Congratulations to Charlie Brown of Llanishen who successfully cracked the quiz published in the Trust’s newsletter. Thanks to all those that entered.
So, how did you get on with the quiz? Here are the questions again with the answers.
Q1. In 2009 from which club did the City sign Nigerian
footballer Solomon Taiwo ?
On
11 August 2009 Cardiff City played
Dagenham and Redbridge in the Carling Cup. Despite finishing on the
wrong end of a 3-1 defeat, Solomon impressed City Manager Dave Jones enough to
sign him for a fee rising to £250,000. His 3 year contract period at Cardiff
City was somewhat undistinguished only managing 9 appearances although
persistent injuries were a factor. He also gained notoriety later when he
appeared on the BBC in the 2017 series of Masterchef. Sadly, his performance on
that programme probably reflected his Cardiff City career. He was knocked out
after producing only one dish of chicken and pasta. Unfortunately for him, his
early departure from Masterchef did not go unnoticed and he received
considerable abuse on Twitter from some of his former Cardiff team mates.
Q2. Who took over as
Caretaker Manager of the City after the sacking of Malky Mackay in 2013 ?
When
Malky Mackay signed a 3 year contract to manage the City in June 2011 he
brought with him from Watford his first team coach David Kerslake to carry out
the same role with us. Citing issues with signings, transfer budgets, results
and style of play Vincent Tan told Malky to resign from the club or be dismissed.
Malky refused and looking back on it now it seems an age between the
controversy arising and his eventual dismissal after a 3-0 home defeat to
Southampton on Boxing Day 2013. This paved the way for David Kerslake to take
over in a Caretaker capacity starting with a 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland
with a Jack Colback equaliser in the 95th minute. That brings back painful
memories ! Kerslake lasted one more game – a 2-0 defeat away to Arsenal and
then the OGS era started. David Kerslake is now Assistant Manager at Lincoln
City.
Q3. Which Cardiff
City footballer had the nickname “Nookie Bear” due to his resemblance
to ventriloquist Roger DeCourcey ?
Derek
Showers also known as “Danny”. He first came to my attention in the
1970/71 FA Youth Cup campaign where his goals helped the City to a 2 leg final
with Arsenal. Quite an achievement.
However, an injury sustained in the semi final ruled him out for both
legs of the final and, at the time, was regarded as significantly diminishing
our chances. He was fast tracked into the first team squad in 1970 at the
tender age of 17 after the sale of John Toshack. Never a prolific scorer his
commitment was never questioned. He was sold to Bournemouth in 1977 and it is
believed that at his next club, Portsmouth, he gained the nickname “Nookie
Bear” when his rapidly receding hairline rendered him a Roger DeCoucey
lookalike.
Q4. He has a famous
father and he made the first of only 6 City appearances against Wrexham in 1991
– who is he ?
Cameron
Toshack. There aren’t that many father/son partnerships to have played for
Cardiff City and John Toshack is the most distinguished father. Cameron Toshack
had tried his hand at Swansea City and
Bristol City before joining us. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with Type 2
Diabetes at the age of 21 which made life difficult in trying to cope with the
physical demands of professional football.
He is now a very successful coach in the youth structures of a club
further down the M4……. errr I forget which one !
Q5. This goalkeeper
had a long and curious career which consisted of 19 different spells at
different clubs including 13 on loan, one of them being 7 appearances for the
City in 2001 – who is he ?
When
I looked up Carl Muggleton on Wikipedia I thought, Blimey, this bloke has got
about a bit. When he joined us on loan in 2000/01 season his substantive club
was Stoke City although he had been playing on loan for Chesterfield. He was backup for Mark Walton during his
short spell with us. He has forsaken football and is now a qualified driving
instructor.
Q6. Who were the
City’s opponents when they won the FA Charity Shield in 1927?
Now
known as the FA Community Shield. The City played Corinthian Casuals on 12
October 1927 at Stamford Bridge in front of 16,500 spectators. The City won
with 2-1 with late goals by Hugh Ferguson and Len Davies after trailing
since the 49th minute. This match took
place in the days long before it was automatically between the FA Cup winner
and the League Champions. The previous 4 Charity Shield matches were between an
England Amateur XI and an England Professional XI. It would be interesting to
find out why there was a change of heart to let the FA Cup Winners in against a
famous Amateur XI. Answers on a postcard please.
Q7. The last
hat-trick scored by a City Player in the European Cup Winners Cup was in 1988
against Derry City – who was it ?
In
the 1988/89 ECWC competition City were drawn against Derry City in the 1st
round. We drew 0-0 in the away leg and won comfortably the home leg 4-0 with a hat-trick by Jimmy Gilligan and a goal
by Brian McDermott ( as a manager he
replaced Neil Warnock as permanent
manager of Leeds United).We were knocked out in the 2nd round
comfortably 6-1 on aggregate to AGF Aarhus of Denmark. Sadly the heydays of Cardiff City in Europe
were now over. We only competed in 2 more seasons of the ECWC getting knocked
out in the first round on both occasions the last one being a salutary
experience losing 8-3 on aggregate to Standard Liege.
Q8. Who scored the
City’s first goal in their second stint in the Premier League ?
It came in the City’s 4th Premier League appearance against Arsenal when Victor Camarasa equalised just before half time.In the second half City went 2-1 down with a build up and finish we could only dream of by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Danny Ward equalised with a header only for Alexandre Lacazette to lose Sol Bamba ( not for the first time in the match) and finish clinically for the winner. I thought we made a decent fist of a performance in that game and deserved a point. However class told in the end.
Q9 Which City player missed penaltieis in the shoot-outs of both the semi-final and final of the 2011-12 League Cup Competition?
In the semi final we beat Palace 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw over 2 legs. Kenny Miller being the only one of the 4 City penalty takers who missed. The final is still difficult to recall as the disappointment comes flooding back. Kenny Miller’s miss in the final minute which could have won it for us was hard to bear. As a seasoned striker you would have thought he could have done better with his penalty in shoot out but no, he hit the upright. I’m not entirely sure I’ve forgiven him.
Q10. In January 2011
which Israel International did the City sign from Blackpool ?
Dekel
Keinan joined the City from Blackpool in January for the dreaded
“undisclosed fee”. He did not
make much of an impact being kept out of the team by the likes of Paul Quinn. However,
his debut was very memorable in that it was at the Liberty Stadium on 6
February when Craig Bellamy scored a dramatic 85th minute winner. Loans
to Crystal Palace and Bristol City took place but a permanent move to Palace
fell through. Eventually he rejoined his
former club Maccabi Tel Aviv after being released by us.