"As bad as that sounds" - Cardiff City hierarchy urged to make major Stadium change | OneFootball

FLW's Bluebirds fan pundit wants to see this one adjustment made to his club's home stadium

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

FLW's Cardiff City fan pundit has given his verdict on what he wants to see changed at the Cardiff City Stadium to help improve the atmosphere, and in turn, the team's performances on home turf for the foreseeable future.

Cardiff's current position in the Championship table is a precarious one, with just one place and one point separating them and Derby County in the relegation zone with just eight games of the campaign to go.

Omer Riza has been unable to improve their fortunes since he became the Bluebirds' interim boss in September, and was then appointed as their full-time manager in December.

They have not been too bad on the road this season, but their home form is one of the worst in the second-tier, and it needs to improve if they want to enjoy any on-pitch success over the coming years.

Their poor record in the Welsh capital has also led to low average attendances and a poor general atmosphere every other week at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Cardiff City

Construction started on the Cardiff City Stadium in 2007, and the ground officially opened to supporters in May 2009, with Bluebirds playing their first official game there in a July pre-season friendly against Celtic.

It is the second-largest stadium in Wales after the Millenium Stadium, with an all-seated capacity of 33,280, and is the home of the national football team as well as Cardiff. The Ninian Stand is the most recognisable of the four stands, as it is the biggest and two-tiered, while behind each goal are the Canton and the Family Stands, and the Grandstand sits opposite the Ninian.

The Bluebirds' average home attendance in the Championship this season has been 19,078, according to transfermarkt, which is a notable decrease compared to 2023/24's average of 21,020.

FLW's Cardiff fan pundit, Matt Hall, believes that the club need to reassess the layout of home and away supporters inside the ground, and that they should close the family stand to Bluebirds fans in order to create a better atmosphere to try and help win more home games and improve their performances.

“If I could change anything about Cardiff’s stadium, it would be the layout," Matt told FLW.

“At the moment we’ve got a family stand and away end that is generally quite empty, and then there is a portion of the Ninian Stand that is three quarters empty half the time.

“I’ve always had the feeling that, behind the goal on the right-hand side when you‘re looking on the TV cameras, it always just looks really sparse.

“Personally I would close down the family stand, as bad as that sounds, and I would move those people into the Ninian Stand. We haven’t got enough numbers in there to fill four stands.

“It’d be better to have three more full stands than have four stands and three of them not be very full at all.

“The away fans could then move into the middle of the goal, and when you get those big clubs come round, then give them a bigger portion.”

Cardiff need their home fans to help them over the line this season

Cardiff's home record has been a huge hindrance to their progress in the Championship this season, and is a major reason as to why the club could be staring down the barrel of relegation to League One after 22 years away from the third-tier of English football.

Riza's side have won just seven of their 19 games at the Cardiff City Stadium up to now, and their overall home record of 24 points is only better than Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City, who have accrued 22 and 19 points on home turf respectively.

The Bluebirds have only emerged victorious from two of their last 11 games in league and cup, hence the genuine threat of relegation, but their form in the Welsh capital has actually improved in recent weeks and months, with three wins, three draws and just two defeats in their eight home games since the turn of the year.

That marked improvement has to continue over the next six weeks as they battle to preserve their Championship status for another season. Riza's men take on Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke City, Oxford United and West Brom in their last four home games of the campaign, and all of those clashes are must-wins if they want to stay up.

Their struggling squad will undoubtedly need the vocal Cardiff City Stadium support to get behind them in all of those outings, despite large portions of the ground likely remaining empty.

The club's most recent home outing saw just over 16,000 Bluebirds fans watch on as Luton Town took a vital three points home in their quest for survival, so there clearly needs to be an improvement in attendance to help motivate the Cardiff players to avoid relegation this season.