Five Cardiff City fans have joined the Trust’s board.
They are Rob Jeffery, John Sithers, Kieran Jones, Jeff Mansfield and David Collins.
They bring the board’s strength to nine.
The other members of the Trust board are Keith Morgan (chair), David Craig (vice-chair), Jon Day and Brian Mertens.
You can read a Q&A with the new board members on the Trust website, www.ccfctrust.org
We have a large number of Bluebirds programmes at the Trust’s office, near Gate 5 at the stadium, some going back many years.
We have decided to have a clear-out and they will be available FREE to Trust members at every home game until the end of the year*, starting at our game against Huddersfield on Saturday, November 19.
All you need to do is bring along your Trust membership card and you can browse and help yourself.
The Trust office is open 90 mins before kick-off.
*Whilst stocks last
A new edition of the free magazine for Trust members is being worked on currently with a publication planned early in the new year.
We are very grateful to the club for agreeing to an interview with new Bluebirds manager Neil Warnock for the magazine.
If Trust members have a question that they would like to be put to Neil, can you e-mail it to Tim Hartley at
timhhartley@gmail.com within the next 48 hours please.
Trust chair Keith Morgan has made the following statement ahead of next week’s 50th anniversary of the Aberfan Disaster in which 116 children and 28 adults died in the 1966 tip slide.
Keith Morgan said: “Following discussions with Cardiff City Football Club, the Trust is pleased to announce that the club will be marking the 50th anniversary of the tragic events of the Aberfan disaster of October 21, 1966 with appropriate pre-match commemorati,ons which will include a one minute silence before kick-off.
“The Trust asks all fans to try and ensure that they are in their seats in sufficient time to allow this silence to be honoured as best possible. Our thoughts go out to all those whose lives were changed forever by the tragic events of that day.”
Keith Morgan
Here is a summary of the main points arising from the above named meeting.
On field performance and manager position
Head Coach, Paul Trollope has been given 11 matches to prove himself. He has obviously adopted the Wales formation. However the results are far from satisfactory. The Management of the Club is extremely disappointed with the on field performance as we are driven by results. Therefore the Head Coach’s position remains under close review.
The “Transfer Committee”
There has been a great deal of confusion over this, causing some misleading information on messageboards and other social media so Ken was pressed for a proper explanation of what really happens. It was explained as follows.
Potential new player recruits are identified by the club’ s scouts across the UK and Europe. They report their findings to Head Scout who then makes a report with a long list of potential targets to an analytical department. They then research the players’ backgrounds, dig out video and other reports and present them to the Head Coach who produces a short “wish list” to the Transfer Committee. The Transfer Committee (Chairman, Head Coach, CEO and a Director) will have to agree together with endorsement by owner Vincent Tan. It was stressed by Ken Choo that no-one on the transfer committee suggests players that the manager must sign – it is his choice alone, subject to financial constraints allowing.
Debt to Equity
This is an ongoing dialogue between the Trust and the club. The current position is as follows. The debt to equity conversion of £68m announced in February is still being progressed, but the club still awaits the necessary regulatory approval from Malaysia for it to move towards finalisation as is required by any Malaysian national undertaking such transactions. However, the first of the pledged five annual conversions of £8m has been approved and the transaction will be noted in the May 2016 audited accounts as an event which took place after the financial year end. The Trust will continue to monitor and report on progress in this matter.
Financial Fair Play
As a result of financial controls put in place by the club’s board, the CEO was able to confirm that the accounts to 31 May 2016 which will shortly be submitted to the League will be FFP compliant with losses within the allowable limits. It was stressed however that compliance is an ongoing issue which will require further future financial controls to be in place.
Ken Choo stressed that he and the rest of the CCFC Board of Directors are fully aware of how fans feel about the current football performance. In order for us to win, we shall need ongoing support in the attempts to improve the position as soon as possible.