The cabbie who drove me to Euston yesterday afternoon  as I headed home to Manchester guessed completely wrongly. ‘’So you’re a Man United fan, then,’’ he assumed, clearly disapprovingly.

‘’You won’t believe this,’’ I replied, ‘’but actually I’ve supported Cardiff City all my life.’’

‘’Really? Congratulations on getting to the FA Cup semis!’’ he beamed, before turning round to point out his own affinities. A Chelsea FC badge glued to the facia told me why he didn’t have a great deal of time for United.

'Crowds at Ninian Park may only be averaging 13,000 this season - but you watch the old diehards like me come out of the woodwork for the semi-final!'


The conversation quickly turned to the FA Cup, the Blues’ demise against  Barnsley and our upcoming semi-final against our Championship rivals from south Yorkshire. And the cabbie’s words were particularly interesting in light of my Sportingo colleague Phil Smith’s assertion that the ‘Little Four’s’ semi-final takeover is the worst thing that could have happened to football.

‘’That sounds like a typical Man U fan,’’ he scoffed. ‘’Personally I think it’s the BEST thing that could have happened to the FA Cup. Whoever is in this year’s Final, everyone is  going to remember it because it was different.

‘’Let’s face it, apart from Chelsea and Man U fans, who remembers last year’s Final? Big Four games always get a big build-up - but how many of the games do people actually remember?’’

Was there just a semblance of sour grapes in Phil’s disparaging comments about the Cardiff-Portsmouth-Barnsley-West Brom takeover? After all, United were admittedly unlucky to be dumped out by Pompey.

But after picking up silverware by the barrowload over the last 15 years, why begrudge the lesser mortals of the football word their moment of glory?

From what Phil wrote, you’d have thought we were all non-league cloggers.  He couldn’t have been more wrong in his assessment of  the Bluebirds team, either. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, he asserted, was the one talent that stood out - at the age of 36,

Much as I value the Dutchman’s contribution to the team this season, he looked as classy against Middlesbrough as a sore thumb. OK, he tried hard, put himself about and powered in an off-target header that should have found the Boro net.

But he was outshone by virtually all his teammates - who are part of a squad of cloggers that coincidentally includes an entire team of full internationals!

Yes, this team Phil dismisses as an up-and-under brigade (yes, the minnows that BBC TV pundits Mark Lawrenson, Alan Hanson and Alan Shearer said looked like the Premier League side at the Riverside) actually do have a bit of class in their ranks.

For the record, manager Dave Jones’s 12-man international contingent comprises the crocked Robbie Fowler, fellow England veteran Trevor Sinclair, Scotland caps Kevin McNaughton, Steve Thompson and Gavin Rae, Wales pair Paul Parry and Joe Ledley, Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen McPhail,  Northern Ireland stars Tony Capaldi and Warren Feeney, on-loan Finnish goalkeeper Peter Enckelman and Dutch cap Hasselbaink.

As for no one being interested in the semis, I’ll happily have a wager with Phil that both  are sell-outs, despite his claims that our modest league attendances an Barnsley’s promise a flop at the turnstiles.

Crowds at Ninian Park may only be averaging 13,000 this season - but you watch the old diehards like me come out of the  woodwork! When I was a kid, 45,000 would cram into the ground for decent First Division games - and I have absolutely no doubt the Bluebirds’ 33,000 allocation for the semi will disappear like Sulley Muntari’s penalty did into the United net on Saturday.

There’s a precedent, too -  the promotion play-off final against QPR at the Millennium Stadium five years ago was a complete sellout. And no, Phil, we weren’t playing at home!

The Cardiff giant has been sleeping for nearly 50 years. The old fella has stirred just a couple of times since then - when we won a brief promotion to the old Division One in 1960 and then when we almost reached the Cup Winners’ Cup Final eight years later.

I’ve always said the club has the potential to be as big as most in the Premier League - with the right sort of investment. Cardiff is a capital city with  a population of 300,000 and a catchment area of millions.  There’s no Premier League club within 100 miles of Ninian Park (though Bristol City might alter that next season) and , believe me, the valleys are waiting to explode with football fervour now they actually have something to cheer about.

They’re only interested in rugby, did I hear you say, Phil? Don’t you believe it - the green, green grass of home is as big into football as rugby ever was.

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter because we’re going to win the Grand Slam, too.