The ‘forgotten’ record with Beckenbauer and

HE BROKE a goal-scoring record held by George Best, played alongside world-class stars such as Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer, attracted the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson and, for nearly 20 years, was Cardiff City’s most expensive player ever.

But only the most experienced Ninian Park die-hards would be likely to have any memories of Godfrey Ingram.

Once rated among the brightest talents in English football, the striker arrived with a club record £200,000 price tag in the autumn of 1982 – a record he would keep until Danny Gabbidon’s signing 18 years later.

Having made his name with his beloved Luton Town, Ingram arrived in South Wales on the back of a hugely successful spell in the US with the San Jose Earthquakes – uncharted territory for an English player with arguably their best years ahead of them.

But if Ingram’s spell in the North American Soccer League – the predecessor of the MLS – had come as a surprise to football fans, then the massive fee that took him to South Wales was a real shock.

After all, this was an age where the very best players in the world could be bought for less than £500,000.

For the ambitious Bluebirds, signing Ingram was designed as a statement of intent.

But the player himself had his own reasons for wanting the move.

“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 actually only had a few months to live. So it was an opportunity to be close to her,” he recalls.

“We lived in Dunstable, just outside of Luton, and Cardiff were fantastic about the whole thing.

“They enabled me to train with Luton Town on the Monday and Tuesday during the week and then travel back to Cardiff on the Wednesday.

“We’d go through a practice game on the Thursday, then light training on Friday.

“Then obviously we’d have game on the Saturday.

“They really treated me well and realised the situation and treated me magnificently.”

Despite arriving in difficult circumstances, Ingram has a huge degree of fondness for his time in Cardiff. His memories of an intimidating Ninian Park are among the most enduring – a ground where he first appeared on September 25, 1982, coming on as sub in a 2-0 win over Sheffield United.

The ferocity of Cardiff ’s former home petrified its fair share of professionals over the years, but Ingram says he took it in his stride, seeing it now as among the most positive memories of his time in the Welsh capital.

“It was absolutely awesome to play there,” he says. “I remember there being such a great atmosphere. our

“I just remember having some really good games, particularly with the Bennett brothers [defender Gary, and midfielder Dave], who I got on really well with at the time, and I just really enjoyed it.

“I had a little B&B up in Penarth and I still remember the bridge that had ‘You need Brains’ on it.

“It was just such a fun time. The people and the city really took to me and I really felt at home.”

After several more substitute appearances Ingram finally forced his way into the starting line-up, where he would stay for six games.

His first goal for the club came in a 1-0 win over a Gillingham side containing the likes of Steve Bruce and Tony Cascarino, while another strike followed in a 3-1 win over Preston North End.

But just as things started to be settling down for Ingram in South Wales, his Ninian Park days were brought to a juddering halt.

The victory over Preston would prove to be his last league game in a Cardiff shirt, and just a few days after an FA Cup first-round replay win over Wokingham Town, he was walking out of the club for the last time.

City had agreed a deal with San Jose to take Ingram back to the States for roughly the same price Cardiff had paid for his services in the first place.

Confused fans labelled the whole process a glorified loan move. Three decades later, the player himself is still in the dark over what actually happened.

Ingram is now retired and living in California, but he still has very fond memories of his brief time at Cardiff City

“Even to this day I don’t know if it was a loan or a transfer,” he says.

“I was expecting to stay there for the duration. For me, everything I knew about it suggested it was a transfer.

“It was only later when I’d played maybe five or six games when I was told about it.

“I was a little bit disappointed not to stay a little longer. I don’t think Cardiff ever really saw the very best of me.

“It would’ve been great to stay, but my destiny was clearly back with San Jose.”

Indeed, Ingram enjoyed plenty of success in the States, particularly with the Earthquakes.

In his first season the striker netted an impressive 15 goals in 31 games, beating a club record previously held by Manchester United legend George Best, briefly a team-mate.

Scoring goals was a common theme throughout Ingram’s time in America, with the striker finding the net consistently from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas during a 10-year stint across the Atlantic.

And yet it could all have been so different.

Long before he could even locate San Jose on a map (he initially believed he was heading out to Costa Rica when he first learned of the Earthquakes’ interest), the up-and-coming Ingram came within a whisker of working under one of English football’s greatest-ever managers.

“Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sign me at Aberdeen a year or two before I moved to Cardiff, and David Pleat, who was manager at Luton at the time, was asking for £120,000.

“Fergie flew me up to Aberdeen. I was only about 19 or so. He said he was very impressed with me, but he just felt the fee Luton were asking for was just a little bit too much at the time.

“Then I saw reports that Chelsea were about to make a bid for me, so I fully expected to go there.

“But I ended up going to San Jose because they must have outbid them or done something with Pleaty to get me out there.”

With hindsight, Ingram could easily have seen this fateful decision as the moment his career missed out on the big time. But he has never seen his move to the US as a step down.

While still on the books at Luton, Ingram had already experienced a brief taste of life Stateside, enjoying a fleeting stay with the world-famous New York Cosmos three years before eventually leaving the Hatters.

His experience in the Big Apple was even shorter than his stay in Cardiff, but the memories are clearly just as strong.

Then again, playing with the finest players in history probably made it all a little more memorable.

“When I first joined the Cosmos we had 60,000 every game and that was unbelievable,” he explains.

“It was crazy. One year I was watching the 1970 World Cup and then a few years later I’m alongside Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto.

“It was incredible, and I felt that over time my game really improved just by being around those kind of players.

“The day after I first arrived at the Cosmos we played the Argentina team, which included a certain Diego Maradona, who had just won the World Cup in 1978.