History of Cardiff City F.C. (1899–1962)

Cardiff City Football Club is a professional association football team based in Cardiff, Wales. The history of Cardiff City F.C. from 1899 to 1962 covers the club's founding, its move into the Southern Football League and its election to the Football League to the end of the 1961–62 season.

Founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C., the club was renamed Cardiff City in 1908 and joined the Southern Football League two years later. The side was elected into the Second Division of the Football League in 1920, winning promotion to the First Division in its first season. The team finished as runners-up in the 1923–24 season, missing out on the title by the closest margin in First Division history. They reached their first FA Cup final the following year before becoming the only non-English team to win the trophy in the 1927 final when they defeated Arsenal 1–0 after a goal from Hughie Ferguson.

Soon after its cup triumph, the club entered a decline that saw the side relegated to the Third Division South by 1932. Financial problems coincided with their descent and the team finished bottom of the Football League at the end of the 1933–34 season and were forced to apply for re-election. After the Second World War, the club enjoyed a resurgence and won the Third Division South title in the first season after the conflict. The team returned to the First Division soon after and spent most of the 1950s in the top tier of English football.