Joe Ledley opens up on his departure from Cardiff City
Former Wales midfielder Joe Ledley has revealed how his exit Cardiff City unfolded.
Ledley, 33, now a midfielder with A-League side Newcastle Jets, left Cardiff City a decade ago to join Scottish Premiership side Celtic.
The Cardiff-born midfielder spent six years at the Capital club but moved on after failing to agree a new contract with the Bluebirds.
“I was disappointed because I gave a lot to that club,” said Ledley to BBC’s EJOF Podcast.
“People can have their own agreements or disagreements on what the situation was, but for me I thought I deserved a better contract, which they were supposed to offer me two years before I left and it didn’t happen.
“When you’re in a youth setup, they don’t see you as… they don’t want to give you the money that you deserve.
“I’m not saying I was asking for ridiculous amounts, but for me to be on the same level of the players that were already there.
“I was captain of the club, [we had been to] an FA Cup final and I wanted to stay. My wife was pregnant with my first child, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
“I don’t think they thought I was serious until the day I left.”
Ledley’s final appearance for Cardiff was the 2009/2010 Championship Play-Off final.
Despite scoring that day as Cardiff retook the lead for a second time, Ledley was on the losing side as they were defeated by Blackpool.
He believes if the Bluebirds hd won that day then it may have strengthened his case to stay in Cardiff.
“Yeah, 100 percent, I would have,” he revealed.
“I don’t know what they would have offered me still, but the opportunity to play in the Premier League would have been a dream come true for me.
“If that happened then maybe I’d have left a year or two after and everything would have been fine. But I moved on, they moved on and got promoted. So it worked both ways in the end.”
(Featured Image: Steindy)
