Trust News

Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust members have voted against the controversial rebranding of the club’s shirts and badge while also criticising the failure to consult fans adequately on the issue.

Trust members voted 54.7%-43.8% (blank votes 1.9%) against the change to red while nine out of 10 members said they had not been consulted adequately over the changes. And 80.4.% said they wanted more information from the club on the investment proposals. There was a turnout of 39% of the Trust’s 688 members.

Tim Hartley, chair of the Trust, said: “It is clear that our members feel that the club  have failed to consult properly with our fans. The majority of our members are against the switch from blue to red, and the feedback we have had is that many of those willing to change to red do so reluctantly.  The club now needs to reflect very carefully on the views of some of its most loyal supporters. What is clear is that fans feel the club failed to consult them properly before such a radical change. We believe that as a minimum, all season ticket holders should have been consulted in advance.

“The results again highlight the need for elected supporter representation on the board of Cardiff City Football Club. The voice of the supporter needs to be heard loud and clear to avoid the alienation of some of the club’s most loyal and long-standing fans.

“There is supporter representation on the board of Swansea City and it works very well. We believe the owners and the board must look at this as an option in the future. Formal consultation would have avoided the embarrassing debacle over the last few weeks. While supporters are pleased at the proposed investment in the club, they have still not received a full explanation for the need to rebrand alongside the additional funding.”

Tim Hartley added: “I’m pleased that the club will have a Supporter Liaison Officer in place before it becomes a requirement at the start of next season under UEFA rules. This, and the fans consultation announced by the club last week, are moves in the right direction and we look forward to a meaningful and constructive dialogue on behalf of our members. There must be greater transparency at the football club we love in the future and we are writing to the chairman, Dato Chan Tien Ghee (TG) and Mr Vincent Tan, to invite them to meet Trust members and other fans at the earliest opportunity.”

Keith Morgan, Trust board member and a football finance expert, said: “The results of the poll also indicate that, despite a recent statement from Malaysian owner Vincent Tan, the need for greater transparency. The absolutely crucial question is that after the Langston matter has finally been resolved, will all the loans introduced by the main Malaysian investors be converted into shares? If not, more debt will be piled onto the club which would be a continuing concern.”

Questionnaire to Trust Members and Results

Proposed changes to the club shirt and badge

You will have heard that our Malaysian owners are proposing to make a major investment into the club to improve the stadium, tackle the debts, build new training facilities and offer Malky Mackay money to strengthen the team. However, the plans also include changing the strip from next season to red and changing the Bluebirds badge.
Question 1 Given the information above, do you support the re-branding of Cardiff City FC with red shirts and a new badge?

Yes     43.8%

No      54.7%

Blank  1.5%

 Question 2 Do you believe the club consulted fans adequately about these changes?

Yes:    8.7%

No:    89.4%

Blank  1.9%

 Question 3 Do you want the Trust to press for more information from the club about the proposals?

Yes:   80.4%

No:    18.1%

Blank: 1.5%

Last year the Trust submitted evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport which said: “Supporters trusts should have formal representation on the boards of professional football clubs, even if this is simply in an ‘observer’ capacity. Fans issues should become a permanent agenda item at all clubs’ board meetings.”

The Trust’s detailed evidence can be viewed by clicking on the link here

This letter has been sent by Trust chair Tim Hartley

Dear Members, Select Committee for the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust, a democratic, not-for-profit organisation that aims to represent supporters by way of securing influence at our club. We are part of the Supporters’ Trust movement, which more than 170 members in the UK. Over 300,000 people are members of a Supporters’ Trust in the UK. Our current membership stands at more than 700.

As Chair of the Cardiff Trust I would like to express our concern over the potential outcome of your 2011 inquiry into Football Governance. As you will of course be aware, your July report recommended a number of positive reforms, particularly in areas such as a formal licensing model, supporter engagement, unhealthy debt levels, financial instability and increased protection from poor ownership.

In October of last year, the Government delivered an endorsement of your proposals, providing a rock-solid mandate for the football authorities to enact lasting change to the way our game operates, both on and off the pitch. Unfortunately, it appears that the Football Association, Premier League and Football League have declined the invitation to do so.

In their response, dated February 29^th 2012, the authorities acknowledged, “the responsibility we share to grow and protect our sport”, but in the very areas highlighted by your Committee as in need of urgent reform, their proposals are largely undeveloped, and ultimately disappointing.

In particular our main concerns are focused on:

• The weakness of the football authorities’ proposals for reform of the FA. There is no immediate further reform of the FA Board and their proposals do not address the key issue of its composition. The only change to the council is that the committees will no longer report to them, instead to the Board. No proposals to alter the membership of the FA have been made.

• The proposals from the FA on club licensing are very minimal and will not stem the chronic problems of unsustainable debt, loss of assets and failing football clubs. In addition the requirement that any “add-ons” require the approval of the Professional Game Board (PGB) and/or the National Game Board (NGB) is of real concern, as is the responsibility of leagues to develop the content of their own license. Supporters Direct produced a paper outlining a proposed club licensing system that would also include a progressive pathway for increased rights and responsibilities, something which would also largely satisfy the coalition pledge.

• The lack of proposals for a solution to provide funding for the long term future of Supporters Direct. We welcomed the Select Committee’s recommendation that “the football authorities must work quickly towards a long term funding solution that allows Supporters Direct to develop its role assisting supporters’ trust organisations and makes realistic assumptions of Supporter Direct’s own fundraising potential.” Equally welcome was the Government response, which stated ‘the Government believes that a solution to provide funding for the long-term future of Supporters Direct…should not be beyond the skill of the football authorities”. It is hugely disappointing, therefore, that the response from the football authorities shows no recognition for the need for long term funding or realistic assumptions about their fundraising potential.

• The delay in convening the proposed Expert Group to address issues that creates barriers to supporter ownership. We welcome the football authorities’ commitment to working with Government to remove legal and bureaucratic hurdles to supporters obtaining ownership interests in their Clubs and to participate in a Government Expert Working Group. Supporters Direct submitted a proposed agenda for the Expert Group to the football authorities and Government in November. We are disappointed that at the time of writing there has been no response from Government on this.

• The apparent lack of urgency from Government to ensure that the proposals will deliver on the Coalition pledge “to encourage the reform of football governance rules to support the co-operative ownership of football clubs by their supporters.” The Select Committee report and the Government response led us to believe that this was (and remains) a genuine commitment. The football authorities’ apparent reluctance to fully embrace the spirit of the Select Committee’s recommendations is now putting this commitment to the test.

• The proposals for increased supporter engagement are weak, vague requiring significant substantiation to understand exactly what they mean. Many of those who gave evidence during your inquiry highlighted the crucial role that supporters can and have played in the lives of their clubs. The success enjoyed by Swansea City in the Premier League – in part ownership by their supporters’ trust – stands as further proof that supporters have greater significance than as simple consumers, and have earned the right to a structured relationship with their clubs.
  

We would recommend Supporters Direct is called to give evidence when the CMS Select Committee convenes to consider the football authorities’ response.

We would urge the Committee to consider closely whether theirs, or Governments’, recommendations have been properly addressed by the football authorities’ proposals as they stand.

As outlined above, we believe there is a compelling argument to suggest that they have not. Another missed opportunity to reform our game will surely see the continuation of the current environment of unsustainable spending, unsustainable debt, and the continued marginalisation of football’s most important stakeholders – the supporters.

Yours sincerely,

Tim Hartley

Chair

Cardiff City Supporters Trust

Here’s a link to the Trust evidence submitted in January 2012

https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmcumeds/writev/792/fg12.htm

A reminder from Trust chair Tim Hartley

Trust Consultation on Rebranding

Just a reminder that the closing date on our consultation questionnaire is Monday, June 18th.

We want to receive your views on what is a hugely important issue for the club we all love.

We believe it is important to hear from as many members as possible. So, if you’ve still to vote by e-mail or post please do so and let your voice be heard.

Many thanks

Tim Hartley, Chair

Dyfed Thomas

Congratulations to Dyfed Thomas from Canton who won the Trust’s annual free draw for a signed City shirt. Dyfed has been a Cardiff fan for more than twenty years and sits in the Family Stand with his son.

He said: “Many thanks to the Trust for organising this. It came out of the blue and I am really pleased to have a signed shirt which I can now frame.”