CSKA Opening League Fixture Confirmed

CSKA Sophia Gardens will play Cardiff Central in their opening league game of the 2021/22 Cardiff Combination League Stage 1 Group B campaign.

The game is set to be played on Tuesday 24th August at 6:30pm at Pontcanna Fields. It's now been over 18 months since CSKA last played a competitive fixture and this will be their first competitive game in the Saturday league.

Pre-season preparations have been a disaster for CSKA. A combination of poor player availability, injuries, and registration issues means the club has moved heaven and earth to ensure they have enough fit players available for this first league game of the season.

A frantic scramble to register a keeper before the game has ensued with Alex Skinner, Paul Jarvis, and Dan Clayton all ruled out with injuries. There is hope that a former keeper for the club can be signed on in time but the issue remains up in the air and in the hands of the FAW.

CSKA Manager Steve Day said "It's been a crazy pre-season. I've never known anything like in the years I've managed this club. As rules have relaxed with covid-19, people have been having to attend family and friend occasions that have been postponed for the past year or so. Players have also struggled with the return to physical activity after being locked down for so long. You have to say it's been a perfect storm. Throw into that the registration issues we've had to tackle with our English-born players being classed as "international players" needing to be registered through the FIFA TMS (transfer matching system) as opposed to the standard FAW Comet system even though they have played for us on a Sunday for 4-5 years and it's been a stressful time for all concerned.

"Still, we embrace every challenge and the reason we have such a large squad this season is to combat problems like this. Despite the ineligible players for Tuesday's game all being quality players we still have a group of players we are delighted we can field.

He added "The opening game is going to be a tough one. Cardiff Central will offer an experienced and physical challenge with players that have the ability to punish us if we're not at our best. I have faith in our lads though. We see this first campaign in this league as a freebie and we possess a lot of talent throughout this squad. We're just buzzing to be back playing competitive football and heading back to the Halfway pub afterwards for a pint or two!"

The 2021/22 Cardiff Combination League season is a unique one with the league structure underdoing revolutionary changes. The Premiership will have 8 teams competing in a normal league ladder with teams playing each other twice.

Division 1 and 2 have been combined into three groups of 6 teams who will play each other twice before being split into Division 1, 2, and 3 based on their final position within the first stage group phase.