The South Wales derby is a local derby between Welsh association football clubs Cardiff City and Swansea City, it has been described as one of the fiercest rivalries in British football. Transfers between the two sides are relatively rare, researching this I was actually second to last players to move directly across the South Wales divide, but the last player was Warren Feeney.
His loan spell in 2007 was a few months after me and he actually played for both in the same season, before that the last player to permanently transfer was Dave Penney who moved from Swansea to Cardiff in 1997.
The clubs have played each other more than 110 times in all competitions, having begun as a friendly rivalry, the relationship between the two sides deteriorated after the 1960s which led to several high profile, violent clashes between supporters that gained the fixture a reputation as one of Britain’s fiercest rivalries.
So to my surprise, while at Cardiff I received a phone call from the then Swansea manager Kenny Jacket, asking if I would join them to cover an injured first choice goalkeeper as he recovered from injury. I had dropped down the pecking order with the Bluebirds so it felt like a non-brainer, as a 19-year-old, I knew nothing of the rivalry or if I would receive any backlash.
I knew my role well enough, that was to try and enhance my reputation as a promising young goalkeeper, while exploring other options as my contract at Cardiff was a few months away from ending.
I didn’t have many other options at this point, however after to speaking to Jackett, he explained that he knew me well from his time as a coach at Watford and that I had regularly played against his teams while I was at Arsenal who trained next door to each other.
That call happened on a Friday around 9.45AM and by 11AM I was out on the training pitch with Swansea, these things happen so quickly, without hesitation, as a young keeper at the time it was important to gain more experience and take every opportunity.
I went straight into the squad for the game against Nottingham Forest the following day.
I look back at this, it was a whirlwind that was very much out of my control, but it gave me a new lease of life, I had played one game for Cardiff and made a mistake in that game, proving that football is so ruthless, and it has no time to wait for players to improve or gain confidence. It is a result-based business, and that one mistake ended my Cardiff career.
However, the loan refreshed me, I loved every minute of training and being around the first-team environment again.
As my loan came to an end, I had discussions with Jackett about staying at Swansea once the season would finish, something that would have made my loan completely worthwhile. But football is a strange game, and Jackett left the club a few weeks later by mutual consent.
As for the fan abuse or backlash, there was none.
My fight and enjoyment had come back, I looked forward to my next opportunity again, and wanted to try now more than ever to establish myself in a first team.