The South Wales derby is one of the fiercest rivalries in the United Kingdom and one that is always in the public spotlight in Wales.
The Bluebirds are in a division below the Swans, but memories always hold a key part in the club’s history.
Swansea have had a fairytale rise to the top and have recorded more success than Cardiff in recent years.
The Swans have established themselves in the Premier League and raised the League Cup in 2013, that earned them a place in the Europa League.
It’s a persistent debate that football supporters in Wales feel very opinionated about. Which is Wales’ biggest club – the Championship club Cardiff City, or Premier League outfit Swansea City?
Everyone, it seems, has a view. Often simply depending on whether you’re from east or west of the country.
There are certainly many points that both sets of supporters can not decide upon, and often cause a heated debate.
Swansea are currently commanding a higher position in the football pyramid than Cardiff, but does history speak for itself.
In the opinion of Football League World Writer, Ashley Williams identifies FIVE reasons why Cardiff City are a bigger club than Swansea City….
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE 5 REASONS!
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Fan base
Cardiff are certainly not in the best form, or most successful club in Wales right at this moment in time.
However when it comes to determining the size and stature of a football club, fan base is the first port of call.
Cardiff enjoy a far larger fan base and it’s been estimated there are 1.5m potential fans in the Bluebirds’ catchment area and there is clearly nothing like that around Swansea.
In the South West of the country, it is much more of a rugby area than it is in the capital and surrounding areas.
The Bluebirds being situated in Wales’ capital city and thus having a much broader population base to call upon, has a greater reach to the public.
FA Cup 1927
This is another iconic moment that will go down in Cardiff’s history. They will celebrate their 89th anniversary in April of when they took home the FA Cup trophy by defeating Arsenal at the old Wembley Stadium. The famous victory sparked amazing scenes in Cardiff and throughout the United Kingdom.
The FA Cup is a trophy that every single club in England and Wales is looking to get their hands on, and to say that Cardiff are still the only Welsh side to win the competition is a serious benefit of the clubs reputation.
The fans were dreaming of a repeat success when they came face-to face with Portsmouth in the FA Cup Final, but lost 1-0. I know they were not in the same category as Arsenal, but it brought back good memories to some of the club's veteran supporters.
Swansea have not had a particularly successful campaign in the FA Cup – never getting further than the fifth round of the competition.
Stadium
The Cardiff City stadium definitely plays a detrimental part in the club’s stature. It has a capacity of 33,000, with Swansea’s Liberty Stadium holding 20,520. The Bluebird’s stadium has also been the home for Wales’s national side for the past 5 years.
We also can not forgot that in August 2014, the stadium hosted the Uefa Super Cup between 2013/2014 Champions League winners Real Madrid and Europa League winners Sevilla. These are two of Europe’s largest teams that have graced the capital city of Wales.
The club’s attendance over the past few months has not been impressive due to their rocky performances that have seen them lie just below the play-off’s, when their ambitions have been to be in the frame for promotion.
If Cardiff achieves success again – it seems a long way off, but it’s bound to happen one day - then an army of support will come back out of the woodwork to follow them.
We saw that as they rampaged towards the Premier League, regularly selling out their 33,000 capacity ground and for some matches could have probably doubled, arguably even trebled that figure against the Premier League top four that tickets were high in demand.
Beating Real Madrid
This night will always go down in history in South Wales as tens of thousands of people cramped into Ninian Park, to witness one of the greatest occasions the club have ever achieved.
The Spanish giants have always had an enormous reputation, and it is a sight to behold when we witness the world-class trickery of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema in this present day.
However on March 10, 1971, the Bluebirds stunned the giants of Madrid at Ninian Park thanks to a Brian Clark header that sent 47,500 Cardiff fans into delirium.
Swansea has beaten some of England’s biggest sides during their time in the Premier League, and has beaten Spanish giants Valencia in the group stage of the Europa League.
However, if they had beat Valencia in the Final of the competition then maybe they would have a case against their Welsh neighbours.
Head to Head stats
The stats says it all when you compare which side is better, Cardiff have won 43 games against the Jacks in 105 competitive meetings, compared to Swansea’s 35.
The Bluebirds has also come out on top with recording the biggest victory over the Premier League side – beating them 5-0 in 1965. To this day neither side has done the double over one another.
In their recent meeting in Cardiff’s single season in the Premier League, on 3 November 2013, Cardiff took the bragging rights in the first ever Premier League South Wales derby, enjoying a 1–0 win courtesy of ex-Swansea City defender Steven Caulker at the Cardiff City Stadium.
The return fixture for that season took place on 8 February 2014 at Swansea's Liberty Stadium, a match in which interim player-manager Garry Monk made his managerial debut following the sacking of Michael Laudrup.
The Swans took revenge for the defeat earlier in the season with a convincing 3–0 win. The Jacks have some catching up to do in terms of face offs with the Bluebirds.
Cardiff and Swansea fans… Does history play a major part in club stature? Does it matter that the Swans are in a league above the Bluebirds? Let us know in your thoughts and opinions below!