Phil Yelland delves into the archives to find out how The Bluebirds have got on during previous visits to Walsall ahead of this weekend's League Two encounter.
This Saturday sees us head for The Banks’s Stadium for only the second time. Prior to last season, all of our previous visits to Walsall have been to their former home at Fellows Park.
Last season’s encounter was played on a Friday night in March when Josh Kay’s late goal gave us a 1-0 win and aided our fight against relegation.
Prior to that, we had made 16 visits to Walsall down the years. The first came in our very first season in Division Three North back in February 1922 when, despite a goal from Bernard Sharkey, we went down 3-1. We gained revenge a week later with a 3-0 home win.
Our first point at Fellows Park came two seasons later, in March 1924, when a goal from Frank Alford was enough to secure a draw. Our first win of four there arrived on the final day of the 1925/26 season when goals from Bob Hutchinson and Harry Roberts helped us triumph 2-1. We still finished bottom of the division though, eight points adrift of second bottom Walsall. However, it was the only double we completed that season having beaten The Saddlers 5-2 at Holker Street just before Christmas 1925.
Our other two wins during our first spell in the Football League both came before World War Two. On the opening day of the 1931/32 season, we won 2-1 with the goals from future Northern Ireland international Billy Millar and Joe Wilson. Two seasons later, in September 1933, we won 4-2 as Bill Murray, Joe Roberts, Matthew Robinson and Jimmy Shankly all found the net.
Since then, we have played seven times at Walsall and The Saddlers have won five of those games. We conceded five goals in successive defeats to the Midlands outfit in January 1935 and April 1936 – although at least we scored a consolation goal in the latter thanks to Tommy Foy.
Our last point before last season at Fellows Park came in February 1969 when a goal from Jim Mulvaney secured a 1-1 draw. Our final trip there in September 1969 saw us lose by the only goal of the Division Three fixture.
A total of 17 trips to date have seen four wins; three draws and 10 defeats. Let’s hope for win number five on Saturday.