1952–53 Cardiff City F.C. season

Cardiff City

1952–53 season
Chairman	Sir Herbert Merrett John Morgan[1]
Manager	Cyril Spiers
Division One	12th
FA Cup	3rd round
Welsh Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Ken Chisholm (13) All: Ken Chisholm (15)
Highest home attendance	57,893 v Arsenal, 22 April 1953
Lowest home attendance	19,830 v Chelsea, 28 March 1953
Average home league attendance	37,932
Home colours
← 1951–52 1953–54 →

The 1952–53 season was Cardiff City F.C.'s 26th season in the Football League. They competed in the 22-team Division One, then the first tier of English football, finishing twelfth.

Season review

Football League First Division

Partial league table

Results by round

FA Cup

Entering in the third round, Cardiff were eliminated by Football League Third Division North side Halifax Town after a 3–1 defeat.^[2]

Welsh Cup

After a 5–2 victory over Merthyr Tydfil in the fifth round, Cardiff received a bye into the seventh round, advancing to the semi-finals with a 3–2 win over Barry Town. Their campaign came to an end following a 1–0 semi-final defeat to Rhyl.^[3]

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player -- GK  WAL Ron Howells -- GK  WAL Graham Vearncombe -- DF  WAL Ron Davies -- DF  WAL John Frowen -- DF  WAL Colin Gale -- DF  WAL Ken Hollyman -- DF  ENG Jack Mansell -- DF  ENG Stan Montgomery -- DF  ENG Charles Rutter -- DF  WAL Alf Sherwood -- DF  WAL Ron Stitfall -- DF  WAL Derek Sullivan -- DF  WAL Glyn Williams -- MF  WAL Billy Baker -- MF  WAL Dennis Callan

No. Pos. Nation Player -- MF  WAL Alan Harrington -- MF  WAL Islwyn Jones -- MF  NIR Bobby McLaughlin -- MF  WAL Wendell Morgan -- MF  ENG Cliff Nugent -- MF  ENG Mike Tiddy -- MF  WAL Roley Williams -- FW  ENG Doug Blair -- FW  ENG Ken Chisholm -- FW  WAL George Edwards -- FW  ENG Wilf Grant -- FW  SCO George Hazlett -- FW  ENG Tommy Northcott -- FW  WAL Ken Oakley -- FW  ENG Keith Thomas

Fixtures and results

First Division

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Cardiff City

23 August 1952 (1952-08-23) 1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–0	Cardiff City	Wolverhampton
	Jimmy Mullen			Stadium: Molineux Attendance: 52,309

Middlesbrough v Cardiff City

27 August 1952 (1952-08-27) 2	Middlesbrough	3–0	Cardiff City	Middlesbrough
	Harry Bell Harry Bell Arthur Fitzsimons			Stadium: Ayresome Park Attendance: 42,159

Cardiff City v Sheffield Wednesday

30 August 1952 (1952-08-30) 3	Cardiff City	4–0	Sheffield Wednesday	Cardiff
15:15	George Hazlett Ken Chisholm Ken Chisholm Wilf Grant			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 43,478 Referee: Stanley Rogers (Shrewsbury)

Cardiff City v Middlesbrough

3 September 1952 (1952-09-03) 4	Cardiff City	1–1	Middlesbrough	Cardiff
18:15	Doug Blair		Alex McRae	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 51,512

Tottenham Hotspur v Cardiff City

6 September 1952 (1952-09-06) 5	Tottenham Hotspur	2–1	Cardiff City	London
15:15	Len Duquemin Sid McClellan		Ken Chisholm	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 62,150 Referee: WJ Edwards (Somerset)

West Bromwich Albion v Cardiff City

10 September 1952 (1952-09-10) 6	West Bromwich Albion	1–0	Cardiff City	West Bromwich
	Ray Barlow			Stadium: The Hawthorns Attendance: 29,343

Cardiff City v West Bromwich Albion

17 September 1952 (1952-09-17) 8	Cardiff City	1–2	West Bromwich Albion	Cardiff
17:45	Keith Thomas		Ronnie Allen Jimmy Dudley	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 40,338 Referee: AW Smith (Aldershot)

Preston North End v Cardiff City

20 September 1952 (1952-09-20) 9	Preston North End	2–3	Cardiff City	Preston
	Joe Dunn Ken Horton		Doug Blair Roley Williams Ken Chisholm	Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 29,337

Cardiff City v Stoke City

27 September 1952 (1952-09-27) 10	Cardiff City	2–0	Stoke City	Cardiff
15:15	Roley Williams Roley Williams			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 39,223 Referee: Frank Fiander (Bucks)

Manchester City v Cardiff City

4 October 1952 (1952-10-04) 11	Manchester City	2–2	Cardiff City	Manchester
	Ken Branagan Don Revie		Ken Chisholm Mike Tiddy	Stadium: Maine Road Attendance: 33,551 Referee: R Hall

Charlton Athletic v Cardiff City

11 October 1952 (1952-10-11) 12	Charlton Athletic	3–1	Cardiff City	London
15:15	John Evans Benny Fenton Frank Lock (pen)		George Edwards	Stadium: The Valley Attendance: 30,583 Referee: RJ Burgess (Reading)

Derby County v Cardiff City

25 October 1952 (1952-10-25) 13	Derby County	1–1	Cardiff City	Derby
15:00	Ray Straw (pen)		Ken Chisholm	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 23,208

Cardiff City v Blackpool

1 November 1952 (1952-11-01) 14	Cardiff City	2–2	Blackpool	Cardiff
14:45	Tommy Northcott Ken Chisholm		Albert Hobson Ernie Taylor	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 43,662 Referee: H Ball (Worcester)

Chelsea v Cardiff City

8 November 1952 (1952-11-08) 15	Chelsea	0–2	Cardiff City	London
14:30			George Edwards (pen) Alf Sherwood	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 52,139 Referee: Joe Williams (Woodthorpe)

Cardiff City v Manchester United

15 November 1952 (1952-11-15) 16	Cardiff City	1–2	Manchester United	Cardiff
14:30	Ken Chisholm 44'		37' John Aston 42' Stan Pearson	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 40,096 Referee: Reg Leafe (Nottingham)

Portsmouth v Cardiff City

22 November 1952 (1952-11-22) 17	Portsmouth	0–2	Cardiff City	Portsmouth
14:15			Tommy Northcott Wilf Grant	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 31,258 Referee: ES Vickery (Bristol)

Cardiff City v Sunderland

13 December 1952 (1952-12-13) 18	Cardiff City	4–1	Sunderland	Cardiff
14:30	Wilf Grant 17', 64' George Edwards 41' Ken Chisholm 79'		65' Trevor Ford	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 42,518 Referee: Jack Clough (Bolton)

Newcastle United v Cardiff City

25 December 1952 (1952-12-25) 20	Newcastle United	3–0	Cardiff City	Newcastle
14:00	Billy Foulkes Billy Foulkes Bobby Mitchell (pen)			Stadium: St James's Park Attendance: 36,143 Referee: Frank Cowen (Manchester)

Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff City

3 January 1953 (1953-01-03) 22	Sheffield Wednesday	2–0	Cardiff City	Sheffield
14:30	Derek Dooley Derek Dooley			Stadium: Hillsborough Attendance: 39,652 Referee: Stanley Rogers (Kidderminster)

Cardiff City v Preston North End

7 February 1953 (1953-02-07) 25	Cardiff City	0–2	Preston North End	Cardiff
15:15			Derek Lewis (pen) Tom Finney	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 32,445 Referee: Alf Bond (Fulham)

Cardiff City v Manchester City

21 February 1953 (1953-02-21) 27	Cardiff City	6–0	Manchester City	Cardiff
15:15	Roley Williams Keith Thomas Keith Thomas Wilf Grant Wilf Grant George Edwards			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 24,886 Referee: R Hall

Cardiff City v Charlton Athletic

28 February 1953 (1953-02-28) 28	Cardiff City	0–1	Charlton Athletic	Cardiff
15:15			Eddie Firmani	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 35,248 Referee: Roland Burgess (Reading)

Arsenal v Cardiff City

7 March 1953 (1953-03-07) 29	Arsenal	0–1	Cardiff City	London
15:00			Doug Blair	Stadium: Highbury Attendance: 59,780 Referee: RH Mann (Worcester)

Cardiff City v Bolton Wanderers

11 March 1953 (1953-03-11) 30	Cardiff City	1–0	Bolton Wanderers	Cardiff
16:15	Ken Chisholm			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 31,099 Referee: Les Overton (Derby)

Cardiff City v Derby County

14 March 1953 (1953-03-14) 31	Cardiff City	2–0	Derby County	Cardiff
15:15	Tommy Northcott Roley Williams			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 33,670 Referee: NC Taylor

Blackpool v Cardiff City

25 March 1953 (1953-03-25) 32	Blackpool	0–1	Cardiff City	Blackpool
15:00			Tommy Northcott	Stadium: Bloomfield Road Attendance: 15,227 Referee: H Ball (Worcester)

Cardiff City v Chelsea

28 March 1953 (1953-03-28) 33	Cardiff City	3–3	Chelsea	Cardiff
15:15	Mike Tiddy Mike Tiddy Doug Blair		Phil McKnight Bill Dickson (og) Stan Montgomery	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 19,830 Referee: Joe Williams (Woodthorpe)

Liverpool v Cardiff City

3 April 1953 (1953-04-03) 34	Liverpool	2–1	Cardiff City	Liverpool
14:30	Bill Jones 4' Louis Bimpson 19'	LFC report	15' Tommy Northcott	Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 52,259 Referee: W Ratcliffe (Leek, Staffs)

Manchester United v Cardiff City

4 April 1953 (1953-04-04) 35	Manchester United	1–4	Cardiff City	Manchester
15:00	Roger Byrne 86' (pen)		11' Wilf Grant 75' Wilf Grant 15' Ken Chisholm 60' Mike Tiddy	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 38,987 Referee: Reg Leafe (Nottingham)

Cardiff City v Liverpool

6 April 1953 (1953-04-06) 36	Cardiff City	4–0	Liverpool	Cardiff
15:15	Wilf Grant 11', 55' Ken Chisholm 71', 88'	LFC Report		Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 35,419 Referee: W Ratcliffe (Leek, Staffs)

Cardiff City v Portsmouth

11 April 1953 (1953-04-11) 37	Cardiff City	0–1	Portsmouth	Cardiff
15:15			Jack Froggatt	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 35,945 Referee: ES Vickery (Bristol)

Bolton Wanderers v Cardiff City

18 April 1953 (1953-04-18) 38	Bolton Wanderers	0–1	Cardiff City	Bolton
			Alf Sherwood	Stadium: Burnden Park Attendance: 18,037

Cardiff City v Aston Villa

25 April 1953 (1953-04-25) 40	Cardiff City	1–2	Aston Villa	Cardiff
15:15	Wilf Grant		Johnny Dixon Amos Moss	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 29,917 Referee: WJ Edwards (Somerset)

Sunderland v Cardiff City

27 April 1953 (1953-04-27) 41	Sunderland	4–2	Cardiff City	Sunderland
	Trevor Ford 28', 33' Len Shackleton 40' Harry Kirtley 56'		39' Keith Thomas 79' Mike Tiddy	Stadium: Roker Park Attendance: 7,469 Referee: Jack Clough (Bolton)

Aston Villa v Cardiff City

29 April 1953 (1953-04-29) 42	Aston Villa	2–0	Cardiff City	Birmingham
18:30	Danny Blanchflower Davy Walsh			Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 18,876 Referee: WJ Edwards (Somerset)

FA Cup

Halifax Town v Cardiff City

10 January 1953 (1953-01-10) Round 3	Halifax Town	3–1	Cardiff City	Halifax
			Billy Baker	Stadium: The Shay Attendance: 25,000

Welsh Cup

Merthyr Tydfil v Cardiff City

15 January 1953 (1953-01-15) Round 6	Merthyr Tydfil	2–5	Cardiff City	Merthyr Tydfil
			Tommy Northcott Tommy Northcott Ken Chisholm Ken Chisholm George Hazlett	Stadium: Penydarren Park Attendance: 8,000

Barry v Cardiff City

31 January 1953 (1953-01-31) Round 7	Barry	2–3	Cardiff City	Barry
15:00			Tommy Northcott Tommy Northcott Mike Tiddy	Stadium: Jenner Park Attendance: 9,000

Rhyl v Cardiff City

21 March 1953 (1953-03-21) Semi Final	Rhyl	1–0	Cardiff City	Rhyl
15:15				Stadium: Belle Vue Attendance: 10,000

See also

• List of Cardiff City F.C. seasons

References

• Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
• "Football Club History Database – Cardiff City".