'Diff Upper Lip: Ending a turbulent year in the Welsh capital

 I'm not going to lie to you, 2025 has been a mess in so many ways on a personal level.  If you're a regular reader of the blog, you'll probably know every problem I've had to deal with over the last 12 months. In any case, I won't let that stop me venting before getting to the actual travel and football content of this particular blog, which centres around Cardiff away - a first away day with Stevenage in just under a year.

The year seemed to start okay, with January mostly centering around excitement as to where I would spend the February break. I'd toyed with countless options, waiting for finalised fixture schedules - Mallorca, Lisbon, and Bucharest were the front runners. I chose Bucharest (and Constanta on the Romanian coast), with two games planned at Farul Constanta (the worst and coldest game I've ever experienced), and Dinamo Bucharest (slightly better, but still bloody freezing). 

I'd love to say that just over three hours of drab football was the least of my issues, but catching pneumonia was probably the topper. In fairness, illness had been creeping up on me prior to the trip, but even so it robbed me of the chance to properly explore Bucharest in full.

I'd fully recovered by March and enjoyed an amazing trip to Liberec, before April decided to give me an early birthday present in the form of a kidney stone. This in turn meant I could barely even celebrate turning 30, as I was essentially unable to really live in any kind of meaningful way until they removed the stone in June.

This does lead me onto some lovely highs - the first of which was a return to Ireland for the first time in 17 years once the stone was removed, where I had some wonderful family time and proper Guinness, as well as a pitchside pass for the Glenavon v Erzgebirge Aue friendly game. The holdays weren't finished there though, as I took an unforgettable trip to Koper in Slovenia - probably the most gorgeous coastline I've ever walked. 

August brought a couple of worthwhile and enjoyable trips too - Vienna and Kosice respectively - and summer had seemingly salvaged a difficult year. The rest of the year has also had its moments here and there, though a depressing trip to Podgorica and various personal issues have essentially bookended a horrific year.

So here I was - the Welsh capital and home of League One leaders Cardiff City, visiting with Stevenage more in faint hope rather than any real expectation. Given Cardiff's dominant start to the season, as well as the fact they shouldn't even be in League One, most of the away end were probably already consigned to an inevitable defeat.

GAME ONE: Cardiff City v Stevenage, League One; 29th December 2025

We left Stevenage on the 9.29, which meant only a couple of changes via the Elizabeth Line at Farringdon to Paddington, where we'd catch a fairly quiet train to Cardiff from there. We arrived after Midday and ducked into the nearby Wetherspoons (I know, I know...) until we could check into the suitably named EasyHotel.

From then, the rest of the day up to kick-off becomes a bit of a blur, having had a few drinks at various pubs and bars I've naturally forgotten the name of (Barbara something?). Suffice to say, a few drinks in Cardiff is a lot of fun; as was catching up with many fellow Boro' fans (and others) who I'd not seen for seemingly ages. A particular shout out to the pub nearest the ground which had an excellent Chocolate and Marshmallow Porter that I'd highly recommend.

A few various snapshots of Cardiff away

With kick-off approaching, we made our way to the ground, braced for disappointment, but pleasantly surprised at a solid first-half in which Stevenage created barely anything, but defended like lions. Not my words, the words of a Cardiff supporting friend...

Come the second-half, we couldn't believe our luck, as Phoenix Patterson's long-range effort - which I believe was Stevenage's first shot of the game - beautifully found its way past the Cardiff 'keeper to give us a shock lead at the league leaders. Having seen us take leads away at big teams, there was a huge part of me thinking it wouldn't last long, though that didn't stop me celebrating like an absolute lunatic.

The two goals that did inevitably turn the game around were incredibly scrappy and sloppy from a Stevenage perspective, as Callum Robinson scored against Stevenage for a second time this season, and Youseff Salech bundled in what turned out to be a winner. Carl Piergianni did have the ball in the net in the dying embers of the game with an incredible finish, but guttingly, the whistle had already gone for some kind of discrepancy. 

So a 2-1 loss that felt as gutting as you might expect, but also undoubtedly a marker as to just how far Stevenage have come in such a wild five years - from almost dropping out of the EFL to narrow losses at one of the biggest clubs in Wales. Of course we all know who the biggest is. That's right - it's a toss up betweem Airbus UK or Total Network Solutions, obviously.

Cardiff Met University v Haverfordwest County; 30th December 2025

Speaking of the Welsh footballing pyramid though, I opted to stay an additional day in Cardiff just to finally tick off some Welsh league football. For whatever reason, I'd never managed to catch a Welsh league game in my 15 years or so of groundhopping. 

I've seen Connah's Quay Nomads on two occasions in the Scottish Challenge Cup, in which they saw off Falkirk and Queen's Park on their way to a seemingly improbable final. Amusingly, they won more games on Scottish soil than Berwick Rangers in the 2018-19 season. 

I also saw another English-based side in a different league in the form of TNS around a year ago in Celje - probably my highlight of the 2024-25 season in a barnstorming 3-2 Europa Conference League  win for the Slovenian side, who by all accounts are absolutely smashing it this season. 

The New Saints - formerly Total Network Solutions where many a dance in the street has been performed - are once again on course to win the title incidentally, with their run of league titles entering its fifth successive year. Connah's Quay Nomads did break the spell for a couple of seasons from 2019-21, but even then TNS had won all eight of the previous league titles prior to this. Nobody else is really even close to the top two this season, with Penybont in 3rd, already 13 points behind TNS.

In any case, Cardiff Met v Haverfordwest was something of a mid-table battle that could have been interesting, with both teams fighting to finish in the top six before the season splits like in Scotland. What followed, however, was ninety minutes of  very little to write home about. I'm not even exaggerating either - I don't recall a single thing of note happening in the ninety minutes.

That said, the experience on the whole wasn't too bad, with unsurprisingly good facilities given their status as a university football club. But given the difficulties of 2025, it perhaps felt appropriate to bookend the year with goalless draws either end- one at Lincoln v Stevenage on 3rd January, and another with this drab affair.

Of course it wouldn't be fair to tar all of Welsh football with the same brush after a dull game though, and I'm glad I managed to get at least one Cymru Premier tick after so many years. It's a shame that next season will likely lack any Welsh away days for Stevenage unless Swansea have a significant drop off, but in the meantime, Diolch Cymru.

Some decent facilities at Cardiff Met.

Five things you didn't know about Cardiff Met

1. The club are based in Cyncoedd, which is a part of the city of Cardiff, and also home to some of the highest property prices in the entirety of Wales.

2. The club formed in 1964 as the Cardiff College of Education FC, spending most of their lifespan between the second and fourth tiers of Welsh football  They've gone by other names such as South Glamorgan Institute, and Cardiff Institute of Higher Education, as well as merging with Inter Cardiff to form UWIC Inter Cardiff before eventually becoming Cardiff Met in 2012.

3.This change brought immediate success, as the club won successive promotions from the fourth to the second tier, then finally the Cymru Premier in 2016. They've been a steady presence ever since, even winning the Welsh League Cup in 2019, and subsequently losing on away goals to Luxembourg's Progres Niederkorn in the following seasons Europa League qualifying.

4. The club are nicknamed the Archers, as reflected in their badge which also reads I lwyddo, rhaid chwarae which is translated as To succeed, [one] must play.

5. Cardiff Met University itself is part of the Wallace Group, meaning it has a specific focus on sporting endeavours, particularly football, volleyball, basketball and netball. Other universities in this group include Loughborough, Durham, Edinbirgh, and many more.