Cardiff City vs Swansea City: H2H, South Wales Derby Rivalry, Watch Live & More
The South Wales Derby between Swansea City and Cardiff City is unquestionably one of the fiercest rivalries in world football.
It was previously a reasonably amicable spat up to the 1960s, but things took a turn for the worse when the spectre of hooliganism reared its ugly head.
We take a closer look at Cardiff vs Swansea including the H2H (stats correct – March 18, 2023), how to watch the Championship live, the history of the South Wales derby and more.
Cardiff City vs Swansea City H2H
The two teams have met 114 times across all competitions, with Cardiff leading the H2H record 45-41 and 28 games drawn.
The two clubs have each won a major trophy – Cardiff claimed the FA Cup in 1926/27, while Swansea lifted the Capital One Cup in 2012/13.
Notable Cardiff City vs Swansea City Results
- Cardiff City 1-0 Swansea City – Division Two – August 1949
- Swansea City 1-3 Cardiff City – Welsh Cup – April 1969
- Cardiff City 2-0 Swansea City – Welsh Cup – April 1969
- Swansea City 2-1 Cardiff City – Division Two – January 1980
- Swansea City 0-2 Cardiff City – League Cup – September 1988
- Cardiff City 1-0 Swansea City – Second Division – December 1993
- Cardiff City 2-2 Swansea City – Championship – April 2009
- Swansea City 3-2 Cardiff City – Championship – November 2009
Cardiff City vs Swansea City Live Streams
Sky Sports is the best place to watch Championship matches, with live streams available to subscribers via the Sky Go app on either desktop or mobile.
If you don’t have a subscription, fans can take advantage of the flexible option of daily or monthly passes through NOW TV.
There are loads of other streaming platforms that cover live Championship games, but you will need to use Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology to gain access.
One of the best services is Express VPN, which can be downloaded to various devices including Android, iOS, Fire TV, PC, Mac and smart TVs.
South Wales Derby History
League meetings between Cardiff and Swansea were initially rare, with just eight league games played between 1912 and 1945.
There were some sizeable attendances after World War Two, most notably when more than 57,000 fans crammed into Ninian Park in August 1949.
A fiery Welsh Cup meeting in February 1960 was the catalyst for the rivalry to intensify, and the relationship truly deteriorated a few years later.
Off-field violence marred both legs of the 1969 Welsh Cup final, while the action on the pitch was also particularly feisty.
Swansea’s appointment of John Toshack as their manager in 1978 drove an even bigger wedge between the two clubs over the next few years.
The Cardiff-born boss took Swansea from the Fourth Division to the top flight, creating a seismic shift in the balance of power in South Wales.
Swansea’s swift fall back down the league saw the two clubs quickly renew hostilities and the hooliganism unfortunately increased.
The 1990s featured numerous brutal South Wales derbies, sparking the Football Association of Wales (FAW) to ban away fans from attending the fixture.
The two teams ended up in different divisions during the early part of the 21st century, giving the police in the region a welcome breather.
Their next meeting in September 2008 was also marred by violence, while several subsequent derbies have been impacted by crowd disturbances.
Cardiff City vs Swansea City Controversies
As previously mentioned, there have been numerous instances of violence marring the South Wales Derby between Cardiff and Swansea.
One of the most controversial incidents came in September 1988, when Cardiff completed a 2-1 aggregate victory at Swansea in the League Cup.
After the game, a group of Swansea hooligans chased a sizeable number of Cardiff fans into the sea close to the Civic Centre in the city.
Swansea followers subsequently adopted a ‘swim away’ gesture, which has since caused plenty of controversy in its own right.
This includes a meeting between the two sides in October 2021, when Swansea players and coaching staff taunted their opponents with the celebration.
Another hugely controversial match was staged in December 1993, which was consequently dubbed as the ‘Battle of Ninian Park’ due to the ferocity of the disorder.
One supporter described the clashes as the worst violence he had ever witnessed in his life and it came as no surprise when the FAW banned away fans from the fixture over the next few years.
Having not faced each other in almost ten years, there were inevitably further disturbances when the two teams met again in September 2008.
It was a similar story later in the season, when referee Mike Dean was hot in the head by a coin the crowd and Cardiff thugs clashed with police.
Subsequent South Wales Derbies have also generated plenty of problems, with fighting and vandalism common occurrences whenever the two teams meet.
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