A PENARTH-based author has published a book about Cardiff City Football Club's "roller-coaster ride" across Europe on the 50th anniversary of the club's very first European campaign.

Mario Risoli's 'From Tashkent with Love' is described as a tale of courage, heartbreak and glory spanning four decades of the football club’s clashes in the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

The book charts every European fixture for the club, from the thrilling 1 v 0 victory against the mighty Real Madrid at Ninian Park in 1971 to the heartbreak of a last-minute 3 v 2 defeat in the semi-final against FC Hamburg in 1968.

The author of four books – including The Sunday Times best-seller, 'When Pele broke our hearts: Wales and the 1958 World Cup' and 'John Charles, Gentle Giant' – Risoli spent four years writing the 400-page book which BBC journalist Jeremy Bowen has called ‘a great tribute to a glorious time’.

The title is inspired by the epic 8,000-mile journey to Tashkent, a city close to the Afghan and Chinese border, where the Bluebirds faced Torpedo Moscow in the second leg of their 1968 quarter-final. The sides were unable to play in Moscow since the Soviet capital was covered in ice and snow.

From Tashkent With Love is published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the club’s very first European campaign.

The result of interviews with more than 70 players, the book covers 24 Cup Winners’ Cup ties, which saw the Bluebirds face some of the biggest names in continental football including Sporting Lisbon, Real Zaragoza, FC Porto, Dynamo Berlin and Ferencvaros.

"I wanted to tell the story of the club’s roller-coaster ride in Europe," said Risoli.

"On a Saturday they would be playing a side like Millwall in the old Second Division, then the following Wednesday they would be facing Sporting Lisbon in Portugal.

"The book is very much about more than the football so there are lots of observations and anecdotes from players. I really enjoyed recording their memories –from walking around the deserted streets of East Berlin to being followed by Soviet officials in Tbilisi, and being served horrendous food, so bad it was inedible, in Moscow."

He added: "The club achieved some amazing results in the Cup Winners’ Cup, especially in 1968 when they came so close to reaching the final despite being a side languishing in the bottom half of Division Two."

Published by Cardiff-based St David’s Press, the book will be launched at an invitation-only event on Monday, October 27 at Cardiff City Stadium where a host of former players, who starred in the club’s famous European victories, will be in attendance.

From Tashkent With Love: Cardiff City and the Cup Winners’ Cup 1964-1993 is £16.99.