Days Gone By | Blackpool vs. Cardiff City

Friday sees the Bluebirds travel up to Bloomfield Road, as we take on Blackpool for the 75th time in our history.

Blackpool started playing professional football in 1889, 21 years before City, and the two would meet for the first time in 1920. For all of Blackpool’s experience, they crumbled at the hands of the Bluebirds, as Fred Stewart’s side won 4-2 in the first ever meeting. Goals from James Gill, George West, Arthur Cashmore, and an own goal from Lawrie Baker sealed a solid victory.

The two sides only met four times before the 1950s, but both would be mainstays in Division One throughout the decade. This period will go down in Blackpool folklore, as they won the FA Cup and possessed world class players like Sir Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen. However, City would in fact beat the Tangerines who won the FA Cup in 1953. Tommy Northcott’s solitary goal secured a famous win Cyril Spiers’ side.

There wouldn’t be much cheer for Bluebirds fans against Blackpool for many years. In total, in the 74 previous meetings between these two clubs, the Tangerines have come out on top 34 times. City wins were scarce throughout the 1960s and '70s, but there were some good moments, too.

The Bluebirds completed a league double over Blackpool in the 1968/69 season, a feat they wouldn’t repeat again until 2007/08. There was also a 2-1 win in February 1978, as Steve Grapes’ 88th minute winner wrapped up a big win for City.

The result would prove pivotal come the end of the season, as Jimmy Andrews’ side survived the drop by a single point. The team who were relegated instead was Blackpool, the first time ever that the North West side had been demoted to the third tier of English football.

Meetings in Division Three and Division Four were regular during the '80s and '90s, with City only coming out on top once in 14 fixtures between 1985 and 1995. Wayne Curtis netted the only goal in a 1-0 win in 1986.

The new millennium has seen the Bluebirds dominate this fixture. A goal each for Robert Earnshaw and Alan Mahon helped Lennie Lawrence’s team to a 2-1 win in 2003, a victory that helped them move into the Play-Offs and gain promotion back to the second tier.

2012 saw City record their biggest win over Blackpool, and their first at Cardiff City Stadium. A brace from Matthew Connolly along with one for Peter Whittingham sealed a 3-0 win in a season which saw the capital side reach the Premier League for the first time.

The Bluebirds’ last win in the fixture did in fact come at Bloomfield Road in August 2021; Leandro Bacuna and Kieffer Moore scored the goals that day.