In recent times | Hull City vs. Cardiff City
The Bluebirds and the Tigers have been doing battle on the football pitch for over 100 years now.
There have been many memorable meetings between the two teams - with a lot of those interesting moments coming in the last ten years. We take a look at the recent history between Hull City & Cardiff City.
Double celebration day
It was already a good day for City fans when the Bluebirds visited Hull City on the final day in 2013. Promotion and the Championship title were already secure, but the travelling Bluebirds also had their part still to play in helping decide who would join them in the top flight.
Going into the match at the KC, Hull had a one point lead over Watford in the race for the second automatic promotion spot. The Hornets were hosting Leeds United, while the Tigers faced off against the Champions at home.
It was level everywhere at half-time, with Watford levelling late in half through Almen Abdi, cancelling out Dominic Poleon's strike for Leeds, while there were no goals in the opening half between Hull & the Bluebirds. That quickly changed after the break though when former Tigers forward Fraizer Campbell gave City the advantage away from home. A Watford goal at this stage would've knocked Hull into the Play-Off positions. Steve Bruce's side fought back though and scored twice in quick succession to take back their own destiny - Nick Proschwitz & Paul McShane hitting the target.
It may have appeared like Hull were gliding towards the top flight alongside their opponents, but this game, and the one at Vicarage Road weren't without late drama.
Andrew Taylor was shown a late second yellow card and the hosts were given a spot kick to secure their Premier League fate in added time. Proschwitz stepped up, only to be denied by David Marshall, expertly - and the game didn't end there.
Cardiff City went immediately on the attack and were awarded their own penalty for handball. Nicky Maynard made no mistake from the spot to level the game.
If Watford had won at Leeds, it would've been them joining City in the promised land. A late goal came in that fixture, but it was for the away side, with former Bluebird Ross McCormack earning victory for Leeds United.
Watford would go on to enjoy one of the most iconic days in Play-Off history, in their semi-final clash with Leicester City, before falling to Crystal Palace in the final.
At the KC though, the celebrations began with the final whistle. The top two in the second tier enjoying a very special final day.
Moz's magical moment
Yes. We're mentioning it again. It deserves to be noted at every opportunity. What was Moz doing making that run after 80+ minutes in such a crucial match?
But, we're so very glad he did.
In his own words: "I could see that there was a bit of space ahead after their corner, so I thought I’d get up there to see what happened. Craig Bryson made a great run across to take the lad away.
"Mendez picked me out and I had a bit of time to think about it. Luckily, I chopped inside and managed to curl it into the corner!"
A bit of context for those filling in their City history knowledge with our piece - it was April 2018. Cardiff City went into their penultimate match with Hull City third in the Championship table, two points behind Fulham in second place, but with a game in hand on their automatic promotion rivals. This match at the then-KCOM Stadium was our chance to overtake Slaviša Jokanović's side going into the final day.
The Bluebirds took the lead after 32 minutes when skipper Sean Morrison headed home. The moment we all remember though, is the one above. The unexpected and the spectacular. When our captain took matters into his own hands to put City back in the driving seat in the race for promotion, chopped into the corner, and celebrated in front of the 3,000+ travelling supporters.
"I need to talk about the support we had: it was just incredible. To bring that many fans to Hull was superb and we want to say a massive thank you to them. We couldn’t do it without them."
Triumphant Bluebirds & heartbreak for Hull
The end of the 2019/20 season was like no other before it. Football returned in June following a three month lay-off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but sadly without supporters able to watch from their usual positions at CCS.
Neil Harris' City returned in sparkling form from the off, winning three and drawing one of their first four matches back to cement a Play-Off charge that had looked a little unlikely before the season was halted.
Two defeats against Blackburn Rovers and Fulham threatened to throw City off course, but the Bluebirds responded with impressive wins over Wayne Rooney's Derby County and Neil Warnock's Middlesbrough to go into our final day clash with Hull City at CCS needing three points to be certain of a top six finish.
There was to be no double celebration this time around. Hull City came to CCS bottom of the league table, knowing they'd need Charlton Athletic, Barnsley and Wigan Athletic to all slip up, and an exceptional goal difference swinging victory to have any chance of surviving.
The game was as one sided as they come. Junior Hoilett settled any nerves after 20 minutes, Sean Morrison powered home a header 14 minutes later and the dominant hosts netted a third late on through Danny Ward to earn a fifth placed finish in the second tier.
The Bluebirds put in a valiant performance against a strong Fulham side in the Play-Off Semi-Finals, but eventually fell to a 3-2 aggregate defeat, with the Whites winning promotion after beating Brentford in the Final.
Hull City would go on to spend a single season in League One, winning the league under the management of Grant McCann. City winger Gavin Whyte helped them along the way, joining on loan for the second half of the 2020/21 season.
