Four points separated Neil Harris and Steve Cooper's sides last month - now it's 17! Pic: Getty Images.

Swansea City’s Steve Cooper Vows To Toast Absent Fans As First Fanless Derby With Cardiff City In 108 Years Looms

By Paul Jones

Steve Cooper will tell his Swansea City players to deliver a performance to warm the missing thousands tomorrow when they face the strangest derby at an empty Cardiff City Stadium.

The Swans head coach says he has stressed to his players all week their responsibility to supporters who have not seen their team live – home or away – for almost nine months.

Never before in the 108-year history of the most fierce South Wales rivalry has this fixture been played in a fan-free setting, but Cooper has attempted to use that as extra motivation.

There are precious points at stake for both clubs – for Cardiff to continue their emphatic charge up the table after four straight victories, while for the Swans it is to keep pace with the top two clubs just above them – but the fixture will lack all the usual vibrant atmosphere.

Cooper says: “So many people have suffered in one way or another, so to think we can come to work, train, and travel to somewhere else in the country, albeit in bubble restrictions, I think we’re really fortunate, and I’m forever telling the players that.

“There’s no real hardship, and I think the players appreciate that. We are a lot better off than so many people.

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“This is a game that means an awful lot to supporters, it’s one we really want to win and one we want to really commit to and attack.

“It is for the supporters. I want them to see a team working hard and giving their best because football is so important to so many people.

“It will be a perfect chance to give a bit back and we will be committing to that. Without having supporters in the grounds has been a disappointment anyway, but it’s days and games like this where maybe you’ll feel it even more.

“In Wales we seem to be a little bit behind everyone else, and unfortunately the infection rate is right up, so there is a bigger picture as well. It’s a tough time for everybody, especially the supporters.”

Last season, Swansea won the home derby 1-0, a result that did more than most to end the reign of Neil Warnock as Cardiff manager and bring in Neil Harris.

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The return match in the capital ended goalless, a result that was greeted as a moral victory by Swans fans who felt a tally of four points over the two games, compared to Cardiff’s one, made them kings of their manor.

A draw might appear the most likely result again, particularly as fourth-placed Swansea have the best defensive record in the Championship with just 10 goals conceded in 17 matches.

It’s scoring goals that has proved more of a problem, with their total of just 19 being the lowest among any of the clubs in the top 10.

“We’d like to score more goals, but I don’t think we’ll be the only team saying that,” added Cooper.

“We want to be as creative as we can. If we manage to go 1-0 up, we’re not about shutting up shop, we try and think, keep doing what we’re doing and score another one. But it’s hard. It’s a tough league.”

In their four match winning streak, the Bluebirds have hit 10 goals and conceded just one.

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That would have given their own fans plenty on which to base some noisy backing for the home side, but Cardiff manager Harris concedes that an empty stadium provides no real home advantage.

“It is going to be different in terms of the actual game and the atmosphere,” said Harris.

“Both atmospheres were electric last year. Let’s not shy away from it – it is different.

“It’s a game that means an awful lot to our supporters and it’s a game that we really want to win.

“I think everything that we’re doing at the moment, because we’re in Wales and behind other parts of the UK, is for the supporters.

“I want the supporters to see a team giving their best. Football is important to so many people and at the moment they’re not being given that.”

 

Both managers are also in agreement over something else – the fact that teams in Wales, along with those in Tier 3 regions in England, are now disadvantaged by the lack of home support, compared to those clubs now allowed 2,000 people inside their grounds.

Cooper added: “This is the first thing since the lockdown that is now different.

“We’ve had return to train and play procedures which have been fair across the board. Then the amount of subs, that was the same for everyone.

“This is the first thing that is different, that isn’t equal for everyone, and it can have an influence on games.”

 

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