Cardiff had won promotion the previous season by finishing as runners-up in the Second Division, becoming the first Welsh team to reach the top tier of English football.

[7] John Pritchard was elected chairman of the club ahead of the new season but left the role in November and was replaced by Walter Empsall.

[6] The latter work nearly resulted in disaster when the refuse being tipped by Cardiff Corporation caught alight and spread across the Grangetown side of the ground.

Defender Bert Smith became the first player to score for Cardiff in the division in the side's following match with a consolation goal during a 2–1 defeat to Aston Villa on 29 August.

[17] The changes yielded little reward as Cardiff lost both fixtures against Oldham, 1–0 at home, 2–1 away, starting the campaign with six consecutive defeats which left them bottom of the table.

[14][18] Cardiff's next fixture was against unbeaten league leaders Middlesbrough in a match that was described in The Times as "the most noteworthy example of disparity of strength between contesting clubs".

[nb 2] Jimmy Gill, who had been the club's top scorer the previous season, scored his first goals of the campaign with a brace and Harry Nash added a third.

Gill enjoyed a fine run of form during this time, scoring six goals in the five matches including braces during victories over West Bromwich Albion and Bolton in the reverse fixture.

In an attempt to recoup some of the transfer fee, two forwards who had played an integral role in promotion in the 1920–21 season, Arthur Cashmore and Fred Pagnam,[20] were sold having failed to score in a combined 17 appearances.

[14] A much improved run of form ensued with Cardiff losing only one of their following thirteen league matches led by the goals of Davies, Gill and Clennell.

[23] As well as Bradford, the team's run included wins over Birmingham (twice), Arsenal, Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea.

[24] The team's victory over Blackburn during this spell saw an unusual Football League debutant when club trainer George Latham was forced into action.

[25][26] On 25 February, Cardiff suffered their first defeat since early December, losing 1–0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as the opposition defence proved impregnable.

[24] The team recovered to beat Sheffield United 2–0 in their following match with goals from Clennell and Ken MacDonald but suffered a further blow after losing 1–0 to struggling Bradford who were 21st in the table.

[27] Two matches against reigning First Division champions Burnley produced positive results as the teams drew 1–1 at Turf Moor before Cardiff won the reverse fixture 4–2 at Ninian Park.

[34] Over 50,000 fans again attended Ninian Park for the tie and despite Cardiff having the better of the first half, Tottenham took the lead through Jimmy Seed after the forward dribbled through the defence to strike the ball past Ben Davies with a powerful shot.

[35] The replay was held at Tottenham's ground White Hart Lane and, such was the demand for tickets, match officials agreed for spectators to be allowed to sit or kneel to the very edge of the pitch.

Tottenham enjoyed the brighter start to the match but Cardiff took the lead when Jack Evans beat his man on the wing and crossed for Gill to score.

[36] Wilson's effort was controversial as Cardiff players complained that goalkeeper Davies had been deliberately impeded as he attempted to deal with the cross but the referee ignored their complaints and the goal stood.

Results[14][30] Cardiff entered the Welsh Cup in the third round, being drawn against Football League Third Division South side Newport County.

The side continued their free-scoring form in the following round where they defeated Merthyr Town, also of the Third Division South, with Len Davies scoring a hat-trick during a 5–0 win.

The others included Albert Barnett, who was recovering from a broken leg suffered the previous season,[41] and George Latham, the club's trainer who played one match during an injury crisis.

[14] His 30 goals was also a new club single-season record, surpassing Gill's tally of 20 the previous year and standing until the 1926–27 season when Hughie Ferguson scored 32 times.

Such was Stewart's confidence in his side that the club made no major signings before the start of the following season and only a poor run of form toward the end of 1922 prompted the arrival of a few players.

The difficulties in crowd control during the opening match against Tottenham had led the club to possessing what was described as "the heaviest police bill in the country".