2009/10 to 2017/18

Cardiff City spent one of the nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18 in the Premier League and eight in the Championship. Their best finish was 20th, in 2013/14. They didn’t win a major trophy. Over those nine summers they paid £57m in transfer fees and took in £35.5m, a net spend of £21.6m.

Cardiff City spent the early part of the decade knocking on the door. Fifth, fourth and fifth in the Championship meant three play-off campaigns in a row and no promotion. They also reached the 2012 League Cup final, losing to Liverpool on penalties. The breakthrough came in 2012/13: champions, with 87 points.

The Premier League season that followed was short and expensive. Gary Medel, Steven Caulker and Andreas Cornelius cost around £26m between them in summer 2013, and Cardiff still finished bottom. Medel and Caulker were both gone within a year. After four seasons of rebuilding, a second promotion arrived as runners-up in 2017/18.

On 115.football the big Cardiff question is 2013/14. The money was spent last time, just late and on the wrong players. Spend it from 2009 instead, with hindsight, and those three play-off near misses might never happen at all.