Doing the 92 is Daniel Storey’s odyssey to every English football league club in a single season. The best way to follow his journey is by subscribing here It is 11am on a Sunday morning and coaches are lined up in the car park of the Cardiff City Stadium. Most of them have tinted windows, because there’s no benefit to letting anyone see the gestures those seated inside may be making in two hours’ time.
Supporters are beginning to gather in bunches. The atmosphere is like a school playground on exam results day, all nervous laughter and helplessness. Nearby, McDonalds and Greggs have done an unusually roaring trade.
An enterprising salesman has scarves draped over his shoulder with two messages: “We are your capital. You Jack bastards.” A child holds one proudly aloft while his dad takes a photo.
A hundred yards away, a teenager has been sick. Let’s generously put it down to the tension. Over the next 45 minutes, cars arrive, park up and the coaches are filled.
Police vans and motorcycles move to the front and rear of the convoy. A chant goes up for Michael Chopra, who scored the winner for Cardiff against Swansea in 2010. It soon becomes clear why his name is being sung: Chopra has taken his place on one of the coaches.
The occasion is the 11th South Wales derby in five years, the longest sustained run of this fixture since the 1980s. It is famous as the only “bubble match” in British football, where away fans can only travel (barring the odd prearranged exce.