Darren Purse On Cardiff City And Playing Across All Levels Of English Football | OneFootball

You captained Cardiff as a player and got to an FA Cup final with the club as well. What does the club mean to you?

“I probably had my happiest time in football at Cardiff. I played there from 28 to 32. From a playing point of view, and off the field as well, family-wise, it was a good period of my career. I would not say I played my best football, but I probably understood myself as a player.

“As a football club, it is just a brilliant club. The fans are amazing. No matter where they go across the country, they will take two or three thousand with them. Everywhere, there are brilliant fans. It is a club that, if you had seen where it was when I first signed and where it is now, has really evolved over the years. It does mean a lot to me.

Before Cardiff, you had a successful spell with Birmingham. During your time at St Andrews, you got to the Premier League with the club and played under Steve Bruce. How was that experience for you?

“Yeah, it was amazing. I spent eight, nearly nine years at Birmingham. It was the club where I made my name as a player.

“I started at Orient, then went to Oxford, but at Birmingham, I was lucky enough to play for England under-21, got to the playoffs four years in a row, and managed to get into the Premier League. I played in the Premier League for four years.

“So, from that point of view, it was a brilliant place for me to achieve the goals I set out at the beginning of my career, and Birmingham gave me that opportunity. So, I really enjoyed that part of my life.”

At Birmingham, you reached the League Cup final of 2001. You played against a Liverpool team with Carragher, Gerrard, Hyypiä, Heskey, and Fowler—Michael Owen was even on the bench. You scored both in normal time and in the penalty shootout, but unfortunately, it wasn’t Birmingham’s day.  What are your memories of that game?

“Yeah, the overriding memory from that game is actually feeling robbed. I thought we deserved to win the game. We were in the Championship back then, and Liverpool were in the Premier League and flying high. Some of the names you mentioned were pivotal in what Liverpool achieved, but we deserved to win the game in normal time and extra time. I was lucky enough to do what every young boy dreams of, scoring in a cup final. So, from that point of view, I achieved a dream.

“But in extra time, I should have had another penalty when Andrew Johnson was brought down in the box. It should have been a penalty. So, it is bittersweet really because we performed brilliantly and deserved to win, but we lost on penalties, which is probably the toughest way to lose a match. It sticks in my throat because if we’d won that game, it would have made my career even better.

“Yeah, it does give you goosebumps when you look back at the drama. From my point of view, it was tough. I was club captain, but I did not really play in the last dozen games of the season. Bryan came in, and I played the first few games under him, but for one reason or another, he did not see me as the right person for him, so he left me out.

“It was a great achievement to stay up and become the first club to be bottom at Christmas and stay up. But as I said, it was tough for me personally because I didn’t play the last few games, and I ended up leaving in the summer.

“As much as it was a wrench to leave West Brom in the Premier League, moving to Cardiff was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. The dressing room we had at Cardiff was fantastic, with really experienced lads like Geoff Horsfield, Kevin Campbell, and Ricky Scimeca. We probably deserved to stay up with the way we approached things in the second half of the season, but it was tough for me because I did not play much in those last games.”

You have played in non-league football, League Two, League One, the Championship, and of course the Premier League. What’s the difference as you gradually move up from level to level in your opinion?

“The major difference for me is that if you make a mistake, you get punished for it. The higher up you go, the more ruthless it becomes. In the Championship, you can make one or two mistakes and get away with it, but in the Premier League, you can’t. The lower down you go, the more mistakes you can make without being punished. That defines defenders and goalkeepers—at the highest level, the best players make fewer mistakes.

“People talk about the pace and energy of the Premier League, but the players nowadays are athletes. They are fit, no body fat, and the sports science that goes into their regimes is unbelievable compared to 20 years ago. So, that is the main difference—the higher up you go, the fewer mistakes you can afford to make.”

I have to ask you about Aaron Ramsey. You were a teammate of his when he was coming through at Cardiff. What did you make of him back then, and what do you think about the career he has had since?

”Yeah, Rambo had a mindset and an ability that I had not seen at 16 years of age. I played in a reserve game with him when I was coming back from injury. I remember Paul Wilkinson, the reserve manager, saying to me before the game, “Pursey, have a look at this kid.”

“He was 16 years old, had taken the day off school to play, and he absolutely ran the show. We played Swindon or Bristol Rovers reserves, and he put the icing on the cake with about 10 minutes left by scoring from 25 yards into the top corner. He was a talent from a young age, but what stood out for me was that when he stepped up to the first team, he always looked like he belonged there.

“Every training session, he wanted to be the best player, to prove how good he was. That is what gave him the career he has had. He had the ability, yes, but he also wanted to go out every day and prove it.”

At Cardiff, you also played alongside the likes of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Trevor Sinclair, and Robbie Fowler. What was it like having players of their calibre in the squad?

“They just came in and fitted into what Cardiff were trying to do at that time. Dave Jones, the manager, managed them really well. They were all good characters and bought into what the club was trying to achieve.

“There were no airs and graces about them—they did their work, and that is why they had the careers they did. They were brilliant professionals and excellent role models for younger players like Aaron Ramsey and Chris Gunter, showing them what it took to succeed at the top level.”

Lastly, you have worked in recruitment, coaching, and now within the youth set-up at Cardiff. Do you have ambitions to be a first-team manager one day?

“Yes, I want to be a manager. I have captained most of the clubs I have played for, and that leadership naturally transitioned into coaching. But right now, I don’t feel I am ready to step into management at the first-team level.

“At the moment, I am gaining experience, learning, and making mistakes with the under-23s. It is almost like going back to my apprenticeship days. You can make mistakes in this role that you cannot afford to make in first-team management. But I would love to be a manager one day, and I hope to get there when the time is right.”