After eight months of intensive fundraising, some £40 000 has been collected and pledged – almost halfway to the £85,000 cost of the special statue tribute to Cardiff City legend Fred Keenor.

The official launch – on April 23rd, the 83^rd anniversary of Cardiff’s 1927 FA Cup Final triumph over Arsenal – provided the catalyst for a wide range of fundraising initiatives to be organised during 2010.

There has been fantastic support, in particular from ordinary fans, who have organised events to bring in funds as well as staff at Cardiff City, notably Stadium Manager Wayne Nash and Customer Services & Ticketing Manager, Julian Jenkins.

There have many highlights during 2010. Among them have been:

• More than £9,000 raised at the Ricky Tomlinson evening at the Cardiff Stadium.
• The Stand – Jonny Owen and the lads – recorded I’ll Be There with all royalties going to the statue appeal.
• A football match between rival message boards brought in more than £1,000.
• Dilwar Ali, who runs the Nahin Spice Centre in Caerphilly Road, organised a curry evening and also donated a signed shirt.
• A race night was staged at the Ninian Park pub while two Bluebird fans ran marathons in Toronto and Berlin.
• Fans donated shirts for auction as well as football programmes and books for sale.
• Individual donations have ranged from £10 to £500. Bryn Keenor, who is Fred’s only surviving child gave £100 and the grand-children of former club chairman Sir Herbert Merrett chipped in with £250.
• £1 from every ticket sold for the Deportivo La Coruna game was donated by Cardiff City.
• Bucket collections, miniature statue and pin badge sales have brought in thousands of pounds.
• Tours of Cardiff City Stadium were organised by Phil Halligue, the stadium’s health and safety officer, with all proceeds from ticket sales to appeal.
• Cardiff council has pledged £15,000.

Project manager David Craig, who is also a member of the board of Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust, said: “We are only a small band of volunteers so we do rely on support from fans organising their own fundraisers.

“The backing for the statue appeal has been fantastic and I think everyone now accepts that Fred and the rest of the 1927 team have not received the recognition their achievement deserves.

“This will be a true people’s statue because it is ordinary fans who will have given the bulk of the money – not major organisations like the Welsh Assembly Government and Welsh Rugby Union in the case of the Sir Tasker Watkins statue at the Millennium Stadium.

“We have some major fundraising events planned during 2011 and we hope that work can start creating the statue during the year.”

Miniature statues and pin badges in aid of the appeal can be bought at the Cardiff City Stadium shop or fans can make donations through the following method.

Donations to the appeal fund can be made through the Co-operative Bank:
Account name: –   Fred Keenor Statue Fund or FKSF

Account no    65392368

Sort Code     08-92-99

Cheques made out to the Fred Keenor Statue Fund or FKSF can also be sent c/o CCST to PO Box 4254, Cardiff, CF14 8FD. Please add the words “Fred Keenor Appeal” on the top of the envelope.

LETTER SENT TO:

Mr Derek Andrew, Managing Director, Marston’s Inns & Taverns

Dear Mr Andrew,

SAND MARTIN, CARDIFF

I’m writing to you concerning plans to name the inn being built outside the Cardiff City Stadium, The Sand Martin.

As an organisation representing over 800 members – and potentially 800 customers – of the public house, we believe there are many other names which would be more appropriate.

The inn will sit at the junction of Leckwith Road and Ffordd Fred Keenor, the main road into the stadium, which was recently named by Cardiff council after the captain of the Cardiff City’s 1927 FA Cup winning team.

Ffordd Fred Keenor also leads up to the statue of Fred Keenor, which supporters led by the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust, are busily involved in fundraising. The appeal launched in April 2010 has already raised £40,000 out of the £85,000 needed, including a pledge of £15,000 from Cardiff council. It is also strongly supported by the football club.

We would be grateful if you would consider renaming the inn after Fred Keenor or, alternatively, something much more appropriate to its location outside the Cardiff City Stadium.

Fred Keenor was not only the captain of Cardiff City and Wales but had an outstanding career despite being injured at the Battle of the Somme in World War One. It was feared that his injuries were so bad he would never play again.

We noticed on your website that the company stresses that it is committed to the communities it serves and that they are integral to future success. The website also highlights the importance Marston’s commitment to the preservation of its heritage.

We, too, believe heritage is vitally important and would, therefore, respectfully request that you consider changing the name of the proposed inn outside the Cardiff City Stadium.

If you are in Cardiff in the near future we would be happy to meet you to discuss this matter and also hope given its location that the company would be able to support our statue appeal which has received widespread media coverage both locally and nationally.

Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust

We’ve been contacted by When Saturday Comes football magazine which has asked us to publicise  information which may be of interest to Trust members.

They’ve just published an online photo book about the legend of Robin Friday, who is a cult figure to many Cardiff City fans.

It costs £3 and all the details are available here: http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/6077/38/