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1927 Club newsletter 2000/01 Season Newsletter 3, January 2001 Stories From The City Hello everyone I love you all, especially Robbie Earnshaw, with his cheeky toothy grin and Nadia-Comaneci-on-speed somersaults. Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i bawb, Happy New Year to you all, and what a New Year's Day it was, with recent Jan. 1st home trouncings 4-0 and 5-0 v. Preston and oh my God Maidstone banished as we trounced the 3rd worst team in Devon (that is bad) 6-1 to continue a run of form that makes me laugh out loud at strangers on the tube. Put simply, Corky is the man, Coco the Clown having been banished in mid-October to a life selling balloons to kids. Since Gould's demise, which went to prove there still is joy to be had in a harsh, cruel world, the mighty Cardiff City have a record in League and FA Cup (after Crewe) of W11, D3, L1, F43, A16. Now, any old idiot with a calculator (in this case me) can see that that is an average of 3 goals for per game, and just over one per game conceded. That, as '27er Darren Tandy would tell you, is "bloody marvelous" and we are witnessing utterly surreal mind-expanding-drugs-like progress down Sloper Road. Massive game at Saaaaaarfend on Saturday (go there and cheer when we win) and a very winnable replay at SuperDarioland on Tuesday to set up another home sell-out v. Stockport. Hurrah. Since the last Newsletter (sorry for the delay, it was floods, trains and the Euro against the dollar) things down the City have been an absolute orgy, from Evans and Bowen scoring 2 of the greatest City goals you've ever seen at Royston Vasey, er, Chesterfield away, they have people with eyes on the side of their heads there, to City marching gorgeously into the 2nd Round of the Cup by whacking north Bristol's finest 5-1 live on Sky, they're a Division above us and we absolutely murdered them, with a performance typifying everything that has been going on since Gould was put into solitary following his predictably calamitous spell in charge. Then there was the death-defying "Cardiff City Ride the Wall of Death Week" winning 3-2 twice in 5 days against Lincoln and 'Pools after being 2-1 down each time on 90 mins (I hugged Matt Gabb, kissed a steward and nearly blew myself up just for fun against Hartlepool). Then Earnie at Plainmoor notched a 2nd-half hat-trick for the 2nd time in a fortnight, and the run continued all the way through 2 identikit 3-1 wins against a dirty, nasty Cheltenham side, win after win, goals from all over the place, culminating (so far) in Exeter getting totally gubbed out of sight. So we lost at Argyle on a rare off day, but even that will serve to focus minds, and we'll beat them next week, so no worries. Just be glad you weren't with the '27ers on one of Uncle Sam's Special Coaches which broke down 3 times on the way to Home Park and 5 times on the way back to Cardiff, typical City that is. Creigiau Travel, well I won't be getting a coach to Torremolinos with them, I can tell you (no disrespect, like). So we go into the New Year flying and in 3rd place. In '92-'93 when we won the League we were 8th at this stage, and it was a surge of W15, D3, L2 from this point onwards that took us to the title. Well, our current run threatens to surpass that one in the next month or so, since Sam Hammam My Lord sussed that he needed to get players in and went and did it. Just think how much we have come on in the last 12 months, the whole place is unrecognisable. Take media coverage for one. We get more than any non-Premiership side, and it's all (kind of) positive, so much so my Mum 'phones me to tell me things about City (and they're not like "oh I saw the fighting against Millwall are you still alive?"). No, she phones me up to say things like "Mark, that man is on about sheep in the paper again, is he a nutter or what?". Good question, dunno the answer. Apart from Sam's obvious sheep fetish (which he has the cheek to blame on us, like when is the last time any of us talked lovingly about sheep, oh alright don't answer that one Rob Hughes), he has sorted us 2 Arsenal players in the first team (James Harper on loan, man of the match against Exeter where he was in the non-scoring minority, and the excellent Rhys Weston on a proper deal). In a 1927 Club exclusive, one of our members recently bumped into celebrity slaphead Arsenal fan Nick Hornby in London's glamorous West End. Sensing a rare chance to gloat, given Arsenal's recent poor run and our good one, your fellow '27er told Hornby we'd just signed Weston from N5's finest, only to learn that he is "rubbish". Well he's better than Nelson bloody Vivas - he really is rubbish, Fever Pitch boy. Andrew "son of unrepentant cheat" Jordan has signed from Bristol City and, in all fairness to him, has looked pretty woeful (though we sponsor his shirt as he wears 27). His first 3 games for the City made Lee Baddeley look like Franz Beckenbauer, a comparison which is not often made, and his propensity for alarming own goals is awe-inspiring. I have heard good things about him from people who know about him, though, so fingers crossed. We've also got 21-year old striker Gavin Gordon from Lincoln for an astonishing £500,000, a lot for a player with a record of a goal every 4 games for Hull and Lincoln. Maybe he'll turn out good though, and scored a good goal in the 6-1 game. Of the established players, Leggy at sweeper has been a revelation, Bonner (especially) and Evans ran midfield brilliantly until the former's disastrous broken ankle against Macclesfield. Earnie has justified the faith we all had in him even though Burrows didn't. He's simply our greatest prospect since Blakey (excluding Peter Zois, natch), Bowen in the hole has been the influence we all knew he would be (and not just for own goals), Josh Low is very tall indeed and increasingly good at delivering at the end of his trademark tall-man-running runs. And Brazier is back too, scoring a lovely goal against Exeter and hopefully set for a run in the side. We are lush and we are going up, fact. So what has been the catalyst then? Well, apart from Sam and his money and crazy antics, I have to say that Gould's demise heralded a run of results unprecedented in living memory. Coincidence or not, you decide. Cork has certainly sorted City's recent propensity to hide when things are going against them. Fair play, we are far from the finished article, and the return to the team of a fully-fit Boland, Thompson, Eckhardt and even Perret for the 20 minutes until he gets injured again, will be very welcome. Way I see it is, if you were in a team and Gould was doing the team talk, I bet you'd be thinking to yourself, "wait there, you're a bit weird", whereas with Corky in charge, he speaks straight, the players listen and believe in him and themselves. This started straight away at Chesterfield, the only town in Britain where there is so much polyester in the home enclosure that they have a sign saying "no naked flames" in case people's purple shellsuits and/or mullets catch fire. Kevin Evans' opener that day would have knocked down a pensioner in Buxton if the top corner of the net had not seduced it into a loving cwtch, and Jason's second was the result of a flowing move that recalled (for me) Brazil in the 1970 World Cup Final. Yes, we drew from 2 up, but the point is, we went there and totally ran the show, the players started to believe we are going up, and we are. Chesterfield may be shafted anyway as 3 sides of the ground are likely to close down, leaving them with only 2,500 capacity for the rest of the season. That, and a small squad, should see them off the top of the table before long. As for Brighton, well their pitch is a mudbath, a total and utter disgrace for which I hope they are thrown into the East Sussex Parks League Division 6. They probably won't be, but they are going to struggle on that allotment. That leaves Orient, who will surely fall away and lose at Ninian, and Southend, who may well become real contenders, making this week's game at Roots Hall all the more important. Fear not though, we have class all over the pitch, just get down there and worship. It is all so beautiful, and you can buy horrible beer on the Bob Bank. Perfect. Membership Cards Sorry to everyone who is waiting for their membership cards, they were sent off to CCSC main Branch in October. As in previous recent seasons, they have been less than quick at sending them out. Various members of the 1927 Club Committee are asking them to sort it out sharpish, as it is inconvenient for you and for us. I fully apologise, and emphasise that if you have paid your membership, you are a member. From next season we will issue the cards ourselves so there will be no delays, because it's rubbish at the moment. I know how you feel. Membership Fees If you haven't renewed your memberships yet, please do (to PO Box) or you won't get any more newsletters after this one, as we are neither a charity nor rich, nor do we know where to nick all these stamps from. It's 6 quid and 8 for families, payable to "The 1927 Club". Cheers to all of you who have sent cheques, it's your Club, and the Newsletters are back monthly now. CCSC End of Season Presentation Night, 28/04/01 The Supporters Club bash (with real-life City players on every table) takes place this year after the last home game against Shrewsbury, at the Angel Hotel slap bang in the middle of town. As Rob's note says, please tip him off if you need a place, £10 deposits being taken now (payable to "The 1927 Club"). Book quickly for a place on the '27 Club table. It will rock. "Crazy Horse Disco Bar" On Tour: Wales on the Road To World Cup 2002 After the 1-1 against a very boring Norway side, and a fantastic 0-0 draw in Warsaw which saw a dozen or so '27ers have the times of their lives (one of them liked it so much he willingly left his passport in the care of a complete stranger, who promptly stole it), our undying love of Wales continues into a crucial 2001, with trips to Yerevan for Armenia away (Sat. 24/3) and Ukraine home (Weds. 28/3). Yerevan trip is £340, dep. Stansted 23/3 2300, arr. Yerevan 24/3 1000, Dep Yerevan 25/3 0100, arr Stansted 0500, email Peter.Underwood@hillgatetravel.com for details (a '27 Clubber works there). For the Ukraine home game we plan a 1927 Club trip leaving Hammersmith at 2pm, if you want to come please let ROB know pref. by end January. On the subject of Wales, best wishes from all Wales fans to the badly-injured Chris Coleman as he recovers from his car crash. He is outstanding for Wales and will be sorely missed. Here's hoping he makes a swift and full recovery and that we stay in contention while he's out. 1927 Club 10th Anniversary As touted earlier, we're still sussing out ideas for a 10th Anniversary bash, keep your eye on ewsletters for details, hopefully involving one or two of those lovely Bluebirds. Congratulations... Belated congratulations for doing the decent thing before Christmas to '27er and former Travel Officer Ray Lewis and his wife Mary on their (finally!) getting married at the end of 2000. Well done also to Barry Boy Made Good, Jim Welsh, who got married to Paula last year shortly after emigrating to NSW - they had a service in Barry just before Christmas when they were over on holiday, and it was lovely. Best wishes to all four of them. You Couldn't Make It Up... Big thanks to '27er Colin Farmer who sent me a clipping from the Swansea Evening Post which made me laugh, a lot. Headlined "Blues make a mark at Vetch", the article read, "An intruder with a pot of paint has struck for a 2nd time at Swansea City's Vetch Field and painted the initials of rivals Cardiff City in the centre circle. The letters were visible during [the] dismal 2-1 defeat by bottom club Oxford United. A disgruntled fan said "It was obvious they had tried to remove it but the grass isn't growing very much and it might take a while to go away"."Oh dear. Eagle-eyed fact fans will note it is still Oxford's only away win. CARDIFF CITY SUPPORTERS CLUB London and South-east England Branch PO Box 161, Wembley, Middlesex, HA0 1FW

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