MY CITY STORY | FOLLOWING THE BLUEBIRDS FROM AFAR
Community
8th June
As featured in 'The Bluebird', John Wilson shares his #MyCityStory...
"Cardiff born, City fan since 1967, got score on fading BBC World Service in Caribbean, now live in USA. Still my club!"“I think my American wife thinks I'm a bit crazy sometimes. Although I haven't seen City play live for a long time, I am really passionate about the Club I have supported ever since my brother took me to Ninian Park when I was fourteen.
“I'm sixty-two now but, after working in Cardiff until my late twenties, I moved to the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean in the early eighties. There was no internet, of course, so I followed City by listening to their results on the BBC World Service on short wave radio.
“The problem was that the signal would fade in and out, so in the list of results I might hear ‘Charlton Athletic 1 Cardiff Ci..... hissssss’ and then I'd have to wait another hour for the full results again.
“Tosh would be high on the list of my favourite players, and his great partner, Brian Clark, of course, for heading a goal-kick back into goal from the edge of the penalty area – and for that memorable header from Nigel Rees' cross [against Real Madrid].
“Like a lot of City fans, I listened to the second leg against Real Madrid on BBC radio as though it was on another planet.
Nigel Rees cross against Real Madrid, 10th March, 1971thatBrian Clark heads home
“I’ll always remember John Buchanan for that amazing free kick against the Swans, Peter King for that volley from the touch line and Ian Gibson, whose legs used to get black and blue because players couldn't get the ball off him by fair means.
“Also, our Aussie, Adrian Alston, and in recent years Kevin McNaughton for his durability, as he would get injured and always bounce up – and Whitts for some fantastic free kicks, of course.
“I never thought I would see City in an FA Cup Final, a League Cup Final or the hallowed ground of the Premier League, so there have been great memories over these last few years. I watched that FA Cup Final with my wife in an Irish pub and we were knocking on the doors to let us in at 10am because of the five hour time difference. I had a few morning pints of Guinness that day…
“Nowadays, I keep up with City on Cardiff City Player, through social media and on TV, and I'm closer to the Club than ever.”
John Wilson
