Trust News

The Trust is delighted to announce that we have co-opted two members to join our elected members and strengthen the board at this important time.

Sian Branson and Jeff Mansfield join the existing team of chair Tim Hartley, vice chair, David Craig, Jon Day, Brian Mertens, Keith Morgan and Phillip Nifield.

Both Sian and Jeff have written pieces setting out their views on the Trust.

You can join the  either at the Trust office (near Gate 5) on match days, online through Paypal at https://www.ccfctrust.org/?page_id=223 where you can also download a form and pay by standing order or cheque.

SIAN BRANSON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watching the events of the past few years unfold at Cardiff City has been a real ‘eye opener.’

Like others, I was stunned and saddened when the rebrand became a reality in the summer of 2012. The shock of it was compounded by the absence of any sort of meaningful opposition. In fact, those like Keep Cardiff Blue (KCB) who did try to protest met considerable resistance from some supporters.

Despite there, seemingly, being little appetite for opposition to the rebrand, myself and others felt that we had to do something – our club’s history and traditions are really important to the city of Cardiff itself and not just the football club.

So, in the spring of 2013, we put together a supporters group called Bluebirds Unite. Our aim was simple – to oppose the rebrand and demonstrate our pride in our history and long established identity.

We organised several events such as a celebration walk, a petition with more than 10,000 signatures calling on Vincent Tan to reverse the rebrand and a number of protest marches.

In the early days of Bluebirds Unite, I had the good fortune to meet Trust chair Tim Hartley, an enthusiastic supporter of our own group. From regular contact with Tim I began to understand the great work the Trust did, such as fund raising for Ty Hafan, initiatives promoting City’s history, supporting the drive to kick racism out of football, the alternative shirt campaign and work with Supporters Direct on a UK-wide scale.

Club politics had always pretty much passed me by but from speaking with Tim it was clear that the Trust does lots of things that often go under the radar. I offered my support as I feel that Supporters’ Trusts provide a direct route for fans voices to be heard at their football clubs. Also, being part of an umbrella body like Supporters Direct gives fans even more clout.

At a time when clubs are moving further away from their fan base, I feel passionately that supporters need to have far more say in how their clubs are run. They are community focal points with long held traditions. We need to make sure we protect these cherished institutions.

I really hope that in the coming months and years Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust significantly grows its membership and becomes a powerful voice in the running of our club. We all want to see the Bluebird soar again, let’s work together to make it happen.

JEFF MANSFIELD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I joined Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust not long after I moved back home in April 2013, after many years away, most recently living near Portsmouth.

I’d seen what happened at Pompey at first hand: after  seven years in the English Premier League, finishing 9th in the table and winning the FA Cup along the way, Pompey were relegated and went into freefall. A series of unknown ‘investors’ suddenly appeared, ready to grab a piece of what was left, and it really looked as if the club was finished.

Many Pompey fans thought it had all been worth it for the seven years they’d had in the big time, but as events developed they began to see that there really was an alternative to the ‘benefactor’ model, that there was a better way to run a club. They put up the money to buy a share of their own club and they were on their way.

I didn’t want anything like that to happen to us, so I joined CCST because I believe football clubs should be run like any other business and be partly or wholly owned by their fans, together with investors who should get a fair return on their investment. CCST, with its strong commitment to that ideal, and its community values, was the right place for me.

So now I serve as co-opted Secretary to the Board, organizing meetings and generally helping out, and I’m happy to be able to contribute to the future of the Trust and our community-based club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trust board member Phillip Nifield gives his personal take on the latest missives from the owner of Cardiff City.

In an article this week in the Guardian in reference to fans, Mr Tan makes the bizarre statement: “They just don’t support” while in an interview with the BBC he says the switch from blue to red has benefited the club by raising its profile around the world.

You can read the out-of-touch Mr Tan’s comments in the links at the bottom of this article

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has certainly put Cardiff on the map through his ridiculous rebrand – and made the club a laughing stock the world over.

In his latest interviews, he continues to show disrespect to the supporters – the paying customers of the club.

He has attempted to destroy our history, our tradition, our identity but will never succeed.

It is difficult to think of another business that has treated its customers with such contempt – Gerald Ratner, who once described goods sold from his jewellers as “total crap”, is the name that springs to mind.

Mr Tan – when he decides to visit the Cardiff City Stadium next – needs to take a good hard look around and see how many supporters are wearing his beloved red. Very, very few.

And I hear sales of the red home shirts for the current season have been pathetic – after similarly dismal sales during the Premier League season. As they say, Mr Tan needs to wake up and smell the coffee.

I’m delighted to say that well over 2,000 of the Trust’s alternative blue shirts have been sold with £5 from every sale going to the Ty Hafan children’s hospice.

It just doesn’t make business sense for Mr Tan to continue to produce goods that few want. The club could be earning considerable income from blue home shirts – but he stubbornly refuses to change.

Could anyone imagine the wealthy owners at clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool ever announcing a colour change?  It just wouldn’t happen.

The protests over the change from blue to red will not cease – why would fans want to stop campaigning for restoration of our heritage?

Of course, Mr Tan would probably be viewed as a hero if the rebrand had never happened. He has pumped huge amounts into the club – although he still has yet to keep his promise of converting debt to equity.

But his attitude over the colour change really beggars belief.

He has turned lifelong supporters off for good while others have told me that while they go along to games they no longer feel the same passion. He has knocked the stuffing out of them.

Mr Tan has had numerous chances to unite the club by announcing a return to blue. He’s failed to do that which suggests he’s content to have thousands of discontented fans.

What a way to run a football club.

LINKS:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/29/vincent-tan-cardiff-phd-football-management

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-29847950

A debate on football clubs took place in the House of Lords yesterday.

Baroness Baroness Taylor of Bolton, who asked for the debate, made some pointed marks which  apply to the owner of Cardiff City, Vincent Tan, as well as some owner club owners.

She said: “There are owners of football clubs who are genuine fans and who suffer defeats with the rest of us. But there are owners—and this seems to be an increasing problem—who regard their clubs as just another business and who forget or ignore the essence of the club, the fans and their community. Some owners have no links and little loyalty to their club. They think that you can change club colours on a whim. Some even want to change the name of the team.

“As we have seen recently from the BBC’s Price of Football survey, average ticket prices have increased almost twice as much as the cost of living since 2011—all without any reference to the core supporters, local communities and fans. These owners are treating the club as a commodity and nothing more.”

Read the full deebate by clicking on https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/141030-0002.htm#14103054000422

Trust chair Tim Hartley reports on the meeting yesterday evening between fans and new manager, Russell Slade.

Members of the Trust Board joined other supporters groups at a meeting with City manager Russell Slade and Scott Young. It was an informal affair but the manager left us in no doubt that he understood the task ahead of him and was committed to seeing it through.

Russell joined the club at a difficult time. His contract with Orient meant that he could note ‘hands on’ with the first team for the first couple of weeks. This, however, allowed him to look at things from the outside and take a considered view of where we were going wrong.

Russell produced a fascinating large, spider-like chart on which he had mapped out the problems as he saw them and how he wanted to change them.

He explained that the team needed to go back to basics and emphasised the need for almost every player to look at his fitness levels. The question of fitness was raised time and again and the manager said that the international break had come at just the right time.

Russell was also looking for full post match reviews and said he wanted continuous improvement from individuals and the team. He then said he had set goals, in terms of performance, the number of points we should be expecting to win and in key areas for improvement. Finally, he pointed to the top left hand corner of the chart. This, he said, was where the players took ownership for themselves. The important things here are communication and ‘togetherness.’

Russell gave us an example of how this worked in practice. On Thursdays and Fridays before a match he would walk the players through that week’s opposition setting out their positions with mannequins on the training field. It was important he said that everyone understood his role. You can walk through the set plays and counter attacks but these drills take time to sink in and become second nature. To demonstrate this, Russell said that after the goal at Millwall the players forgot the game plan and were doing their own thing.

We were told that with 38 players to call on the City squad is just too big. We have some good players out on loan and although the door is not closed on them, some players will have to be moving on to other clubs. In the past we have perhaps collected players like buying paintings without understanding how they might work together.

Russell is confident that change is coming and that we do now look a threat on the counter attack. However, he agreed with a number of those present that we are still missing a bit of pace. He has identified ‘a couple of players’ he would like to bring in, but the question will be whether we can ship some out and then tempt others to the Cardiff City Stadium.

Russell’s emphasis on hard work and commitment was obvious throughout the meeting and he praised the leadership of David Marshall and Aron Gunnarsson.

He said he gets on well with Vincent Tan but added, “So far so good. But then again we have been winning.” Mr Tan quite rightly wants value for money. He has committed himself financially and wants to see the fruits of that investment.

The group of players Russell Slade inherited was very quiet when he took over but Scott Young said it was great to see them discussing every aspect of play during and after training, and, he believes, they are now coming together as a team. Scott is keen to bring more players through the club’s own system and to offer them pathways to play for the first team. To help with that he and the manager are looking afresh at scouting and recruiting players.

The meeting offered us an insight into how Russell Slade aims to transform the City into a winning team. He certainly has the commitment and drive to make that happen and Bluebirds fans will wish him well. We now look forward to a full Fans’ Forum where all supporters have a chance to meet the manager to hear his views and, of course, to share our thoughts with him.

 

 

Just a quick reminder  to members that Chasetown FC have invited us to their home game against Norton United on Saturday, November 22.

The Trust and the Supporters Club have maintained our relationship with the Scholars since our 3rd round FA Cup game with them back in 2008, the year we reached the final.

We had a cracking trip to Chasetown last time and are organising transport from Cardiff to Staffordshire for this match.

If you are interested email help@ccfctrust.org