During their third season in the top tier of English football, Cardiff City finished runners up to Huddersfield Town by the narrowest of margins – a goal difference of 0.024. Their final match of the season was a scoreless draw in which the clubs record goalscorer, Len Davies, missed a penalty. Had it not been for that, Cardiff City would have been the only Welsh club to win the top prize in English football. In the 1925 season, Cardiff made their first appearance at Wembley Stadium, in the FA Cup final. To make it there, Cardiff City defeated Darlington followed by Fulham at home. In round 3 they dispatched Notts County, which was followed by an epic quarter-final which came close to dashing Welsh hearts. The scores were locked at 1-1 against Leicester City, when somehow, Welsh international Willie Davies scored directly from a corner kick with the last kick of the game, sending Cardiff into the semis where they saw off Blackburn Rovers. The Bluebirds lost the final game against Sheffield United by a single goal scored by English international Fred Tunstall.

 

The following season was their worst in the English First Division since winning promotion 6 years prior, finishing in 14th position, and suffering their biggest loss ever, 11-2 to Sheffield United. However, Cardiff had a record 16 international players in its ranks, and they managed again to reach the FA Cup final for the second time, with defeats of Aston Villa, Darlington, Bolton and Chelsea along the way.

 

It was on St Georges Day, 23rd April 1927 at Wembley Stadium in London, that Cardiff City became the only Welsh team to become FA Cup champions. This final was the first to be broadcast on the radio, and Cardiff’s 1-0 victory against Arsenal that day marks the first and only time the FA Cup has left England. In fact, prior to this event, the trophy was called the English Cup, but after a Welsh team won it, the name was changed. After the match, Cardiff City returned home where they were driven to City Hall to be greeted by 150,000 fans who lined the streets of Cardiff to welcome the club back to the city. Arsenal’s goalkeeper, Dan Lewis, blamed a new jersey for the loss, stating that the wool was greasy, causing the ball to slip from his grip. Ever since then, it has been tradition for Arsenal goalkeepers to wash their jersey before every single match.

 

Arsenals captain praised the Bluebirds, saying "My congratulations to Cardiff City on being the first club in history to take the Cup out of England. We did our very utmost to prevent them from doing so, but we did not succeed. As, however, the trophy is gone to Cardiff, there is no one who more heartily congratulates them than the captain of the losers. Cardiff played an honest, clean game, each member of the team obviously striving to do his utmost and my final words are good luck to the city and good luck to Wales and its association football now that they have the Cup." Cardiff’s fortunes suddenly declined after this event, and within four years, they found themselves relegated to the Football League Third Division South.

Achievements: English First Division – Runners up x1
                        FA Cup – Winners x1 Runners up x1
                        FA Charity Shield x1
                        Welsh Cup x5

Star player: Fred Keenor, DOB 31 July 1894, Cardiff Wales

Keenor grew up in a terraced house in the suburbs of Cardiff with his 10 (yes, 10) brothers and sisters. His father worked long hours as a stonemason to afford to employ a live-in nanny to help look after the kids. The family were just making ends meet, and Keenor practiced with a ball made of rags tied together, playing in his local streets. He trialed with Cardiff City at age 17 and was signed to an amateur contract. He was eventually given a professional contract with a wage of 10 shillings a week. In 1915, the club came under fire for a perceived lack of contribution to the war effort.  After finally earning a place on Cardiff’s first team, Keenor enlisted with the 17th Middlesex Battalion – which became known as The Football Battalion due to the large number footballers in the unit. For as long as the league continued through the war, Keenor travelled by train from his base in London to wherever Cardiff was playing, every weekend. When he began basic military training, it was discovered that Keenor was just as bad a shot with a rifile as he was with a football. He wasn’t particularly good at running with the ball, either. His strength lay in his commitment and uncompromising tackling, with his team mate Ernie Curtis stating, “He could run all day. Not with the ball, mind you, but he could run all day”. Keenor soon found himself knee-deep in mud in the rat infested trenches of the Somme, where he fought in the hellish Battle of Deville Wood. There, he was severely injured in the leg by a piece of artillery shrapnel. The injury was so bad, army doctors considered amputating his leg, but decided not to. He was sent to hospital in Dublin and spent 6 months in recovery. He was eventually promoted to sergeant and was awarded the Victory Medal, 1914-1915 Star and British War Medal. When the war was over, Keenor returned to Cardiff and worked as a milkman, but rejoined Cardiff City depite being told by doctors he would never play football again. He proved them wrong, establishing himself in the squad as they made it to the First Division. After their first FA Cup final loss, Keenor said, “Just because we lost in our very first Cup Final, I don't think there is any cause to get down in the mouth. I can say here and now that one day soon our followers can be sure that Cardiff City will bring that cup to Wales”. In 1927, they did just that. Keenor was known for his exceptional fitness despite being a heavy drinker and smoker, and he would ignore ball control training to run laps of the pitch in his heavy army boots instead. Two of Keenors sons were killed in WWII, his wife of 50 years died from accidental gas poisoning and Keenor himself passed away in a nursing home in 1972. Today, a statue of Keenor holding the FA Cup graces the front of gate 3 at Cardiff City Stadium.