Cardiff City F.C. season 2007-08

Infobox Football club season
club = Cardiff City
season = 2007–08
manager = flagicon|ENG Dave Jones
chairman = flagicon|ENG Peter Ridsdale
league = Championship
league result = 12th
cup1 = FA Cup
cup1 result = Runners-up
cup2 = Carling Cup
cup2 result = Fourth Round
cup3 = FAW Premier Cup
cup3 result = Semi-finals
league topscorer =
Paul Parry (10)
Joe Ledley (10)
season topscorer =
Paul Parry (11)
Joe Ledley (11)
highest attendance = 18,840 vs Stoke City (11 August 2007)
lowest attendance = 11,006 vs Colchester United (8 December 2007)
average attendance = 13,939
prevseason = 2006–07
nextseason = 2008–09During the 2007-08 season Cardiff played in the Football League Championship. It is the team's fourth year in the Championship since being promoted from League One. The season was the first full year in charge for chairman Peter Ridsdale after taking over from Sam Hammam the previous year. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/6076620.stm "Ridsdale to fulfil Hammam dream"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 May, 2008]

Team kit and sponsorship

Cardiff's shirts for this season are made by Joma. Their shirt sponsorship is a version of the previous years, Communications Direct, which has been shortened to just Comms Direct.

eason review

Events

This section does not list information about match results or player transfers.

*15 August, 2007 - Major financial backers of the club Langston announce they have initiated legal proceedings against the club over claims they have not repaid a £30 million loan. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/6946893.stm "Cardiff facing court over '£30m'] BBC Sport Retrieved on 29 December, 2007] .

*7 September, 2007 - Chairman Peter Ridsdale reveals that the clubs new ground had fallen behind schedule and will not be ready until May 2009. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/6983963.stm "City ground 'delayed to May 2009'"] BBC Retrieved on 29 December, 2007]

*29 October, 2007 - Ex-Wales rugby captain Mike Hall resigns from the club board over a possible conflict of interest between his company PMG Associates and Langston. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/7067763.stm "Hall parts company with Bluebirds"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 29 December, 2007]

*2 November, 2007 - Construction of Cardiff's new stadium gets under way with a ceremonial 'cutting of the turf' ceremony between Peter Ridsdale and Cardiff council leader Rodney Berman. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7075131.stm "Turf cut at Cardiff's new stadium"] BBC Retrieved on 29 December, 2007]

*13 November, 2007 - Cardiff board members hold a meeting and hand manager Dave Jones a vote of confidence as long as results improve. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/7092128.stm "Cardiff boss Jones given warning"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 29 December, 2007]

*15 November, 2007 - Club creditors Langston state that should it win its court case against Cardiff it would not put the club into administration. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/7096549.stm "Langston calm administration fear"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 29 December, 2007]

*12 December, 2007 - The club's court case with Langston is postponed after the company requested a deferral. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/7140595.stm "Cardiff awaiting March court date"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 29 December, 2007]

*12 March, 2008 - The club's court case with creditors Langston begins at the High Court. [ [http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7289591.stm "Before Wembley, City's legal test"] BBC Retrieved on 12 March, 2008]

*19 March, 2008 - A high court judge dismisses Langston's call for a summary judgement. A two month wait for any further court action is announced for parties to try and agree terms. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7305136.stm "Bluebirds saved from loan crisis"] BBC Retrieved on 20 March, 2008]

*24 May, 2008 - Cardiff Blues rugby team sign an agreement which will see them become tenants at the club's new ground for a period of 20 years. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7418592.stm "Cardiff clubs sign 20 year deal"] BBC Retrieved on 26 May, 2008]

Pre-season

Cardiff enjoyed a successful pre-season winning five out of their six friendlies. The previous seasons top scorer Michael Chopra began pre-season well with two goals in the first match against near-by Welsh side Merthyr Tydfil but that was to be his last participation in the Bluebirds season as he left the club to join newly promoted Premiership side Sunderland. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/6291244.stm "Sunderland wrap up Chopra signing"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 6 December, 2007] Manager Dave Jones had little resources on which to build a side but managed to make several additions by the time Cardiff travelled to Portugal for a two-game tour. Winning both games with new signings Steve MacLean and Gavin Rae impressing. During the two games Cardiff handed appearances to four on trial players, Cyprus international winger Constantinos Charalambidis, former Greece under-21 international goalkeeper Kleopas Giannou, Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo Oliveira and Portuguese defender Marco Almeida. [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/footballnation/cardiff-city-fc/2007/07/16/bluebirds-enjoy-taste-of-big-mac-91466-19459980/ "Bluebirds enjoy taste of big Mac"] Western Mail Retrieved on 6 December, 2007] However none were offered permanent deals at the club. They returned home to take a 2-0 win over Yeovil Town before they suffered their only loss during pre-season in an astonishing 6-4 defeat to Stockport County. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stockport/6920690.stm "Stockport 6-4 Cardiff"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 6 December, 2007] One more player arrived at this point, Robbie Fowler was the surprise signing unveiled at Ninian Park [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/6281850.stm "Fowler thrilled by Bluebirds welcome"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 6 December, 2007] and featured in the 1-0 victory over Dutch Eredivisie side FC Twente in their final pre-season game.

Regular season

Cardiff began the season at home to Stoke City, the first time they had been given a home tie to open the season in eleven years, falling to a 1-0 defeat after a goal from Ryan Shawcross. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/6931081.stm "Cardiff 0-1 Stoke"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 11 December, 2007] They picked up their first win of the season against QPR the following weekend but the Bluebirds struggled to live up to the expectations laid on them at the start of the year and by the end of October they found themselves hovering above the relegation zone. Several poor results saw manager Dave Jones come under intense pressure to be sacked but on 15 November the Cardiff board voted to keep Jones in the job on condition his results improve in the next few weeks. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/7092128.stm "Cardiff boss Jones given warning"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 11 December, 2007] Steadily results did begin to improve but on 4 December Cardiff were beaten 2-0 at home by Charlton Athletic and the teams performance was slammed by critics. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/7128514.stm "Cardiff lacked bottle - Roberts"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 11 December, 2007] However the team responded well to the negative response and came back to win three of their next four games, against Colchester United, Blackpool and Sheffield United, three teams also near Cardiff at the foot of the table. They continued their good spell of results into the new year with wins against Preston North End, Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday. The teams impressive form saw manager Jones named as Championship manager of the month and midfielder Joe Ledley named player of the month for January, only for Cardiff to lose the next two games against Stoke City and Norwich City. After mixed results in February and early March the team began to push for promotion and with four games remaining members of the squad stated that they would have to win all four remaining games to make the play-offs, [ [http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/7354377.stm "Cardiff cannot slip up - Johnson"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 19 April, 2008] [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/footballnation/cardiff-city-fc/2008/04/18/come-on-you-blues-purse-s-call-to-city-91466-20784189/ "'Come on you blues' - Purse's call to City"] South Wales Echo Retrieved on 19 April, 2008] only for them to lose to already relegated Scunthorpe United and play off hopefuls Wolverhampton Wanderers in their next two games before finishing the season with a 3-0 victory over Barnsley.

League statistics

Cups

FA Cup

Cardiff's first match in the FA Cup was away to non-league Chasetown who became the lowest ranked side ever to reach the third round of the competition and, despite an early scare when Kevin McNaughton turned the ball into his own net, they eventually came away with a 3-1 victory. The fourth and fifth round ties saw the Bluebirds go through with little trouble after wins over Hereford United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. With those results, Cardiff reached the quarter-finals and were rewarded with a trip to Premiership side Middlesbrough. A tough match was predicted but Cardiff got off to a great start when Peter Whittingham found his way through a crowd of defenders to score and Roger Johnson headed in meaning the match was all but over after just 23 minutes. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7272793.stm "Middlesbrough 0-2 Cardiff"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 19 May, 2008] The semi-final saw Cardiff come up against Championship opposition for the second time in Barnsley at Wembley Stadium and a Joe Ledley goal in the opening 10 minutes was the only thing that separated the two clubs at the final whistle sending Cardiff into their first FA Cup final since they won the trophy in 1927.

The final saw Cardiff face Portsmouth, who advanced after beating West Bromwich Albion in the semi-final. The match was played on 17 May at Wembley and a crowd of over 89,000 saw Portsmouth claim the cup after a goal from Nwankwo Kanu in the 37th minute. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7393770.stm "Portsmouth 1-0 Cardiff"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 May, 2008]

League cup

A mixture of first team and reserve players saw Cardiff come away with 1-0 wins over Football League One sides Brighton and Leyton Orient in the opening rounds before they were drawn against Championship side West Bromwich Albion. The match saw Cardiff go 4-0 up in 30 minutes with goals from veteran trio Robbie Fowler, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Trevor Sinclair and, despite an attempted comeback from West Brom, the match finished 4-2.

The fourth round saw Cardiff drawn against Liverpool with the main focus of the match being the return of Robbie Fowler to Anfield. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/7065191.stm "Liverpool 2-1 Cardiff"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 May, 2008] After falling behind from a goal from Nabil El Zhar, Cardiff managed an equaliser when captain Darren Purse headed in a cross, only for Steven Gerrard to score the winner a minute later.

FAW Premier Cup

Cardiff were drawn against Welshpool Town for their first match and a team made up of mostly youth players with a handful of reserves came away with a 1-0 win after youngster Jonathan Brown scored on his first team debut. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_of_wales/7204519.stm "Welshpool 0-1 Cardiff"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 May, 2008] Newport County were the clubs opponents in the semi-final and despite adding several more of the more experienced reserve players to the side they were beaten on penalties. The match also saw a number of former Cardiff players such as Lee Jarman and Damon Searle return to Ninian Park.

=Squad=

0* Indicates player left the club during the season.

Disciplinary record

ummer transfer window outs

0* Indicates that the player joined club after being released by Cardiff

Loans out

FA Cup

Awards

Won

January Championship manager of the month: Dave Jones
January Championship player of the month: Joe Ledley
Player of the semi finals of the FA Cup: Joe Ledley [ [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/04/POTR_LedleyWinsSF.htm "Ledley takes the vote"] TheFA.com Retrieved on 14 April, 2008]

Nominated

Player of the third round of the FA Cup: Aaron Ramsey [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7182698.stm "Coventry hero earns FA Cup award"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 March, 2008]
Player of the fourth round of the FA Cup: Paul Parry [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7214082.stm "Havant's Potter wins FA Cup award"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 March, 2008]
Player of the fifth round of the FA Cup: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7256251.stm "Barnlsey keeper wins FA Cup award"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 March, 2008]
Player of the quarter finals of the FA Cup: Peter Whittingham [ [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/03/Odejayi_potr.htm "Odejayi takes vote"] TheFA.com Retrieved on 20 march, 2008]

References

ee also

Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City F.C. seasons
2007-08 in English football