What Joe Ralls has said as Cardiff City departure confirmed - supporters will have mixed feelings | OneFootball

The Bluebirds captain's exit has been confirmed after 15 years with the club

Cardiff City captain Joe Ralls has issued a farewell message to Bluebirds supporters as his 15-year affiliation with the club has come to an end.

The 31-year-old made the first of his 409 appearances for the South Wales outfit back in August 2011, and has since gone on to become a modern-day legend at the Cardiff City Stadium during a period of extremely mixed fortunes, with the club suffering relegation to League One for the first time in a generation at the end of last season.

Brian Barry-Murphy was appointed as the club's latest head coach on Monday and immediately spoke about the possibilities of retaining the midfielder alongside Andy Rinomhota ahead of the duo's contract expiry date of June 30th. However, Ralls has opted to leave the club and will go in search of a fresh venture, but he has issued an extremely passionate message to the supporters.

Joe Ralls issues farewell message as Cardiff City departure confirmed

Amid speculation regarding the Aldershot-born man's immediate future, it was confirmed by the club at Midday on Saturday that the stalwart would be departing the club in the coming weeks, with Ralls issuing thanks to all associated with the club, as well as receiving messages from Vincent Tan, Mehmet Dalman and Ken Choo.

Posted on his X account, Ralls issued a lengthy-worded 'thank you' statement alongside the caption of "To all bluebirds out there.. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

The statement began: "It's incredibly hard to find the words after 15 years here Bluebirds, but the time has come for me to move on and for the club to go in a new direction.

"I would never have dreamt when I arrived in the capital city of Wales all those years ago that I would've been here this long and gone on to achieve what we have together," Ralls added.

The former England youth international then described being made club captain ahead of the 2022/23 season and wearing the armband for the past three Championship seasons as "the proudest moment of my career."

Amid talks with Barry-Murphy in the days which followed the former Leicester City assistant's appointment at the CCS, Ralls also heaped praise on the club's latest man in the hotseat for the way in which his departure has been handled in such a short period of time.

"I'd like to thank our new head coach, Brian Barry-Murphy, for being completely honest with me," Ralls continued. "That's all I can ask for as a player and after our conversation I'm really excited about the future of this football club and wish him and his team the best for the upcoming season."

At the conclusion of his statement, the captain also issued one final message to the Bluebirds faithful, in which he outlined his hopes of eventually seeing the club return to its former glory, having been a part of two promotion-winning sides, as many seasons in the Premier League as well as a run to the EFL Cup final in 2011/12.

"Finally... there are no words that can explain how grateful I am to every single fan that has supported me over the years," he stated.

"Through the good times and the bad, you've always been there for me and I can't thank you enough. You are the heartbeat of this football club.

"When the whole club pulls in the right direction, it's a monumental power. I've seen it at its best and I can't wait for the day we're back to that place," Ralls concluded.

Unsurprisingly, such a statement and the reaction from Cardiff supporters prove how highly thought of Ralls is among the fanbase, but there is also a tinge of disappointment that his time at the club has reached its conclusion.

Some believe that he should have been given a send-off in a better manner than an initial club statement and a subsequent outpouring of love from all connected with the club and former teammates on social media, whilst it has also been claimed that retaining his services in League One would have been extremely beneficial.

It has also been reported by WalesOnline that Rinomhota is likely to depart the club amid the aforementioned fresh developments, meaning that sourcing two high-quality midfield replacements will already be on Barry-Murphy's agenda as the 46-year-old looks to mount an immediate promotion bid, with Cardiff one of the immediate favourites to be challenging at the top end of the table.