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The Bluebirds missed out on automatic promotion again, but qualified for the playoffs again, having missed out in the final stage last year, but the future remains optimistic thanks to their spectacularly successful academy, which is managed by former player Neal Ardley. It is phenomenally successful and punches well above its weight on and off the pitch.

Their academy provides educational opportunities as well as high quality training and coaching and has produced several talented players in its short existence. "I'm happy with the way we're running at Cardiff City," Ardley told us exclusively last year. "There's always way for improvement. What they do here is they do media training as part of their course and obviously they get to know a little bit about how media works, because like you say different people have got different eyes for different talent – there is that."

But that is far from all that that the club offers its academy members in case they don't make the grade. "We've also got a programme in place where we share our fitness data with a large database where other sports can look at this," Ardley says. This offers talented boys who may be better suited to other sports another opportunity if football turns out to not be for them.

"For argument's sake if we've got a six footer who is a very quick centre forward who for whatever reason technically doesn't quite get where he should in this game, he might get looked at by a rugby team," Ardley explained to us. "They might look and say, 'hold on, all this might point to him being a very good rugby player,' and there's a net there where they may take a look at him with a view to a change of sport."

Punching Above its Weight

However, Cardiff City's Academy is aimed at producing footballers and it has done very well indeed, but what happens if a boy they invested time and effort in turns out to be better suited at another sport? Does the club get compensated for their efforts?

"The only time we get compensated is if we develop the player and we do a lot with the player and we offer him a contract at the end of his year and he decides that he wants to go elsewhere, because he's been tapped up, maybe, or he's been offered money by another club, etc. etc.," Ardley explained "That would be the only time that we would be entitled to compensation." Nevertheless, while Ardley sees the database as a positive thing, producing footballers for Cardiff City is his task.