Swansea v Cardiff: Top 5 South Wales derbies, plus head-to-head record

From dramatic comebacks to historic Premier League encounters, the South Wales derby between Cardiff City and Swansea City has served up some memorable matches.

The South Wales derby is famous for many reasons, though perhaps none more so than the fact that it’s an English football rivalry that has very little to do with England at all.

Alongside Wrexham, Newport County and Merthyr Town, Cardiff City and Swansea City play in the English footballing pyramid, as opposed to domestically in Wales.

The rivalry has traditionally played out in the lower reaches of English football as well as in the Welsh Cup, though it gained worldwide attention during the Premier League era thanks to the fierce passion of both fanbases.

As part of his series exploring some of Britain’s fiercest football rivalries, including the Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers and the Second City derby between Aston Villa and Birmingham City, Nick Seddon has gone through the history books to pick out five of the most memorable South Wales derbies.

South Wales derby head-to-head record

Cardiff and Swansea have met 119 times in competitive fixtures, with the Bluebirds holding a narrow advantage of 47 victories to Swansea’s 43. The other 29 encounters have ended in draws.

Their most recent meeting came in January 2025, when Cardiff recorded a 3-0 Championship victory on home soil.

Head-to-head figures include all competitive competitions and are correct ahead of the scheduled meeting on 29 November 2026.

Cardiff City 1-0 Swansea City – Premier League, November 2013

While Cardiff and Swansea had both played in English football’s top flight separately throughout their histories, they had never done so together, leading to a game of several firsts.

Swansea had taken very well to life in the Premier League since their promotion through the play-offs in 2011 and they were joined by their arch-rivals two seasons later, after Cardiff romped to the Championship title.

It meant that this would be a first meeting in the top division between the two and it would also be the first time that Cardiff would wear red jerseys instead of their traditional blue for this fixture, following a radical change by chairman Vincent Tan the previous year.

Having lifted the League Cup the previous season, the visitors were juggling Europa League football for the first time, presenting Cardiff with a fine opportunity to build on a fairly sluggish start to life in the top division.

Malky Mackay was rumoured to be fighting for his job due to disagreements with his chairman, though for all of the potential flashpoints this game rather struggled to get going.

A drab opening hour was blown into life on 62 minutes through Steven Caulker, who headed home Craig Bellamy’s cross to send the Cardiff City Stadium into raptures.

This is a game which makes the list for its occasion rather than its action, though there was enough time for defender Angel Rangel to be forced to don the goalkeeper gloves after Michel Vorm was sent off for the visitors.

There would be no more goals, but Cardiff were able to see out a historic success.

Cardiff City 3-5 Swansea Town – Welsh Cup, February 1966

We have to go an awfully long way back for our next entry, so far in fact that the match took place around three years before Swansea was given city status.

Prior to Welsh clubs playing in the English league system being excluded from the Welsh Cup in 1995, Cardiff and Swansea were powerhouses in the competition, winning the trophy on numerous occasions between them.

Alongside being a piece of silverware, lifting the trophy also granted access to the European Cup Winners’ Cup, ensuring that the competition was taken rather seriously indeed.

Having played out a 2-2 draw in turgid conditions at Swansea’s Vetch Field, the sides reconvened a month later at Cardiff’s Ninian Park for the replay, which is still considered one of the best meetings ever between the pair.

Things didn’t start well for the Swans, who found themselves three goals down thanks to a deflected strike from Gareth Williams and a brace from George Johnston either side of the interval.

However, Don Murray’s dismissal opened the door for a brace from Keith Todd, before Herbie Williams completed a remarkable comeback.

Cardiff missed a huge chance to steal the tie in normal time and struggled with ten men in extra-time, eventually succumbing to strikes from Jimmy McLaughlin and Brian Evans.

Cardiff City 2-3 Swansea City – Championship, April 2023

While this particular season proved to be fairly uneventful on the pitch for both sides, it provided the platform for Swansea to make history for the second season running.

The Swans had sealed the first-ever league double in this fixture the previous season and they arrived in the Welsh capital chasing an emphatic double-double, having won the corresponding game 2-0 back in October.

Cardiff entered this game sitting fourth from bottom and they made the worst possible start to this fixture, falling behind to a Joel Piroe strike after just three minutes.

Swansea were revelling in the prospect of driving their arch-rivals into a relegation scrap and doubled their lead on 33 minutes through Liam Cullen, who headed home from close range.

As they often prove, this game was frenetic and the hosts were back in the game just two minutes later through an excellent solo goal by Jaden Philogene.

The on-loan Aston Villa winger drove at goal after picking up the ball around 25 yards out, skipping a challenge from Nathan Wood and smashing the ball home from the edge of the area.

The Bluebirds struggled to make an impact in the second half but found their equaliser just seven minutes from time through Sory Kaba, who headed home from close range to seemingly seal a much-needed point.

Swansea threw everything at the hosts and they got their reward in the ninth minute of added time – even though only five had been shown on the board – through Ben Cabango, who slammed home from close range to inflict more misery on Cardiff.

Cardiff City 3-0 Swansea City – Championship, January 2025

The 2024/25 Championship campaign isn’t one that will be remembered too fondly by Cardiff City supporters, though they did gain bragging rights over their arch-rivals in emphatic style at the turn of the year.

The Bluebirds entered this game just one point clear of the relegation zone and were sleepwalking into trouble, with several hundred home supporters marching before the game in protest against the ownership of Vincent Tan.

Swansea, meanwhile, were within touching distance of the play-offs and as a result the first half proved to be rather tepid.

Cardiff were struggling for goals, but they took the lead just two minutes into the second half through Callum Robinson, who took down a cross from Ollie Tanner and hammered the ball into the back of the net.

The visitors were rattled and Robinson punished them again four minutes later, latching onto a poor pass from Josh Tymon to slot past Lawrence Vigouroux.

The points were made safe just after the hour mark through Dimitrios Goutas, whose power-packed header sealed Cardiff’s biggest derby victory for just shy of 60 years.

Swansea City 3-2 Cardiff City – Championship, November 2009

Having spent the majority of their respective histories in the lower reaches of the EFL, it’s rather fitting that both sides started to propel themselves towards a first campaign in the Premier League at similar times, producing this bona fide classic in the second tier.

This derby was just the fourth in the league between the pair this century, with the Swans having been promoted from the third tier the season before.

Both sides sat in good positions coming into the game, with Cardiff third and Swansea just outside of the play-off places.

Swansea hadn’t beaten their rivals in a league setting for around 11 years, but they fired into life through goals from Nathan Dyer and Darren Pratley, who scored within seven minutes of each other to race into a two-goal lead on 16 minutes.

The Bluebirds weren’t deterred, however, and responded with similar speed, striking twice in 138 seconds to draw level.

Future one-cap England international Jay Bothroyd reduced the arrears with a superb chest-and-finish move on 32 minutes, before Mark Hudson popped up to head home just two and a half minutes later and round off a frenetic first half.

Ross McCormack thought he’d given Cardiff the lead just before the hour mark when crashing his free-kick onto the bar and he was made to rue that chance just a minute later, when Pratley popped up once again to restore Swansea’s lead.

The visitors tried in vain to respond, but Paulo Sousa’s men held on to grab some priceless bragging rights.

Five famous South Wales derbies at a glance

When is the next South Wales derby?

Swansea City and Cardiff City are scheduled to meet at the Swansea.com Stadium on Sunday 29 November 2026.

It will be their first competitive meeting since Cardiff’s 3-0 victory in January 2025, adding another chapter to one of Welsh football’s fiercest rivalries.

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