Cardiff connections No.5
As we build-up to Sunday's Carling Cup final at Wembley we conclude our countdown of five great Cardiff connections. Today it's the return of a Kop idol and Nabil El Zhar's finest moment in a red shirt.
The 47-year gap between Cardiff thumping Liverpool on Bill Shankly's first game in charge and the Welsh club's return to Anfield in 2007 was a record for the Bluebirds.
It was the longest amount of time between playing against one particular professional team in City's history.
The return to Anfield, after almost half a century, was also marked as a special occasion for Reds' fans as they welcomed back a 'God'.
Robbie Fowler departed for Leeds United in 2001 and went on to feature for Manchester City before making the switch back to Anfield under Rafael Benitez in 2006.
Fowler transferred to Cardiff on July 21, 2007; however, by the October 31 that year, he was back on the same Anfield turf where he made his name as one of the most natural, prolific and feared strikers in Premier league history.
Only he was wearing the blue and yellow of tomorrow's opponents.
Nabil El Zhar gave Liverpool the lead in the FA Cup fourth-round tie with a long-range effort on 48 minutes. Cardiff captain Darren Purse equalised, heading home Paul Parry's free-kick.
But within a minute Liverpool were ahead again as Yossi Benayoun raced clear on the left and laid the ball into Gerrard's path who fired home.
Five years on, the two clubs will meet again for the first time, beneath the famous Wembley arch on Sunday.
Fowler wasn't the first famous Liverpool forward to have worn the Cardiff colours. Some 27 years earlier the mighty John Toshack swapped the streets of his hometown and his role as a lethal Cardiff City striker, to join Bill Shankly's Liverpool.
Toshack, now manager of the Macedonian national side, played for three teams throughout a 19-year career but he is best known for the formidable partnership that he struck with 'Might Mouse' Kevin Keegan during his time at Anfield. Toshack would rise and Keegan would know exactly where the ball was going to land.