There’s never been any love lost between Cardiff and Swansea, two of the three Welsh clubs in the Football League. Indeed, ex-Swan Lee Trundle received a pretty hostile reception when he recently visited Ninian Park with new club Bristol City. He won’t be forgetting that in a hurry!
The Times reports that this rivalry has led to BBC pundit Leighton James being dumped by BBC Wales after admitting he wants Barnsley to trounce Cardiff in the FA Cup semi-finals. Surely the bloke’s entitled to an opinion?
James, who played 88 times for Swansea in a career that included spells with Burnley, Derby County and Queens Park Rangers, made it plain in his column in the South Wales Evening Post that he retains his loyalty to “his” Welsh club. “To see Cardiff in the final would be hard to take for Swansea fans,” he wrote. “So, to be brutally honest, I think I’m behind Barnsley on this one.”
Is this harsh or should the pundit not be making these sort of comments, considering BBC Wales are representative of all Welsh clubs? It doesn’t stop other pundits on BBC, Sky and ITV from having a clear preference for certain teams to win, although it appears the broadcasting company have no option other than to incur the wrath of their viewing public by keeping the guy on.