Interrobang News

It’s been more than 27 years since Cardiff City and Newport County went head-to-head in an English competition – but that will change this October.

Details for the EFL Trophy derby clash were quietly added to the club’s respective fixture lists in recent days – with the game slated for 7 October, with a 7.45pm kick-off at the Cardiff City Stadium.

A rare meeting

It will be the first time the two clubs have gone toe-to-toe in a competitive English competition since April 1988, when the Bluebirds beat the Ironsides 4-0 at Ninian Park, watched by 6,536 spectators.

The intensity of the rivalry between the two clubs is an interesting one – arguably generational, and at least partly escalated for many by incidents of 1980s football hooliganism. But with the two clubs now just one division apart, it will be fascinating whether the dislike between the two sets of fans hardens into a new era; particularly with the tectonics of club football in Wales having shifted significantly in recent times.

Admittedly, there’ve been more recent, albeit occasional, meetings in Welsh competitions between the sides, including three in the too often-maligned FAW Premier Cup. Most recently, County fans occupied a corner of the Grange End and came very close to outnumbering home supporters at Ninian Park, as the Exiles won a famous penalty shoot-out victory in the 2008 semi-final.

But encounters between the two sides have been strangely uncommon in any competition, given the quantity of tournaments they could have met in over the decades, contributing perhaps to a ‘stop-start’ nature to the rivalry.

Animosity not hard to find – but passions vary

Animosity hasn’t been hard to find, even when the clubs were at very different ebbs. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, with County plying their trade in the Conference South, chants taking aim at the Bluebirds – like “We Hate Cardiff” – were common on the Spytty Park terraces – despite the target playing as many as four divisions higher in the Football League Championship. Arguably, that was led by a largely older demographic of fans watching Newport in the sixth tier at that time, with razor-sharp memories of historic clashes between the two sides – including nine games in English competition in the 1980s. 

Conversely some younger Newportians likely grew up instead supporting Cardiff, particularly after chairman Sam Hammam breathed new life into the capital city club at a time when Newport were often struggling in the non-league. The cities are of course separated by just 12 miles.

City have also shown some generosity to their rivals in recent years – Newport County played two league fixtures at the Cardiff City Stadium in 2021, because of the condition of the Rodney Parade pitch. Gavin Foxall, then County chairman, said the gesture demonstrated “how the football community comes together in challenging circumstances”. Although that is nothing new. In 1976, Ninian Park hosted a game between a South Wales XI and Manchester United, with all proceeds in aid of a Fighting Fund for cash-strapped County.

Anti-Cardiff chants have become less common at Newport games in recent years – likely younger fans who’ve never seen their team play the Bluebirds presently see less relevance to the derby as some of the older heads. Whether fixtures now become more common with Cardiff back in the third tier, or whether a newfound closeness in the football pyramid proves time limited, remains to be seen; and will likely play a role in how the rivalry renews. 

But there’s always been some mutual umbrage. In a poll for PlanetFootball back in 2004, and with Cardiff rising up the Football League with lofty aspirations, fans still voted Newport County as their third biggest rival – joint with Stoke City; and behind – unsurprisingly – Swansea City and Bristol City. This was despite Newport playing in the Southern Football League at the time – and Cardiff’s ambitions being so hyperbolic that their former chairman flirted with the notion his charges could be as big in footballing terms as Barcelona.

Rivalry renewed: now a Vertu-al reality!

The draw for the EFL Trophy’s group stages have thrown up this latest encounter – with Cardiff City playing in the competition for the first time since the 2002/03 season, following relegation to League One. It’ll be their first time since Academy sides were controversially let into the Cup – and playing against Arsenal’s youth team in a competitive game will be a source of quiet embarrassment for Cardiff fans, given their club was in the top flight alongside the Gunners as recently as 2019. But while few Bluebirds fans will be relishing a return to the competition, currently sponsored by Vertu, the game with Newport County certainly adds a layer of intrigue – though, with their team freshly relegated, and when naming their preferred line-up for the group stages, some hosts on the popular View from the Ninian podcast forgot Newport was even an option!

For County fans, the game is an opportunity to get one over their neighbours in an English competition for the first time since August 1987 – when County won a League Cup tie 2-1. 

It will also be another proud reminder of how far the club has come, since going bankrupt in 1989. Not since the 1980s have the clubs been so close to one another in the footballing pyramid, and indeed for much of the two decades that followed, it was a pipedream that County and Cardiff would be so near one another in the footballing ladder again.

Promising start for both clubs

Newport County have started the new season with two draws – first up was a 2-2 League Cup draw at Barnet, before a win on penalties. Cameron Antwi, formerly of Cardiff, and Michael Reindorf, on loan from the Bluebirds, both bagged absolute worldies, before the Exiles came out on top in the shoot-out after a dramatic Barnet fightback. That was followed by a return to league action – a 1-1 clash with Notts County at Rodney Parade, with new signing Gerard Garner this time on target.

But the club has also made a surprising summer splash off the pitch – with the launch of a new away kit, as part of a collaboration with Athletic Club Bilbao, capturing international headlines. The red and white striped jersey, Bilbao’s colours, helps tell the story of 56 young Basque children who were housed in Caerleon during the 1930s; a part of the 4,000 kids evacuated to Britain amid bombing back home – a story many today were unaware of; that has been stylishly retold through a kit launch, that currently sees the away shirt have top billing on Newport County’s store front, amid messaging in the Basque and Spanish languages to satisfy overwhelming demand from the Iberian Peninsula. County’s new home and change strips are classy affairs – and whether they go for traditional Amber, or the Bilbao stripes, for October’s derby remains to be seen.

Cardiff City, meanwhile, returned to the third tier in impressive fashion – beating Peterborough United 2-1; with a performance packed full of attacking intent, and with goals from Rubin Colwill and Ronan Kpakio worthy of any highlight reel. 

But events off the pitch have also been a big focus of the summer – not least speculation of a takeover. Firstly, Chris Pike’s nephew Gareth Bale, with an almost mischievous glint in his eye, used media interviews to openly discuss working with a consortium looking to buy the club; before speculation of an alternative takeover of a South African-backed bid involving Gary Otto. Any takeover from Vincent Tan – the man who ditched decades of tradition in scrapping Cardiff’s blue home jerseys in 2012 – will likely be instantly popular with the CF11 faithful.

Ticket details for 7 October are yet to be announced – but there’ll likely be a lot more clamour over tickets in the away end; than the home end. Still, this game will matter a lot more to both sets of fans than your average early Football League Trophy encounter – after a group stage  draw which added another talking point to a pre-season that has seen Wales adjusting to new power dynamics in its club football scene. Whether this begins a new chapter in a curious, at times intense, but sometimes forgotten South East Wales footballing rivalry remains to be seen.