Last updated 8 September 2026. Fixtures and records re-verified.
There are bigger derbies by television audience. There are none bigger by feeling. Cardiff City against Swansea City has been contested since 1912, and for 90 minutes twice a season, the M4 corridor holds its breath.
This page keeps the record straight: the head-to-head, the history, and when the next one is.
When is the next derby?
Both clubs are back in the Championship together, so the fixture returns twice in 2026-27:
| Date | Fixture | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 29 November 2026, 12:00 | Swansea City v Cardiff City | Swansea.com Stadium |
| Weekend of 13/14 March 2027 | Cardiff City v Swansea City | Cardiff City Stadium |
And with Wrexham in the Championship too, this is the first season in memory with 3 Welsh clubs at that level, meaning Welsh derbies all over the calendar.
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The all-time record
| Played | Cardiff wins | Swansea wins | Draws | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All competitions | 119 | 47 | 43 | 29 |
| League only | 68 | 22 | 28 | 18 |
Cardiff lead overall, largely on the back of Welsh Cup dominance. In the league, it’s Swansea’s record, and the Swans also own the fixture’s most painful modern bragging right: the first league double in the derby’s history, in 2021-22.
Derby history in 5 facts
- First meeting: 7 September 1912, a 1-1 draw, and Swansea’s first competitive fixture of any kind
- Biggest wins: Cardiff 5-0 (April 1965); Swansea 5-1 (Christmas Eve 1949)
- Record crowd: 57,510, at Ninian Park on 27 August 1949, Cardiff winning 1-0
- First top-flight derby: November 2013, Cardiff winning 1-0 in the Premier League
- Most recent meeting: Cardiff 3-0 Swansea, 18 January 2025 at Cardiff City Stadium
Where it started
The first meeting, on 7 September 1912, was Swansea’s first competitive fixture of any kind. They drew 1-1 with Cardiff, which is a fair summary of the next century.
The peak of the fixture as a mass event came just after the war. On 27 August 1949, 57,510 packed into Ninian Park for a Second Division match, and Cardiff won 1-0. That remains the record crowd, and it belongs to an era when both clubs drew from cities with far more people going to football and far fewer other things to do on a Saturday.
It took until November 2013 for the fixture to reach the top flight, when Cardiff won 1-0 in the Premier League. Both clubs have since come back down, which is what makes 2026-27 feel familiar: two Championship sides, one fixture that neither treats as a Championship game.
Why the record is split
The all-time table and the league table tell two different stories, and both sets of fans quote the one that suits.
Cardiff lead across all competitions, and that margin is built largely on Welsh Cup meetings from an era when the competition mattered. Strip those out and look only at league football, where the clubs have met 68 times, and Swansea are in front.
So there is no settled answer, which is precisely the point. Swansea do hold the sharpest modern bragging right though: the first league double in the fixture’s history, in 2021-22.
A three-Welsh-club Championship
2026-27 is unusual. Cardiff and Swansea are in the Championship together, and Wrexham are there too, which is the first season in living memory with three Welsh clubs at that level.
It changes the shape of the season. The South Wales derby is still the one that carries the history, but it is no longer the only Welsh league fixture on the calendar, and the north-south meetings bring their own edge.
What the fixture actually does to form
League position is a poor guide here. The derby has a long habit of ignoring the table, and the 2025 meeting is a fair example: Cardiff, in trouble near the bottom, beat Swansea 3-0.
The other thing to expect is cards. Referees arrive knowing what the fixture is, tackles go in that would not go in elsewhere, and the discipline markets price accordingly.
Betting on the derby
Derby form is its own thing: league positions have a habit of mattering less than the occasion, and cards markets earn their keep in this fixture. DragonBet prices the derby from the day the fixtures land, match odds through to player markets, on our football odds page.
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More from the rivalry: derby-day faces on, and everything in our Big Welsh 4 section.
Sources: South Wales derby historical records; EFL 2026-27 fixture list and current scheduling. The November 2026 fixture was moved from Saturday 28th to Sunday 29th for television. Correct as of 8 September 2026.
