Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust has written to South Wales MPs to urge them to support an Early Day Motion (https://www.parliament.uk/edm/print/2010-11/1909) aimed at securing the continuance of Supporters Direct.
Supporters Direct’s future is in doubt after the Football Stadia Improvement Fund, administrators of the Premier League Fans’ Fund, said it was withdrawing £1.5m of funding over three years.This follow concerns over a number of tweets posted by SD chief executive Dave Boyle – who has now resigned – on his personal Twitter account.
In the letter to MPs, the Trust said: “I am writing to you on behalf of Cardiff City Supporters Society Limited, known as Cardiff City Supporters Trust. Cardiff City Supporters Trust was registered three years ago and represents just under 1,000 supporters of Cardiff City many of whom live within your constituency. Our aim is to ensure that Cardiff City Football Club has good governance and is run in a manner that takes full account of the needs of its supporters and the wider community it serves.
“Cardiff City Supporters Trust was established thanks to the support of the Wales Co-operative Centre and our national umbrella body “Supporters Direct”. Supporters Direct has also supported the development of Supporters Trusts in Swansea, Merthyr, Newport and Wrexham. The work of this organisation has received support from many MP’s and its work has been triumphed in Europe, as setting an example for the future of supporter’s involvement in sport. Over the last few weeks the future of Supporters Direct and the Supporters Trust movement has been put into doubt as a result of the withdrawal of funding from the organisation by the Premier League.”
It is Cardiff City Supporters Trust’s contention that:
1. It is totally unfair that an organisation is penalised as a result of the actions of an individual. In this case as a result of remarks made by the Chief Executive of Supporters Direct on Twitter, none of which were sanctioned by “Supporters Direct” or reflected any position of “Supporters Direct” or its members.
2. The Premier League is penalising all existing and future members of the Supporters Trust movement at a time when the movement is beginning to prove that community owned sports facilities can be of major benefit to individuals, communities and support the social, community and economic regeneration of areas of Wales.
To this end we would like to call on you to support the Early Day Motion.
Cardiff South & Penarth MP Alun Michael has already written to the Trust to confirm his support and sign the motion and Owen Smith (Pontypridd), Paul Flynn (Newport West) and Paul Murphy (Torfaen) have also put their names to it.
