Like most clubs, Cardiff City have had their share of strange transfer deals over the years – the ones that leave fans scratching their heads. Terry Phillips remembers a record transfer from 38 years ago that even now takes some unravelling.
Godfrey Ingram’s move from North America to South Wales during 1982 proved to be one of the oddest transfers in Cardiff City’s history.
The former Luton Town forward was reported to have joined Cardiff City from San Jose Earthquakes for a club record £180,000 fee.
Now we know the inside story. The Bluebirds only handed over an initial down payment for the talented Ingram – and that was repaid when Ingram returned to North America.
He was 22-years-old, a former England schools and youth international and had started his playing career at his home town club, Luton, before joining Earthquakes.
He scored 17 goals in 31 North American Soccer League appearances and was voted San Jose’s player of the year.
Cardiff agreed a fee of £180,000 for Ingram and the money was to be paid in instalments with an initial deposit of £20,000.
Club chairman Bob Grogan, whose company Kenton Utilities owned the Bluebirds, paid the up-front money and the deal was done.
Just over two months later, though, Ingram rejoined Earthquakes, reportedly for exactly the same £180,000 fee.
Was it a loan signing? A permanent move? What happened?
Ingram, certainly, doesn’t know, saying: “Even to this day, I don’t know if it was a loan or a transfer.
“I was expecting to stay in Cardiff for the duration.
“Everything I knew about it suggested it was a transfer. I was disappointed not to stay a little longer.
“Cardiff did not see the very best of me. It would’ve been great to stay, but my destiny was clearly back with San Jose.”
The inside story is that it was a full transfer to be paid in bits and pieces, but San Jose approached Cardiff and said they were keen to re-sign Ingram.
Bluebirds’ managing director Ron Jones said at the time: “The position is that while Ingram is happy with us, he has expressed concern about personal issues which he felt could be solved by returning to America.”
When Ingram left Wales, San Jose repaid the £20,000 deposit to Grogan and City were quick to sign experienced Bob Hatton from Sheffield United as his replacement.
Former Bluebirds and Hatters player Ingram was, and still is, a colourful character. He played alongside George Best for San Jose, Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer at New York Cosmos.
“When I first joined Cosmos we had 60,000 every game and that was unbelievable,” he said.
“The day after I first arrived at the Cosmos we played Argentina, who included Diego Maradona, who had just won the World Cup in 1978.
“They told the kit man to put my name over whichever shirt he could. The shirt he found had Cruyff on the back! Those were the days.”
Sir Alex Ferguson was Aberdeen manager when he tried to sign Ingram.
“It was a couple of years before I moved to Cardiff, and David Pleat, who was manager at Luton at the time, was asking for £120,000,” said Ingram.
“Fergie flew me up to Aberdeen. I was only about 19 or so. He said he was impressed with me, but felt the fee Luton were asking for was too much.”
Ingram had personal reasons for joining Cardiff – because it meant he could spend time with his mother.
“Not many people realise that one of the main reasons for me moving from San Jose to Cardiff was because my mother was very ill and only had a few months to live,” he said. “It was an opportunity to be close to her.
“The family home was in Dunstable and Cardiff were fantastic about the whole thing. They allowed me to train with Luton on Monday and Tuesday during the week and then travel back to Cardiff on Wednesday.
“We’d go through a practice game on the Thursday, light training on Friday and then the game on Saturday.
“City really treated me well, realised the situation and treated me magnificently.”
He scored two goals in 11 League appearances for City and scored a third for the Bluebirds in his final match – a 3-0 FA Cup win against Wokingham on November 22, 1982.
Ingram’s debut had come in a 2-0 win against Sheffield United at Ninian Park in September and he says: “It was absolutely awesome to play at Ninian. There was such a great atmosphere.
“I enjoyed linking up with players like the Bennett brothers (Gary, Dave), who I got on really well with.
”I stayed at a little bed and breakfast place in Penarth and still remember the bridge that had a sign saying ‘You need Brains’ on it.
“It was such a fun time. The people and the city really took to me.”
Ingram came through the youth ranks at Luton Town and scored six goals in 27 League appearances between 1977 and 1982.
He played for San Jose and then Cardiff before returning to the USA.
The prolific goalscorer, who netted more than 300 times during his career, eventually settled in America, playing for San Jose, Minnesota, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, St Louis and Dallas during a 10-year stay.
Ingram is a qualified helicopter pilot who says: “When you’ve played in front of 28,000 at Ninian Park, flying a helicopter is no problem.”
Ingram is retired now, spending his time between America, the Bahamas and Jamaica.
He watched Cardiff City’s opening Championship home fixture of the 2019-20 season, a 2-1 win against former club Luton, when Aden Flint (52 mins) and Isaac Vassell (90 mins) scored for the Bluebirds in front of almost 25,000 spectators.