Cardiff City’s Championship clash at home to Leeds United will spearhead the opening weekend of matches to be shown live on TV when the campaign resumes next week. The Bluebirds’ fixture against the leaders will be screened live on Sky Sports on Sunday June 21 at 12.00 as the season starts again behind closed doors. Swansea City’s first match since the season was halted in March will be the day before Cardiff’s – a match not televised live at Middlesbrough on Saturday June 20 at 3.00pm.

Former Cardiff City striker Gary Stevens has announced he is stepping down as manager of English non-league club Wellington after three seasons in charge. The 65-year-old former boss at Knighton Town, who insists he is not yet ready to walk away from football, was a crowd-favourite at Cardiff as Terry Phillips recalls. Gary Stevens, the Bluebirds’ very own ‘Basil Fawlty’, worked as a chicken factory worker when Cardiff City manager Richie Morgan signed the striker from non-League Evesham in 1978. Stevens was tall, dark-haired and had a moustache. He was quickly nicknamed ‘Basil’ by supporters after the John Cleese character in the hit TV comedy, Fawlty Towers.

Elite sport is slowly returning. Some, like professional football, are preparing to resume competition, but for most it’s about small steps to resume training. But while some sports get on to their starting blocks, others are still waiting outside the stadium – and there is also a difference between Wales and England, as Sport Wales CEO Brian Davies tells Graham Thomas. Sport Wales acting chief executive Brian Davies insists the country’s top athletes will not get left behind their rivals in the race to be ready again for major competitions. Welsh elite athletes in all sports are still waiting for a green light to resume training as some of the lockdown restrictions start to ease across other parts of the UK.

Cardiff City and Swansea City may be preparing for a June 20 return to action, but some of their Championship rivals have cast doubt on the idea with scathing criticism of the EFL. Barnsley, QPR and Luton are leading the critical voices, claiming the resumption has been poorly planned, badly communicated and rushed through. Barnsley have written to the EFL to sound the alarm over the “potential failure of their enterprise” they get ready to play for the first time since mid-March.

Dean Saunders was good enough for Wales, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Galatasaray. But 35 years ago this week, the striker who eventually scored 255 club career goals was dumped by Cardiff City after just four matches. Terry Phillips counts the cost of a missed opportunity. Dean Saunders failed to impress with Cardiff City under Alan Durban and left the Bluebirds after only four appearances. The Swansea-born hitman was on his way out at his home town club at the age of just 20. It was 1985 and Cardiff manager Durban could have had signed the striker for a very small fee.

Former Cardiff City midfielder Don Cowie has done his bit for NHS workers in Scotland after challenging his Ross County teammates to a keepie-uppie competition. County co-manager Steven Ferguson and sporting director Scott Boyd posted videos of their own skills – and Cowie took up the challenge. He posted his own video and then tweeted: “I now challenge all my team-mates.

Cardiff City and Swansea City are waiting to hear how the plan for football to return in England can be made to work in Wales. Both Welsh clubs are seeking advice over whether the different regulations either side of the border might affect their ability to resume squad training. Premier League and Championship clubs are hoping to resume training sessions within days after rules and advice governing the workplace were re-shaped by the UK government.

Alex Smithies has gone 10 weeks without conceding a goal but these are still testing times for goalkeepers – locked down with nothing to keep at bay except their own frustrations – as the Cardiff City keeper told Graham Thomas. Like all goalkeepers, Cardiff City’s Alex Smithies is used to a certain amount of isolation. But the club’s last line of defence admits that the current lockdown is testing even his ability to be self-reliant and self-sustaining.

Cardiff City and Swansea City could be part of a legal fight against the Premier League if the Championship clubs are denied promotion. English Football League chairman Rick Parry made the warning as plans continue for a return to action for the top flight – but with no agreement yet on whether any clubs would be under threat of relegation. Parry had been called to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on sport and he highlighted the particular difficulties facing the 71 clubs in his competition.

Tony Mowbray – manager of Blackburn Rovers, the club sandwiched between Cardiff City and Swansea City in the frozen Championship table – has revealed his doubts over the campaign re-starting. Blackburn sat three points outside of the play-off places at the time of the suspension of the season, with Cardiff one point and one place above them. After the halt to the promotion race arrived seven weeks ago, Swansea were left on the same points as Blackburn and only below Rovers on goal difference.

Former Swansea City manager Graham Potter has warned that football without fans is going to be a “sterile” experience where home advantage counts for nothing. Potter – who left the Swans 11 months ago to take charge of Premier League Brighton – has admitted he has a number of doubts surrounding vague plans for football’s return. Premier League clubs are meeting next week and the focus will be on how they can restart the season, having been suspended since mid-March due to Covid-19.

Cardiff City players have voluntarily agreed to take partial pay deferrals for three months. The club say the agreement will help “maintain financial stability” during the “unprecedented time of global economic concern”. It says it has taken the step in order to support the club and protect the livelihood of its non-playing personnel.