Trust News

Bluebirds legend Phil Dwyer has recently released his excellent autobiography ‘ Mr Cardiff City ’ and you can obtain a signed and dedicated copy through the Supporters’ Trust.

Phil made an amazing total of 573 appearances for the Bluebirds in all competitions between 1972 and 1985 – a record that is unlikely ever to be broken.

Written in conjunction with local author James Leighton, ‘ Mr Cardiff City ’ tells the remarkable story of Phil’s football career including his early days as an apprentice under Jimmy Scoular, the promotions and relegations he experienced with the club during the Seventies and Eighties, and his sad departure in March 1985 following his release by Alan Durban.

Packed with amusing anecdotes and interesting stories, the book also provides details of Phil’s international career with Wales , which included a winning debut in Iran and scoring a goal against England at Ninian Park .

‘ Mr Cardiff City ’ retails at £16.99. Phil is kindly donating £5 from every copy sold by the Supporters’ Trust to the Fred Keenor Statue Appeal. The book will make an ideal Christmas present for any Bluebirds fan, so don’t miss your chance to get a signed and dedicated copy.

Orders can be collected from the Supporters’ Trust office before the game against Middlesbrough (17 December) at the retail price of £16.99 or sent to anywhere in the UK at a cost of £20.00 including postage and packing.

If you would like to order a signed and dedicated copy, please e-mail help@ccfctrust.org as soon as possible.

The closing date for orders is Tuesday, December 13.

The Supporters’ Trust office is situated on the outside of the ground at the Canton Stand end of the Cardiff City Stadium just a few yards to the right of the turnstiles at Gate 5.

Tim Hartley, chair of the Trust, sent the following message to his counterpart at Wrexham Football Club:

“We at the Cardiff City Supporters Trust would like to congratulate you at Wrexham on having bought the club. It has been a difficult time for you all but to have another UK football club now owned by the fans themselves is great news.

“We at Cardiff believe in the power of supporter groups to change football for the better and although you may not have wanted to take on the responsibility, you have shown the way for supporter ownership and control for all of Welsh football. May we wish you the very best not just for this testing season but for a long and prosperous future.

“Da iawn chi yn Wrecsam. Llongyfarchiadau oddi wrth cefnogwyr Caerdydd.”

We expect the race night at the Golden Lion in Penarth last Sunday to have raised more than £800, once all the proceeds have been received.

Apart from the racing and raffle, Jon Bassett, owner of the Golden Lion, donated the bar profits of £322 and on the night Camilleri Roofing kindly offered a donation of £50 to the appeal fund.

We’d like to say a special thanks to Trust member Gareth Jones from Penarth who organised the event, which was a huge success. Jon Bassett, who also runs the Ninian Park pub, continues to be a fantastic supporter of the appeal while landlord Paul Harper pulled out all the stops to make it such a superb fundraiser.

Paul Harper (left) and Gareth Jones are pictured at the Golden Lion race night

Fund project manager David Craig said: “We cannot thank Gareth, Jon and Paul enough for what was a tremendous event. It was also a good fun night as well as a great fundraiser.”

Many thanks to those of you who purchased a copy of Phil Dwyer’s autobiography ‘Mr Cardiff City’ at the Supporters’ Trust office on Saturday. The book signing was such a success that all 50 copies sent to the Trust by the publisher were sold out in no time at all.

Thanks to Phil and his publisher, a further £250 was raised towards the Fred Keenor Statue Appeal, although the final figure is likely to be closer to £300 when the additional donations from fans who visited the Trust office are taken into consideration.

If you didn’t manage to get yourself a signed copy of Phil’s book today, fear not – we are hoping to arrange another book signing at the Trust office before Christmas.

Phil Dwyer signs his autobiography for Trust member Dave Sugarman

But if that’s not possible we will still be able to take orders for signed and dedicated copies very soon. We’ll keep you posted.

Five youth workers and sports instructors from Wales are travelling to East Africa to launch a Football for All Project to help grow grassroots leaders and build communities throughout Kenya.

The group will share its professional experience training young Kenyans in practical coaching and how to set up community sport organisations. Through football coaching and training in citizen journalism the project will increase community participation among Kenya’s youth and boost their skills and confidence to help combat inequality, poverty and inter community conflict.

Football For All, has been developed by the British Council in partnership with the Cardiff City Supporters Trust and is supported by the Welsh Football Trust, Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Wales’ largest youth organisation)), the Sports Council of Wales and Cardiff City Football in the Community.

Efa Gruffudd Jones, Chief Executive, Urdd Gobaith Cymru said: “We are excited to be part of this project and we hope to discuss some of what we have learned through working in Wales with young people in Kenya.  We will also look forward to seeing what we can learn from their enthusiasm for sport and their desire to build their communities. Our work with sport is linked with our vision of increasing opportunities for children and young people through the medium of Welsh and it will be interesting to share our belief that sport can be a vehicle for many good outcomes.”

Central to the success of the project will be the training of young Kenyans in how to communicate within their own communities and how to influence local and national authorities to ensure sustainable, positive change. The workshops, led by Welsh volunteers, will offer young people the opportunity to gain new skills and will inspire them to become ‘ambassadors for change’ across the country.

It is ultimately in local settings that youth has its own voice and where it is able to have the greatest impact. One of the main goals of this project is to support the participants in establishing the first Youth Parliament in Kenya. This will be an effective way for young people to make their voice heard in decision-making not just locally but also on a country wide level.

Olga Kelly, Adviser Education and Society, British Council said: “As an international cultural relations organisation the British Council aims to build trust between people and nurture a new generation of leaders who will be able to make the world a better place. This community based ‘Football for All’ project has been devised by a team of young professionals in Wales and Kenya who are passionate about equality and inclusion in their countries. Putting our heads together, we have developed a programme that will inspire and equip participants to organise and maintain sports groups in their own communities. The programme will promote dialogue and community co-operation through sport and cultural activities.

“It all began when a group of young Kenyan people visited Wales in June 2009 as part of the British Council’s ‘Active Citizens’ programme. They were particularly impressed by the educational and community work which they saw which was centred on football and carried out by clubs and voluntary groups across Wales, and this is what prompted the idea of bringing this best practice to Kenya.”

The idea for the project builds on the shared values of all the partners involved and on the spirit and achievement of some of the British Council’s most ambitious programmes.  The ‘Active Citizens’, ‘International Inspirations’ and ‘Premier League’ projects have focussed on promoting social cohesion and education through sport and community empowerment across the globe.

The Welsh trainers and Kenyan participants will kick off the project with a friendly international football match before they get into the serious training.

Tim Hartley, the Chair of Cardiff City Supporters Trust, who has drawn up the week’s programme, said: “We know that football is a game which can transcend the boundaries of language, religion and race. It brings people together and is a force for good.  We are taking our experience in Wales to share with our Kenyan friends so that these young people are not only leaders on the field of play but also become leaders within their own communities. There will be practical training sessions, leadership and communication workshops as well as discussion of the role the participants will play when they head back home from Nairobi. It is great to see all the Welsh sports bodies, the Urdd, Cardiff City, the Football Trust and the Sports Council pulling together to show what Wales can do.”