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2025–26 Cardiff City F.C. season

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Cardiff City
2025–26 season
OwnerVincent Tan
ChairmanMehmet Dalman
Head coachBrian Barry-Murphy
StadiumCardiff City Stadium
League One9th
EFL CupSecond round
EFL TrophyGroup stage
Highest home attendance19,615
Average home league attendance19,615

The 2025–26 season is the 127th season in the history of Cardiff City Football Club and their first season back in League One (third tier) since the 2002–03 season following relegation from the Championship in the previous season. In addition to the domestic league, the club would also participate in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, and the EFL Trophy.

Prior to the season starting, Brian Barry-Murphy was appointed as Head Coach on a three-year contract.[1]

Transfers

[edit]

In

[edit]
Date Pos. Player From Fee Ref.
3 July 2025 CM Scotland Matthew Apter England Everton Bosman [2]
CB England Gabriel Keita England Norwich City [2]
CB Republic of Ireland Charlie O'Brien England Queens Park Rangers [2]

Out

[edit]
Date Pos. Player To Fee Ref.
4 July 2025 LW Republic of Ireland Callum O'Dowda Hungary Ferencváros Undisclosed [3]
5 August 2025 CB Japan Ryotaro Tsunoda Japan Yokohama F. Marinos Undisclosed [4]

Loaned in

[edit]
Date Pos. Player From Date until Ref.
6 August 2025 GK England Nathan Trott Denmark Copenhagen 31 May 2026 [5]

Loaned out

[edit]
Date Pos. Player To Date until Ref.
27 June 2025 CF England Michael Reindorf Wales Newport County 31 May 2026 [6]
28 June 2025 Croatia Roko Šimić Germany Karlsruher SC [7]
1 August 2025 England Kion Etete England Rotherham United [8]

Released / out of contract

[edit]
Date Pos. Player Subsequent club Join date Ref.
30 June 2025 LB Nigeria Jamilu Collins [9]
CM England Raheem Conte [9]
CB England Freddie Cook [9]
RW Netherlands Anwar El Ghazi [9]
AM Wales Kieron Evans England Eastleigh 26 June 2026 [10]
RW Wales Cole Fleming [9]
CM England Adeteye Gbadehan [9]
CB Greece Dimitrios Goutas Turkey Gençlerbirliği 3 July 2026 [11]
LW England Baylin Johnson [9]
CF Ivory Coast Yakou Méïté [9]
CM England Joe Ralls [12]
Wales Aaron Ramsey Mexico UNAM 3 July 2026 [13]
Zimbabwe Andy Rinomhota [14]
GK Wales Joe Thomas [9]

New contract

[edit]
Date Pos. Player Contract until Ref.
2 July 2025 AM Wales Jake Davies Undisclosed[a] [15]
CB Wales Alyas Debono [15]
CF Wales Daniel Ola [15]
LB Wales Jac Thomas [15]
3 July 2025 CF Wales Isaac Jefferies Undisclosed [2]
31 July 2025 LW Wales Mannie Barton Undisclosed[a] [16]
5 August 2025 RW England Ollie Tanner 30 June 2029 [17]
  1. ^ a b First professional contract

Current squad

[edit]
As of 12 August 2025

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Name Nat. Position(s) Date of birth (Age) Apps. Goals Year signed Signed from Transfer fee Ends
Goalkeepers
1 Ethan Horvath United States GK (1995-06-09) 9 June 1995 (age 30) 36 0 2024 England Nottingham Forest Undisclosed 2027[18]
13 Nathan Trott England GK (1998-11-21) 21 November 1998 (age 26) 2 0 2025 Denmark Copenhagen Loan 2026
21 Jak Alnwick England GK (1993-06-17) 17 June 1993 (age 32) 63 0 2022 Scotland St Mirren Free 2026[19]
41 Matthew Turner Wales GK (2002-03-27) 27 March 2002 (age 23) 1 0 2021 England Leeds United Free 2026[20]
Defenders
2 Will Fish England CB (2003-02-17) 17 February 2003 (age 22) 27 0 2024 England Manchester United Undisclosed 2028
3 Joel Bagan Republic of IrelandEngland LB (2001-09-03) 3 September 2001 (age 23) 81 3 2020 Academy Trainee 2026[21]
5 Jesper Daland Norway CB (2000-01-06) 6 January 2000 (age 25) 23 0 2024 Belgium Cercle Brugge Undisclosed 2028
12 Calum Chambers England CB/RB/DM (1995-01-20) 20 January 1995 (age 30) 44 2 2024 England Aston Villa Free 2027
38 Perry Ng EnglandSingapore RB/LB/CB (1996-04-27) 27 April 1996 (age 29) 181 9 2021 England Crewe Alexandra £350,000 2026[22]
44 Ronan Kpakio Wales RB (2007-05-25) 25 May 2007 (age 18) 9 1 2024 Academy Trainee 2026
48 Dylan Lawlor Wales CB (2006-01-01) 1 January 2006 (age 19) 4 0 2024 Academy Trainee 2026
Midfielders
6 Ryan Wintle England DM/CM/CB (1997-06-13) 13 June 1997 (age 28) 120 5 2021 England Crewe Alexandra Free 2026[23]
10 Rubin Colwill Wales AM/LW/RW (2002-04-27) 27 April 2002 (age 23) 156 16 2020 Academy Trainee 2027[24]
11 Ollie Tanner England LW/AM/RW (2002-05-13) 13 May 2002 (age 23) 74 4 2022 England Lewes £50,000 2027
14 David Turnbull Scotland AM (1999-07-10) 10 July 1999 (age 26) 38 1 2024 Scotland Celtic Undisclosed 2027[25]
18 Alex Robertson AustraliaScotland CM/AMDM (2003-04-17) 17 April 2003 (age 22) 39 4 2024 England Manchester City Undisclosed 2028
24 Eli King England DM/CM (2002-12-23) 23 December 2002 (age 22) 10 0 2021 Academy Trainee 2026[26]
27 Joel Colwill Wales CM (2004-10-27) 27 October 2004 (age 20) 8 0 2022 Academy Trainee 2028[24]
28 Dakarai Mafico Wales CM (2006-12-07) 7 December 2006 (age 18) 0 0 2025 Academy Trainee
45 Cian Ashford Wales AM (2004-09-24) 24 September 2004 (age 20) 43 5 2022 Academy Trainee 2027[27]
Forwards
16 Chris Willock England LW/RW/AM (1998-01-31) 31 January 1998 (age 27) 37 2 2024 England Queens Park Rangers Free 2027
22 Yousef Salech Denmark CF (2002-01-17) 17 January 2002 (age 23) 25 9 2025 Sweden IK Sirius Undisclosed 2029
39 Isaak Davies Wales SS/RW/LW (2001-09-25) 25 September 2001 (age 23) 55 6 2020 Academy Trainee 2026
47 Callum Robinson Republic of Ireland LW/CF/RW (1995-02-02) 2 February 1995 (age 30) 85 23 2022 England West Bromwich Albion £1,500,000 2027
Out on Loan
Kion Etete EnglandNigeria CF/SS (2001-11-28) 28 November 2001 (age 23) 62 9 2022 England Tottenham Hotspur £500,000 2027
Roko Šimić CroatiaItaly CF (2003-09-10) 10 September 2003 (age 21) 0 0 2024 Austria FC Red Bull Salzburg Undisclosed 2028
Michael Reindorf England CF (2005-05-10) 10 May 2005 (age 20) 4 0 2024 England Norwich City Free Undisclosed

Pre-season and friendlies

[edit]

On 6 June, Cardiff City announced as part of their pre-season preparations the squad would travel to Murcia for a warm-weather training camp.[28] Six days later, two friendlies were confirmed, against Yeovil Town and Cambridge United.[29] A further two friendlies against Queens Park Rangers and Notts County were later added.[30] On 30 June, friendlies against Johor Darul Ta'zim and Southend United were added to the Spain training camp.[31][32]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

9 July 2025 Friendly Cardiff City 2–2 Johor Darul Ta'zim San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain
19:00 CEST
Report Stadium: Pinatar Arena
12 July 2025 Friendly Cardiff City 3–0 Southend United San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain
19:00 CEST
Report Stadium: Pinatar Arena
18 July 2025 Friendly Cardiff City 5–1 Cambridge United Vale of Glamorgan
13:00 BST Report Stadium: Cardiff City Training Ground
Attendance: 0 (Behind-closed-doors)
23 July 2025 Friendly Queens Park Rangers 2–2 Cardiff City Hounslow
14:00 BST Report Stadium: TSG Training Centre
Attendance: 0 (Behind-closed-doors)
26 July 2025 Friendly Notts County 2–2 Cardiff City Nottingham
15:00 BST
Report
Stadium: Meadow Lane

Competitions

[edit]

League One

[edit]

League table

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
6 Doncaster Rovers 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 6 Qualification for League One play-offs
7 Bradford City 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4
8 Cardiff City 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4
9 Exeter City 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2 3
10 AFC Wimbledon 2 1 0 1 2 1 +1 3
Updated to match(es) played on 9 August 2025. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences[33]

Results summary

[edit]
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
2 1 1 0 2 1  +1 4 1 0 0 2 1  +1 0 1 0 0 0  0

Last updated: 7 August 2025.
Source: Soccerway

Results by round

[edit]
Round12
GroundHA
ResultWD
Position98
Points34
Source: EFL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Matches

[edit]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

2 August 2025 (2025-08-02) 1 Cardiff City 2–1 Peterborough United Cardiff
12:30 BST
BBC report
Cardiff City report
Sky report
Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium
Attendance: 19,615
Referee: Benjamin Speedie
7 August 2025 (2025-08-07) 2 Port Vale 0–0 Cardiff City Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent
20:00 BST Clark Yellow card 54'
Ojo Yellow card 90+4'
BBC report
Sky report
Bagan Yellow card 54' Stadium: Vale Park
Attendance: 9,791
Referee: Tom Reeves
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for 9 August, but was moved live Sky Sports broadcasting.[34]
16 August 2025 (2025-08-16) 3 Cardiff City v Rotherham United Cardiff
15:00 BST Sky report Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium
19 August 2025 4 AFC Wimbledon v Cardiff City Wimbledon
19:45 BST Sky report Stadium: Plough Lane
23 August 2025 5 Luton Town v Cardiff City Luton
12:30 BST Sky report Stadium: Kenilworth Road
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off, but was moved live Sky Sports broadcasting.[34]
30 August 2025 6 Cardiff City v Plymouth Argyle Cardiff
12:30 BST Sky report Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium
Note: Fixture was originally scheduled for a 15:00 kick-off, but was moved live Sky Sports broadcasting.[34]

EFL Cup

[edit]

Cardiff were drawn at home to Swindon Town in the first round[35][36] and to Cheltenham Town in the second round.[37]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

12 August 2025 First round Cardiff City 2–1 Swindon Town Leckwith
19:45 BST
BBC report
Sky report
Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium
Attendance: 7,160
Referee: Elliot Bell
w/c 25 August 2025 Second round Cardiff City v Cheltenham Town Leckwith
19:45 BST Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium

EFL Trophy

[edit]

Cardiff were drawn against Exeter City, Newport County and Arsenal U21 in the group stage.[38]

Pos Div Team Pld W PW PL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 L1 Cardiff City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to Round 2
2 L1 Exeter City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 L2 Newport County 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 ACA Arsenal U21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: EFL

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

16 September 2025 South Group A Exeter City v Cardiff City Exeter
19:00 BST Stadium: St James Park
7 October 2025 South Group A Cardiff City v Newport County Leckwith
19:45 BST Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium
TBC South Group A Cardiff City v Arsenal U21 Leckwith
TBC BST Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium

Statistics

[edit]

Appearances and goals

[edit]
As of match played 12 August 2025

Players with no appearances are not included on the list

No. Pos Nat Player Total League One FA Cup EFL Cup EFL Trophy
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
2 DF England ENG Will Fish 3 0 1+1 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
3 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Joel Bagan 3 0 2+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
5 DF Norway NOR Jesper Daland 1 0 0+1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
6 MF England ENG Ryan Wintle 3 0 2+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
10 MF Wales WAL Rubin Colwill 3 2 2+0 1 0+0 0 1+0 1 0+0 0
11 MF England ENG Ollie Tanner 3 0 2+0 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
12 DF England ENG Calum Chambers 2 0 1+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
13 GK England ENG Nathan Trott 2 0 1+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
14 MF Scotland SCO David Turnbull 2 0 0+1 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
16 FW England ENG Chris Willock 3 0 1+1 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
22 FW Denmark DEN Yousef Salech 3 0 2+0 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
24 MF Wales WAL Eli King 2 0 0+1 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
27 MF Wales WAL Joel Colwill 3 0 2+0 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+0 0
39 FW Wales WAL Isaak Davies 3 0 0+2 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
41 GK Wales WAL Matthew Turner 1 0 1+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0
44 DF Wales WAL Ronan Kpakio 3 1 2+0 1 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
45 MF Wales WAL Cian Ashford 3 1 1+1 0 0+0 0 1+0 1 0+0 0
47 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Callum Robinson 3 0 0+2 0 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
48 DF Wales WAL Dylan Lawlor 2 0 2+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0

Goals record

[edit]
As of match played 12 August 2025
Rank No. Nat. Pos. Name League One FA Cup EFL Cup EFL Trophy Total
1 10 Wales MF Rubin Colwill 1 0 1 0 2
2 44 Wales DF Ronan Kpakio 1 0 0 0 1
45 Wales MF Cian Ashford 1 0 0 0 1
Total 2 0 2 0 4

Assists record

[edit]
As of match played 12 August 2025
Rank No. Nat. Pos. Name League One FA Cup EFL Cup EFL Trophy Total
1 11 England MF Ollie Tanner 1 0 0 0 1
Total 1 0 0 0 1

Disciplinary record

[edit]
As of match played 12 August 2025
Rank No. Nat. Pos. Name League One FA Cup EFL Cup EFL Trophy Total
Yellow card Yellow card Yellow-red card Red card Yellow card Yellow card Yellow-red card Red card Yellow card Yellow card Yellow-red card Red card Yellow card Yellow card Yellow-red card Red card Yellow card Yellow card Yellow-red card Red card
1 3 England DF Joel Bagan 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
2 11 England MF Ollie Tanner 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
44 Wales DF Ronan Kpakio 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
48 Wales DF Dylan Lawlor 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Total 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Brian Barry-Murphy appointed as First Team Head Coach". Cardiff City FC. 16 June 2025. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Three new recruits join City's U21s". Cardiff City FC. 3 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  3. ^ "O'Dowda leaves Cardiff to join Ferencvaros". BBC Sport. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  4. ^ "Ryotaro Tsunoda departs for Yokohama F. Marinos". Cardiff City FC. 5 August 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  5. ^ "Nathan Trott joins the Bluebirds". Cardiff City FC. 6 August 2025. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Newport sign Cardiff striker Reindorf on loan". BBC Sport. 27 June 2025. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Simic joins Karlsruher SC". Cardiff City F.C. 28 June 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Rotherham sign Cardiff striker Etete on loan". BBC Sport. 1 August 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i "2024/25 Retained List". Cardiff City FC. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Evans moves to National League after Cardiff exit". BBC Sport. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Goutas returns to Turkey after Cardiff exit". BBC Sport. 12 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  12. ^ "Joe Ralls to leave Cardiff City". Cardiff City FC. 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  13. ^ "Wales midfielder Ramsey finalises move to Mexican side Pumas". BBC Sport. 3 July 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  14. ^ "Andy Rinomhota to depart". Cardiff City FC. 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d "Four young Bluebirds sign professional terms". Cardiff City FC. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  16. ^ "Mannie Barton signs professional contract". Cardiff City FC. 31 July 2025. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  17. ^ "Ollie Tanner signs new City deal". Cardiff City FC. 5 August 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  18. ^ "Ethan Horvath signs". Cardiff City FC. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Jak Alnwick pens a new contract". Cardiff City. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  20. ^ "Matthew Turner pens new City deal". Cardiff City. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  21. ^ "Joel Bagan pens a new City deal". Cardiff City F.C. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Perry Ng signs new City deal". Cardiff City F.C. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  23. ^ "Ryan Wintle pens a new three-year deal". Cardiff City F.C. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Rubin Colwill & Joe Colwill sign new City deals". Cardiff City. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  25. ^ "David Turnbull is a Bluebird". Cardiff City F.C. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  26. ^ "Eli King signs new three-year contract". Cardiff City F.C. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  27. ^ "Cian Ashford extends contract with the Bluebirds". Cardiff City. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Bluebirds travel to Spain". Cardiff City FC. 6 June 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  29. ^ "City to face Yeovil Town & Cambridge United". Cardiff City FC. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  30. ^ "QPR & Notts County friendlies confirmed". Cardiff City FC. 20 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  31. ^ "City to face Johor Darul Ta'zim". Cardiff City FC. 30 June 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  32. ^ "City to face Southend United in Spain". Cardiff City FC. 30 June 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  33. ^ "EFL Regulations Section 3 – The League; subsection 9 – Method of Determining League Positions". English Football League. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  34. ^ a b c "League One fixture alterations | August 2025". Cardiff City FC. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  35. ^ "Carabao Cup Round One confirmed". English Football League. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  36. ^ "Carabao Cup R1 Fixture Confirmation | Cardiff City vs. Swindon Town". Cardiff City FC. 4 July 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  37. ^ "Carabao Cup Round Two Draw | Cardiff City vs. Cheltenham Town". Cardiff City FC. 13 August 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  38. ^ "Under-21 teams and Group Stage draw confirmed for 2025/26 Vertu Trophy". English Football League. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.