Match Preview: Taff's Well vs. Cardiff City
Cardiff City kick-off their pre-season campaign as a Bluebirds XI face Taff’s Well at Rhiw’r Ddar Stadium on Friday, July 5th – 7pm kick-off.
Proceeds from the fixture will go towards supporting Tŷ Hafan, which is a paediatric palliative care charity that offers care to children and support for their families.
Neil Warnock and members of the First-Team squad visited Tŷ Hafan Hospice in May 2019 and you can read more about that here.
For those wishing to attend, tickets will be available on the gate - subject to availability - at £20 seated and £10 standing for Adults and £5 for Concessions.
Preparations
The Bluebirds reported back to the Vale Resort for pre-season training on Wednesday, June 26th in preparation for the 2019/20 season.
One day later, it was confirmed that midfielder Will Vaulks, goalkeeper Joe Day and defender Curtis Nelson had signed, adding strength and depth to the squad.
#ThreeNewBluebirds | #CardiffCity are delighted to welcome @WillVaulks, Joe Day & Curtis Nelson to Cardiff City Stadium!
— Cardiff City FC (@CardiffCityFC) 27 June 2019
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Following tough tests of their fitness so far, some City players will return to action against the Welsh League Division One outfit and begin to build-up their match fitness ahead of a highly-anticipated season.
The opposition
Founded in 1946, Taff’s Well originally entered the Cardiff and District League and played at Gwaelod y Garth cricket ground.
During their inaugural year, the Wellmen joined the newly-formed South Wales Amateur League and in their second, decided that their ground was not ideal and moved to a field provided by local Rhiw’r Ddar farmer Dai Parry.
Taff’s Well’s achievements arrived quick as they won the League title twice between 1949 and 1956 and concluded runners-up four times.
Their success continued in the South Wales Amateur League, Corinthian Cup and South Wales Intermediate Cup throughout the 1950s and ‘70s in particular.
However, in recent times their achievements have deflated and the last time they won a trophy was in 2016/17 when they defeated Penybont 4-3 on penalties to lift the Welsh League Cup.
Last season, they finished 14th in Welsh League Division One with current manager Stevie Williams taking over from Jamie Sherwood for the final eight games, although their pre-season test against Cardiff City could be the catalyst to improvement in 2019/20.
The Wellmen commence their competitive fixtures against Briton Ferry Llansawel at the Old Road in Nathaniel MG Cup Round One on the weekend of Saturday, August 3rd, which is the date the Bluebirds begin their Championship campaign away to Wigan Athletic.
Previous meetings
It is a familiar fixture to the City and Taff’s Well fans alike because it will be the third consecutive season that Cardiff City visit Rhiw’r Ddar to get their pre-season underway.
In 2018/19, the Bluebirds were 3-0 victors as striker Rhys Healey netted a brace and substitute tralist Scott McLean added a late third in front of around 3,000 spectators.
That was a much heavier victory than the previous campaign, when City won 1-0 due to forward Anthony Pilkington’s fantastic first-half volley and with a bumper crowd in attendance, Warnock handed debuts to Neil Etheridge, Loïc Damour, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Danny Ward.
Social: Live updates will come via our official Twitter and Facebook accounts, @CardiffCityFC.
Catch-Up: Extended highlights of the match will be available to subscribers of Cardiff City TV.
