Meet the opposition | Cardiff City
Ahead of the first south Wales derby of the season, we take a closer look at Cardiff City
What's their story?
Initially founded as Riverside AFC in 1899, the club changed their name to Cardiff City nine years later and joined the Football League in 1920.
The Bluebirds have spent 17 years in the top tier over their 124-year history, with the majority of these season coming during the 1920s and 1950s. Their highest league position came in the 1923-24 season, when they finished runners-up to Huddersfield Town on goal ratio.
They have spent two years in the Premier League during the 2013-14 and 2018-19 seasons, but immediately returned to the Championship at the conclusion of those campaigns.
Cardiff became the first non-English team to lift the FA Cup in 1927 when they defeated Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley. They have reached the FA Cup final on two further occasions, with their most recent appearance being in 2008 when they were beaten by Portsmouth.
The Bluebirds also made the final of the Football League Cup in 2012 but were defeated by Liverpool on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
How’s their form?
Cardiff have suffered two defeats from their two league games so far this season, at home to Sunderland and away to Burnley.
They advanced to the second round of the Carabao Cup courtesy of a win over Bristol Rovers, and are set to meet Southampton next week.
Who’s the gaffer?
Erol Bulut is starting his second season in English football, after replacing Sabri Lamouchi last summer.
The German-born Turk had a successful playing career, winning titles at Fenerbahçe in Turkey and Olympiacos in Greece, he also represented Turkey at under-21 level.
Bulut started his career at Eintracht Frankfurt, and featured for Fenerbahçe, Trabzonspor, Adanaspor, Panionios, Bursaspor, 1860 Munich, Olympiacos, Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos Volos, OFI Crete and Veria over a 20-year period.
Bulut started coaching in 2012, when he became assistant manager at Kartalspor, he continued this role at Yeni Malatyaspor, Elazigspor and Istanbul Basaksehir.
In 2017, Bulut took his first head-coach role when he re-joined Yeni Malatyaspor, he also had spells at Alanyaspor, Fenerbahçe and Gaziantep, before moving to south Wales in 2023.
Who’s the captain?
Joe Ralls is the club captain. After an ACL injury ruled then captain Sean Morrison out for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, Ralls was handed the armband and he has remained as club captain since.
The academy graduate had a breakthrough season in 2011-12, scoring a 30-yard half volley after coming off the bench for his league debut against Hull City.
After time on loan to develop, the midfielder returned to become a key figure within the Cardiff side.
He has made more than 350 appearances for them over the past decade and is an industrious, bustling presence in midfield, while possessing quality in the final third and at set-pieces.
Who are the key men?
Aaron Ramsey
Aaron Ramsey's return to his boyhood club represented Cardiff City's highest-profile summer recruit in 2023.
Ramsey came through the academy system at Cardiff as a teenager, helping the club reach the 2008 FA Cup final, before enjoying an 11-year spell with Arsenal that yielded three FA Cup triumphs.
Ramsey won a Serie A title during a three-year stint with Italian giants Juventus, while he was a Scottish Cup winner with Rangers before spending a season with Ligue 1 club Nice.
At international level, the midfielder has 84 Wales caps to his name, and has featured at three major tournaments for his country, including the memorable march to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
Dimitrios Goutas
Dimitrios Goutas has been an ever-present at the back for the Bluebirds since joining in 2023, playing the most minutes out of any member in the squad over that period.
The Greek defender started his career at Xanthi where he moved up through the academy and made over 70 league appearances for the club, before moving to Olympiacos.
Goutas never made a senior appearance for the Greek side over four years with the club, and had several loan spells with the likes of Xanthi, KV Kortrijk, St Truiden and Lech Poznan.
The defender then signed for Atromitos where he went on to make over 60 league appearances before moving to Turkey in 2021.
Goutas scored a brace on his Super Lig debut scoring in Silvasspor’s 2-2 draw at home to Goztepe. He was also part of the squad that won the Turkish Cup in the 2021-22 season.
The Greek defender then moved to south Wales in the summer of 2023; he has scored four goals for the Bluebirds in 48 appearances.
Goutas also has three Greece caps to his name at international level.
Chris Willock
One of the summer recruits for the Bluebirds has been former Queens Park Rangers midfielder Chris Willock.
The Arsenal youth product found a permanent home at Loftus Road after spells with Benfica and on loan at West Bromwich Albion and Huddersfield Town.
The former England youth international scored 20 goals in 140 league appearances for the Hoops, and was a key creative force for them.
His best return came during the 2021-22 campaign, when he scored seven goals and racked up 11 assists.
Willock joined Cardiff following the end of his QPR contract in the summer.