Cardiff City awaydays: Northampton Town 2002 -

Here’s another of my occasional series of photo reports from long-forgotten Cardiff City matches, with this one recalling the 2-1 victory over Northampton Town on the 2nd March, 2002.

Northampton – who comically regale under the nickname of ‘The Cobblers’ – had moved from their previous ground at County Ground in 1994, which they had to share with the owners, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club.

That ground was famed for its incredibly rickety temporary mini-‘grandstand.’ Affording the bare minimum of ‘luxury’ seating, it looked like it would fall over in the lightest of breezes.

Their new ground is not much to look at either, and it’s located in one of those awful, soul-sucking, out-of-town, entertainment/commercial complexes, full of cheap nasty architecture.

The game wasn’t exactly memorable, but City managed to steal away with all three points – and that was good enough for me.

Outside we were treated to a full display of surliness from extra-stroppy riot cops, specialising in pushing around fans for the lolz.

There were some scuffles around this stadium after the final whistle, with the high embankment making it look like a medieval siege was going on as fans were repelled at the top.

Good luck to Northampton and all that, but I couldn’t wait to get out of the place. I hate these modern box-stadiums.

See full match report here.

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