Cardiff City Under Malky Mackay

3. 2012-2013

The 2012-2013 season was a bitter sweet one for Cardiff fans. It saw the promotion to the premier league for the first time in 51 years, but also saw a 104 year tradition come to an end. Yes, I'm talking about the decision to change the clubs colours from blue, to red. As part of a double edged sword the club would be re-branded, with owner Vincent Tan deeming a red kit and dragon crest luckier and more marketable in Asia. In return Mackay would be given a (stand by for cliché) 'war chest' to spend on players. With the changes made, money was certainly spent. Roughly £11.5m was used to bring in 9 players, with a further 4 free transfers and 3 loan players. Amongst the new recruits were several notable names, Jordon Mutch, Bo-Kyung Kim, Matthew Connolly, Craig Noone, Fraizer Campbell and the full time return of Craig Bellamy. It's fair to say that the majority of these signings were made with one eye on the premier league, with many of them still featuring in the current campaign. In particular Mutch and Campbell have shown to be shrewd signings by Mackay and his staff; whilst forward Etien Velikonja has only made 3 first team appearances - although there are reports that the £1.7m signing was not made by Mackay and his team. It was this season that Malky Mackay would cement his popularity with the fans, by taking the championship title with 89 points, 8 points clear of second place Hull. Cardiff were dominant throughout the championship season, reaching the top spot at the end of November and staying there until they lifted the league trophy. It's this season that Mackay will be remembered for as Cardiff City manager, and it's why so many fans still protested and chanted his name right up until he was fired. Avid Cardiff supporter Shaun Lawthom pointed to the change in mind set at the club under Mackay:

"You look at the year we were promoted, I'd say 40% of our games we didn't play brilliant. It wasn't free flowing fantastic football, but every time we needed to grind out a win, we would find a way to win. That's the belief he put into the players."