loan period he played 15 times scoring 5 times and he did become a fans favourite. In July 2016 he signed a 2 year deal with us and things did not go so well. The goals dried up and he found himself on the bench. When Neil Warnock replaced Paul Trollope it was evident that he was not the sort of player to fit into the Warnock style of play and in January 2017 his contract was cancelled by mutual agreement. At the age of 36 he is turning out for Scheveningen in the 3rd tier of Dutch club football. However, his darts career is yet to get off the ground.
- As a goalscorer he has been most prolific at Connahs Quay Nomads and Toulouse but he only managed 1 goal for us in 2017 – who is he?
Rhys Healey. Interesting bit of trivia – apart from Aron Gunnarsson Rhys is the only player to play for us in both our Premier League seasons. Signed in 2013 he never really figured for us in a 6 year period that was more notable for 6 loan spells at various clubs. His last appearance for us was the fateful 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage in April 2019. A must win game to try and preserve our Premier League status, Neil Warnock was criticised for his conservative approach to the game and also for his use of Healey as a substitute. After relegation he joined MK Dons on a permanent basis and now finds himself in Ligue 1 playing for Toulouse where he has been at his most prolific.
- This City player made a fatal mistake in the 1925 FA Cup Final leading to Sheffield United’s winner – who is he?
Harry Wake. All Cardiff City’s 3 FA Cup Final appearances have been decided by single goal emanating from a defender’s mistake. In 1925 it was Harry Wake who was caught in possession by winger Fred Tunstall who scored past goalkeeper Tom Farquharson. Harry got some stick in the press “Wake not awake” being one headline. Captain Fred Keenor apologised to the Cardiff public over the team’s performance and absolved Harry from any blame although the absence of top scorer Len Daviesin the final through injury made life more than difficult for the City.
- In 1990 Cardiff City were victims of an FA Cup giant killing against a team nicknamed “The Missioners” – what is this team now called?
Hayes and Yeading United. “The Missioners” was the nickname of Hayes FC who we drew in the 1st round of the FA Cup in 1990. They held us to a 0-0 draw at Ninian Park in front of a bumper crowd of 1,844. The replay was held at Brentford’s ground Griffin Park in front of a crowd of 4,312 where Hayes scored the only goal of the game to go through. Grainy YouTube footage does exist if you want a reminder of how bad things could be for a City team that finished in 13th place in the old 4th Division that season. Their win over us that year has gone down in history as one of their greatest achievements and is still commemorated by their fans. It is worth mentioning another Hayes FA Cup moment when, 18 years earlier, they took Reading to a 2nd Round replay bringing one of the Hayes team, Robin Friday, to the attention of their opponents. However, that’s another story! In 2007 Hayes merged with Yeading FC (Charlie Oatway being a notable former player) to form Hayes and Yeading United FC who currently play in the Southern League Premier South.
- On 17 March 2022 this former City player scored in the Tehran Derby – who is he?
Rudy Gestede. What is the Tehran Derby and what was Rudy Gestede doing in Iran ? Well, the Derby is Persepolis v Esteghial ( I’ve heard of Persepolis in a historical context but not Esteghial and neither in a football context). Rudy is no longer in Iran however. He signed for Esteghial in October 2021 and parted company with them in June after I set this quiz. The Persian Gulf Pro League was obviously not for him and at the age of 33 he is currently without a club. He had his moments at the City but they were few and far between. 2 goals against Forest in 2013 and a missed penalty in the shoot out at Wembley against Liverpool come to mind as notable incidents. I think it came as a surprise to all of us when he became a prolific scorer for Blackburn Rovers after signing for them following a loan spell. In 2015 this form lead to a £6m transfer to Aston Villa in the Premier League where he found goals much harder to come by. In 2017 another £6m transfer took him to Middlesbrough where his goal scoring record returned to Cardiff City proportions. His 3 year contract at the Riverside was not renewed and he eventually found himself in Iran after short spells with clubs in Australia and Greece.
- Cobham FC of the Combined Counties League can count amongst their distinguished former players goalkeeper Bob Willis who thought that cricket might have been a been a better option and2 former Cardiff City players – one a Welsh International – who are they?
Trevor Lee and Rhys Weston. We signed Trevor Lee from Bournemouth in time for him to score the winner on debut against Swansea on Boxing Day 1983. He scored 5 more goals that season but Jimmy Goodfellow released him before the next season. The more memorable Rhys Weston, however, turned out for us 215 times and won 7 caps for Wales. He joined us from the Arsenal Academy and, after leaving us in 2007 did a bit of globe trotting playing in Norway, Iceland and Malaysia. He came out of retirement in 2019 at the age of 39 to play a handful of games for Cobham.
- The player with most appearances in the Premier League for a certain team 40 or so miles west on the M4 also played for Cardiff City – who is he?
Wayne Routledge. In 2008-09 he played 9 times for us on loan from Aston Villa and made an immediate impact on the team and City fans. We only lost one of those games, his debut at Plymouth and I remember thinking we have to sign this bloke, he’s good. It was thought at the time that he was going to sign but QPR came up with a better offer in terms of wages. There was some bad feeling amongst the City players as he left abruptly from the Vale Hotel without saying goodbye or speaking to City players training nearby. He retired from football in 2021 after 10 years with the club down the road where he proved his pedigree in the Premier League. As far as the City were concerned Chris Burke filled the role that Routledge might have played. Not a bad second prize but a second prize nevertheless.