Trust News

Who’d have thought it? One – nil against West Ham! What a fantastic start to the season and to Malky McKay’s tenure at the club. Let’s hope that fighting team spirit stays with us all the way this season. Well done lads! 

So the season has started and the Trust has already met the club as the new campaign gets underway. Board members Tracey Marsh and Martin Bale joined me at the Stadium on Tuesday 9 August to put your questions directly to the Chief Executive, Gethin Jenkins, and his team. 

Trust members had contacted us during the day to express their dismay at the decision by Arriva Trains Wales to withdraw all services to and from Ninian Park station 3 hours before and 3 hours after matches. This will seriously inconvenience a lot of supporters. The club said that although it had been in discussions with Arriva they too were taken by surprise by the announcement as this was not what had been previously discussed. We are also disappointed that Arriva did not consult with supporters groups before closing the station. Overcrowding on the platform after the match can be an issue but surely people come to Ninian Park halt little by little before the match so the station should be kept open. As a Trust we hope the railway company will review this decision and make changes so that fans can use the most convenient station for the Cardiff City Stadium at match days. 

Another issue we discussed was when you can and cannot stand at the Cardiff City Stadium. This is a customer service issue for the club,after all we all pay for a seat in the stadium. All areas are risk assessed and stewarded accordingly. It is for us as supporters to respect the wishes of other people coming to matches. However, some people do want to stand and the club says it will be more tolerant of standing in the Canton stand than in other areas of the ground. 

Some people have emailed us saying they fear the price of food and drink will go up this season. The club discusses the prices at the stadium with their provider, Compass. It also benchmarks its prices against other football grounds. There’s no point our comparing the price of a pint with that in a pub in Canton – these will always be stadium prices and there will be a slight increase this season. But it is worth noting that in a BBC survey ‘Price of Football’ Cardiff offered the eighth cheapest day out in the Championship for match ticket, programme, food and drink. (Here is the link to the survey – https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14367357.stm ) 

If you have been accessing Sky Sports live on your iPhone at the Stadium then you are one of the lucky ones. Wi-fi coverage is patchy. The club says that it is available in the conference and banqueting areas but that much as they would like to make it available for everyone, they have looked into it and the cost is simply prohibitive at the moment. But there was good news on the artificial lighting rig which will help the playing surface grow. The club is hoping to have the lights working by October. Work is also due to start on the club’s Memorial Garden near the Ninian gates on the Sloper Road side of the Stadium. This will eventually offer an enclosed restful space with benches and tress sponsored by fans where people can visit to remember their loved ones. It is hoped the garden can be officially opened in November. 

We thanked the club for organising the Malky McKay question and answer night in Pontypridd which was a great success. There is the Academy dinner at the Stadium at which Malky will be speaking in September and then two more ‘roadshows’ when the manager will be visiting Blackwood and Maesteg in October and November. It’s good to talk, so please keep the questions coming and let us know if there is anything you need from your Trust or the club. 

Finally we were also able to see the “door” to our new office,which is situated near entrance 5 at the stadium. It is hoped that this will be available for us to meet regularly before match from Sunday. 

Come on you Blues! 

Tim

Trust Chair

Chair Tim Hartley said: “We understand that Arriva wants fans to use Grangetown railway station, rather than Ninian Park before and after matches, because of a fear of overcrowding. 

“We don’t believe there are capacity issues at this station ahead of games because supporters do not arrive in huge numbers at the same time. Our view is that trains coming down from the Valleys to Cardiff Central can call safely at Ninian Park station before games kick-off.  

The following Press Release has been issued by the People’s Collection Wales and is an appeal for Bluebirds fans to upload their memories through programmes, tickets, photographs and other memorabilia.

SHARE YOUR MEMORIES OF CITY SEASONS PAST WITH PEOPLE’S COLLECTION WALES

With the Bluebirds set to kick off another Championship campaign on Sunday (7^th August 2011), a call is on for fans to share their memories of seasons past with Wales and the world.

While most City fans would want to forget the end to last year, season ticket holder Stephen Tyte of Splott, has memories of nearly 50 seasons as a supporter.

The 56 year old has a wealth of old photographs and programmes, including a rare original from the 1925 FA Cup Final defeat to Sheffield United,  alongside others from famous games against Real Madrid in 1971 and S.V. Hamburg in 1968.

Stephen is scanning and uploading his memories online at People’s Collection Wales and now fellow fans are being urged to do the same.

The People’s Collection Wales is a contemporary, bilingual website dedicated to sharing the history and experience of Wales and its people with the world. The Collection is a constantly growing resource for the people of Wales to learn about their history, and anybody can submit content in a variety of formats.

Nearly 30,000 items- from old photographs to video stories- can be found in the Collection.  Items already online include a picture of John Charles leading the team out in a Welsh Cup tie in Bangor in the 1963-4 season, a picture of a rosette from the 1927 FA Cup final and a 1950s painting of Ninian Park, home to nearly a century of seasons, by Charles Byrd.

Uploading an item to People’s Collection Wales is easy and can be done in three steps.  Simply go to the home page, create a login and password, and then upload your item. Your football memories will then appear on the website.  All football related content is welcomed in the Collection.

The hope is that different generations of fans- from those who saw famous names like Peter Hooper, Ivor Allchurch, John Toshack, Robin Friday and Nathan Blake grace the Ninian Park turf, through to younger fans who tasted disappointment at the 2008 FA Cup final- will upload content to help capture a true picture of City seasons throughout the years.

Stephen said: “My debut was the first game of the season in the 1962/63 when City played Newcastle United at Ninian Park.  We were 3-1 down at half time and ended up drawing 4-4.  It set the tone for an exciting time to watch the team.  Other memories that stand out include the 1964 season, which saw our first European game against Esbjerg.  I remember Peter King scoring the winner and the Danish opposition seemed exotic compared to the likes of Charlton Athletic or Portsmouth.  Although not as exotic as the next round, which I think is still one of the greatest results in City’s history.  We beat the holders of the European Cup Winners Cup, the mighty Sporting Lisbon away 2-1, before drawing nil-nil with them at home to qualify and prove the win in Portugal was no fluke.

“By the end of the 1960s we’d started pushing for promotion with the likes of Brian Clark and John Toshack being heroes.  The stand-out game for me at this time was a Third Round FA Cup match against Arsenal when we drew nil-nil in front of 55,000 packed into Ninian Park.  I still remember the atmosphere and the sheer size of the crowd that day.  As a young lad, I really felt like we’d made it that evening as we saw our first ever appearance on ‘Match of the Day’.

“Every decade since has been a series of ups and downs, from the early 1970s high of beating Real Madrid to the low of losing 5-1 at Bramall Lane, when hosts Sheffield United pipped us to promotion.  It’s been more lows than highs ever since, although recent seasons have seen a resurgence with Wembley appearances and almost reaching the Premiership. Sharing these memories online seems like a great way of telling the story of the team.”

Phillip Nifield of Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust and a Bluebirds fan for 50 years said: “This is a superb resource and I’d encourage Bluebirds fans to upload their memorabilia and share it with the world. The more supporters that upload the better the collection will become.

“I’ve got tickets, programmes, old newspapers which I’ve collected over the years but my favourite item is a 4 inch high Carlton China replica of the English FA Cup, as it was described then, which was produced after Cardiff City beat Arsenal in 1927.

“I also know fans who have some great photographs of Fred Keenor and the 1927 FA Cup winning team which deserve a worldwide audience and I’d encourage Bluebirds to share their best memories.”

Rheinallt Ffoster-Jones of People’s Collection Wales said:  “Sport plays a big part in the history of Wales and content from the ups and downs of Cardiff City seasons past would really enrich the Collection.  Everyone has their own opinion on football so if we can get as many Bluebirds fans as possible to upload their personal memories- be it old photos, programmes, shirts or stories- the better.  There are Cardiff fans all over the world who I’m sure would welcome logging on to see stories from seasons past as Malky’s boys kick off the new season.”

“People’s Collection Wales belongs to the people and will grow and become even better as more and more become involved in its development.”

For more information or to upload your items to the People’s Collection Wales visit www.peoplescollectionwales.co.uk.

People’s Collection Wales is a partnership project between Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales (AC-NMW), the National Library of Wales (NLW) and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW), and is funded by the Welsh Government.

David Melding, the South Wales Central AM, has become the eighth member of the Welsh Assembly to support the Fred Keenor Statue Appeal.

David wrote to Sp0rts Minister Huw Lewis backing the campaign for a tribute for the Cardiff City and Wales captain who lifted the FA Cup in 1927.

The others supporting the appeal are Julie Morgan,  Mark Drakeford, Vaughan Gething, all Cardiff AMs, and Mick Antoniw (Pontypridd), Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan) and regional AMs Lindsay Whittle and Leanne Wood. We’re hoping Julie Morgan will meet the Minister in September to press the case further.

The fundraising committee holds its next meeting at the Ninian Park pub in Cardiff, next Tuesday at 7.30pm.

City and Wales fans welcome. Supporters willing to organise events for the statue appeal wanted and if you have any good ideas for fundraising please come along.