Inside Cardiff City’s record-breaking night at the home of Welsh football

Last night the Cardiff City Stadium was the scene for an historic evening, as Cardiff City did battle against Abergavenny Town.

A crowd of 5,175 gathered inside the ground to see this Adran Premier tie, a domestic record for football in Wales. Something that seemed unfathomable even a year ago.

While the 9-0 result had an affect on both sides, there was almost a sense of something more than football happening last night.

This was summed up by Abergavenny players Ceri Hudson and Katie Williams, and while the result is certainly not what they wanted, they could sense that this was a big moment for them.

‘I’ve played for Aber for nine-ish years now. There’s been ups and downs, but today’s been just fantastic. Coming off losers, but to me that doesn’t matter’, Hudson began.

‘But to have that many people watch me is amazing. There’d be times when we turned up on a Sunday, especially years ago and there’d be nobody there except for your mam and your dad so to come here and have all those school children trying to really grow the game, amazing experience.’

It’s an experience that is echoed by her teammate Williams.

‘One of them [the kids] asked for my autograph, one of them asked for my photo, it was really nice. I’ve never had that happen to me. I don’t even think they know who I am, but it was really nice’

While there will be some who will say that the result does no favours for the league, those who were in the stadium would tell you a different story.

The Pennies didn’t sit back and soak up pressure. Instead, there was an urge to press and to play possession football, a sign that the league is growing and for sure getting better.

The Cardiff players were full of praise for their opponents.

‘Credit to Abergavenny. We thought they were going to play off us, but they came straight at us. We were quite shocked in the first five minutes, but we got our heads down and we followed the game plan, but credit to Aber, they didn’t give up until the final whistle’, hat-trick hero Phoebie Poole said.

However, the night certainly belonged to the Bluebirds. Like their opponents, they were overwhelmed by the reaction of the record crowd.

‘It’s crazy to think we could get such a big crowd but it’s great to get that visibility. There were boys and girls tonight, and it just shows that women’s football is on the rise’, defender Ffion Price stated.

‘Originally, I said I’d be happy with 2,000 and then it went to 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 and I was like ‘WOW!’ I thought it’s a wet night they might not turn up and I think it’s incredible’, manager Iain Derbyshire added.

‘It shows how far the women’s game is growing and we’re just happy to be a part of it and have the opportunity to use the great stadium that we’ve got and put on a great game’

There is a sense that City are the standard setters in this league. They have a swagger to their play and the players know it, but also know there’s a long way to go.

‘Obviously we’re doing well and know we’re in form, but you never know what the future holds. We can only play like we play, and we know we can get results from these teams if we play to our level, but we can’t get too ahead of ourselves or too confident’

The words of forward Rhianne Oakley, who feels like she has a new lease of life in this Cardiff team since her move from Swansea in the summer.

And what of her strike partner Phoebie Poole? The clamours for her inclusion in an upcoming Wales squad are growing louder, and her teammate Price believes she is deserving of the call up.

‘It’s very much deserved. She’s got a great head. Mentally, she’s fantastic, physically and she’s really pushing and knocking on the door’

Poole, on the other hand, is optimistic of a call up (and rightly so), but she knows the call from Gemma Grainger will only be the beginning of the hard work.

‘Hopefully when I do get that call-up, I put my foot in and get another call-up after that, after that. It doesn’t stop when you get that call-up. You work harder afterwards, so it would be amazing.’

The result leaves City top of the Adran Premier and add to that the fact they can still win the FAW Cup and the Adran Trophy, murmurs of a treble around the CCS last night might perhaps be growing louder.

Derbyshire, however, was quick to lay to rest any talk of a treble.

‘We don’t even talk about it [the treble], it’s exciting to be involved. All we wanted was to be up there at the end of the season and have a chance, that was our goal’

‘But if we get ahead of ourselves, we can easily find ourselves in second or third place especially because Cardiff Met and Swansea are two good teams’

‘Everyone else in the league is getting a lot better as well, it’s a really competitive league.’

His forward Oakley agreed and was quick to mention that the squad couldn’t get ahead of themselves, but also knowing that their team can cause problems for anyone.

‘We can’t get too confident, but we just know each player brings something different to the team, and we can hurt anyone.’

While the mindset of the City players will of course be on silverware, there is also a product that a few in the squad are championing in particular.

‘I would just like to shoutout to Crocs’, Price proclaimed. ‘I have got them on right now, I’ve had a photo in my crocs, and we really are in fast mode. I really appreciate if they sponsored us by now!’

Both sides will next be in action in the Adran Trophy on Sunday. Cardiff travel to Briton Ferry, while Abergavenny make a trip north to face Wrexham.