From the vault: Opponents in focus - Cardiff

Another of Pompey's no power championship opponents will be Cardiff, so they are next to come under the microscope as my_pfc_dream has a look at them - we revisit this ahead of the meeting tomorrow...

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History: Cardiff City Football Club is based in Cardiff, Wales and were founded in 1899 (a year after us). The club plays its home games at the newly built Cardiff City Stadium, previously playing at Ninian Park until May 2009. The stadium has a capacity of 26,828 and the total construction cost came to £48 million, which in my opinion is very good.

Finances: Like us Cardiff have their financial troubles and are still in danger of going into liquidation and also have a transfer embargo. And when new owner Dato Chan Tien Ghee recently took control of the club, Bluebirds fans were optimistic that the Malaysian businessman had set his sights on promotion. But his arrival does not appear to have made a positive impact so far.

Last season: Cardiff finished in 4th place which was 15 points behind automatic promotion. They had an average attendance of 20,717 and their top scorer was Peter Whittingham scoring 23 goals in all competitions. After beating Leicester in the Play-Off Semi Final, Cardiff played Blackpool in the Play-Off Final at Wembley on Sat 22 May 2010 losing 3 - 2 (Attendance - 82,244).

Players to watch: Obviously I have not watched Cardiff very often recently apart from in the Play-Off`s but in my opinion there are 3 players who we should watch out for next season. Peter Whittingham, Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra, who were the three scorers for Cardiff last season.

Written by my_pfc_dream.

The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.

Opponents in focus: Barnsley FC - here.
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Opponents in focus: Burnley - here.
Opponents in focus: Cardiff - here.
Opponents in focus: Coventry - here.
Opponents in focus: Crystal Palace - here.
Opponents in focus: Derby - here.
Opponents in focus: Doncaster - here.
Opponents in focus: Hull - here.
Opponents in focus: Ipswich - here.
Opponents in focus: Leeds - here.
Opponents in focus: Leicester - here.
Opponents in focus: Middlesbrough - here.
Opponents in focus: Millwall - here.
Opponents in focus: Norwich - here.
Opponents in focus: Nottingham Forest - here.
Opponents in focus: Preston - here.
Opponents in focus: QPR - here.
Opponents in focus: Reading - here.
Opponents in focus: Scunthorpe - here.
Opponents in focus: Sheffield United - here.
Opponents in focus: Swansea - here.
Opponents in focus: Watford - here.

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