With the exception of a short period this century, the team has played in home colours of blue and white since 1908, from which their nickname "The Bluebirds" derives.

[8][9] Although growing in stature, the club was forced to turn down the opportunity to join the newly formed Second Division of the Southern Football League due to a lack of facilities at their Sophia Gardens ground.

Over the next two years, Cardiff played friendlies against some of Britain's top professional sides, including Middlesbrough, Bristol City, and Crystal Palace.

[9] With the new ground in place, Cardiff joined the Southern Football League Second Division[11] and appointed their first manager, Davy McDougall, who became player-manager.

[4] He set about adopting a more professional approach, signing several players with Football League experience, including brothers John and George Burton and Billy Hardy.

[15] On St George's Day, 23 April 1927, at Wembley Stadium in London, Cardiff became the only non-English side to win the FA Cup by defeating Arsenal 1–0 in the final;[17] Hughie Ferguson scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute.

[19] Captain Fred Keenor received the FA Cup trophy at the end of the match from King George V only seven years after Cardiff City had entered the Football League.

[24] They finished the 1932–33 season in 19th place, resulting in manager Fred Stewart tendering his resignation from his post after 22 years in charge.

[40] Hammam funded the transfers of several new players to the club, and new manager Lennie Lawrence guided Cardiff to promotion when they won the Second Division play-off in 2003 against Queens Park Rangers.

[41] Substitute Andy Campbell came off the bench to score the only goal in extra time and ensure Cardiff's return to Division One after an 18-year absence.

[37] Hammam then agreed to a takeover by a consortium led by new chairman Peter Ridsdale and the lead developer of the new stadium, Paul Guy.

[37][44] In May 2010, Datuk Chan Tien Ghee took over as club chairman following a takeover bid by a Malaysian consortium; Vincent Tan also invested and joined the board.

[11] The following season, Cardiff won the 2012–13 Championship title and with it gained promotion to the top tier of English football for the first time after 52 years.

[51] Cardiff won only three games in the first half of the season and, on 27 December 2013, Mackay was sacked by Vincent Tan and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

[54] Solskjær himself was sacked on 18 September 2014 after a disappointing start to the following Championship season, and replaced by Leyton Orient manager Russell Slade.

[56] Warnock took over the team with Cardiff second from the bottom of the table after two wins from eleven games, and guided the side to a 12th-placed finish after a good run of form.

The opening of the Cardiff City Stadium led to average attendances reaching 20,000 fans, culminating with highs of between 28,000 and 31,000 during two seasons in the Premier League.

This has been attributed to several factors such as the club's controversial change to red shirts between 2012 and 2015—some supporters being perceived as fairweather fans, and a lack of atmosphere.

[79] The Ayatollah, an act involving raising both arms up and down above the head in a patting motion, has become synonymous with the club and its supporters as a celebratory gesture since its adoption in the early 1990s.

Economic issues, such as the UK miners' strike, rivalry between the two cities and an increase in football hooliganism led to numerous violent clashes between fans at the matches.

One game in 1993 was dubbed "The Battle of Ninian Park" for its particularly severe violence and resulted in away fans being banned from attending any matches between the sides for four years.

[92] With increasing support for the club, Bartley Wilson contacted Bute Estate, who owned large amounts of Cardiff at the time, in an attempt to find land suitable for building a stadium.

[99] The ground's naming rights were expected to be sold, the club hoping to generate up to £9 million income; they remain unsold.

In March 2015, it was announced that the Ninian Stand extension was to be shut for the 2015–16 season due to poor ticket sales, dropping the capacity to 27,978.

These changes were made to "appeal in 'international markets'" as part of a "major investment plan" unveiled by chairman Vincent Tan.

[110] The rebranding provoked strong opposition from the fans, who organised protest marches and demonstrations to voice their displeasure at the changes.

Camilleri Roofing Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

[119] Recent players to come through the youth system include Wales internationals: Joe Ledley, Chris Gunter, Aaron Ramsey, Adam Matthews, Darcy Blake, Declan John, Rabbi Matondo, Mark Harris, Rubin Colwill[120] and prior to the youth system being granted academy status, Robert Earnshaw and James Collins.

Seven other players, Peter King, Robert Earnshaw, Brian Clark, Carl Dale, Derek Tapscott, Jimmy Gill and John Toshack have also scored 100 or more goals for the club.

[126] Jack Evans became the first Cardiff City player to win an international cap on 13 April 1912 when he represented Wales in a 3–2 defeat of Ireland.