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Our friends from Chasetown FC have invited us back to Staffordshire for their match against Stamford on Saturday, December 1st.

The Supporters’ Trust and the Supporters’ Club have built a great friendship with the club following City’s FA Cup 3rd round tie with them in 2008.

A group of Cardiff fans visited the Scholars ground in 2011 and the Chasetown fans also came down to the Cardiff City Stadium last year. Now they want us to return to Chasetown and have had a special flag made to celebrate our friendship which will be presented to us before the match in December.

If you are interested in coming to Chasetown then email help@ccfctrust.org.uk and if we have enough interest we will organise a bus.

We’re delighted to announce that the last of the batch of 200 Fred Keenor miniature statues was sold this evening.

Thanks to everyone that purchased a miniature in support of the statue appeal.

Standing proud at the Cardiff City Stadium is the 15ft high tribute to Fred Keenor, captain of the Bluebirds’ 1927 FA Cup winning team.

Hundreds of fans gathered around the statue to see Carla Shore and Yassin Mohamed, pupils from Fred’s old school, Stacey in Roath, pull a cord to release a Welsh flag and unveil the statue.

Earlier David Craig, board member of Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust and the project manager, thanked all supporters of the statue vappeal, particularly Bluebirds fans. He was followed by Lord Kinnock and Steve Borley, a director of the football club, who both expressed their delight at the unveiling.

Among the guests at the event was former First Minister Rhodri Morgan, Julie Morgan AM, a great supporter of the appeal, Mark Drakeford AM and Kevin Brennan MP, whose Cardiff West constituencies cover the ground, Cardiff Central AM Jenny Rathbone, Cardiff Council Cabinet Member Huw Thomas, Football Association of Wales President Trefor Lloyd-Hughes and chief executive Jonathan Ford, the Welsh Government and, of course, Cardiff City Football Club. Several individuals who have supported the appeal were also present.

Reaction to the statue designed by Roger Andrews was very positive and the unveiling marked the culmination of more than two years of fundraising.

Thanks to everyone that made this dream a reality.

Some of our guests at the unveiling

You can also read a BBC report on the unveiling at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-20276271

All pictures by Trust board member Brian Mertens

Tomorrow will be a landmark day with the unveiling of the Fred Keenor statue at the Cardiff City Stadium – more than two years after the appeal to raise £85,000 was launched

Carla Shore and Yassin Mohamed, pupils from Fred’s old school, Stacey in Roath, have been given the honour of unveiling the tribute to the captain of the Bluebirds’ 1927 FA Cup winning team and the Wales national side before tomorrow’s Hull City game.

The fundraising appeal was officially launched on April 23^rd, 2010 – the 83rd anniversary of the 1927 win, the only time the famous trophy has been taken out of England – after Roger Andrews of Llantwit Major was chosen by fans as the statue artist.

Supporters and the club quickly got behind the appeal – football matches were organised, bucket collections were held, marathons were run and £1 was added to ticket prices for fans travelling by coach to Cardiff City’s Carling Cup Final clash with Liverpool. Entertainer Frank Hennessy also offered his services free of charge in a fundraising event at the stadium.

Cardiff council quickly pledged £15,000 for the tribute to honour a Welsh sporting icon, the Welsh Government later chipped in £5,000 and then the appeal total of £85,000 was reached when Cardiff City Football Club and the Football Association of Wales agreed between them to meet the remaining £14,000 needed.

David Craig, project manager of the appeal and a member of Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust board, said: “This is a very proud moment for everyone connected with the appeal. We’re so grateful for those that have helped turn the dream of a tribute to Fred into a reality.

“Fred was a true working class hero who achieved so much at a time when footballers did not earn the riches of those top modern day players. He had a wonderful career for club and country despite being badly injured in the horrific Battle of the Somme.

“Donations from large organisations were very important to the success of the appeal but the generosity of ordinary fans who got behind the appeal was crucial. We received large individual donations of up to £500 and young children even chipped in their pocket money. We’d also like to the staff of Cardiff City for their fantastic support, This really was a community-led effort which reached its target despite the very difficult economic times.

“I’d also like to pay tribute to the small band of members of the fundraising committee who gave up many, many hours of their own time to organise events. It was a great team effort.”

This statement was received from Cardiff council on the eve of the unveiling. 

Councillor Huw Thomas, Cabinet member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, said: “Cardiff City’s 1927 FA Cup win is deeply ingrained in the rich sporting folklore of the city and people remain rightly proud of that achievement to this day.  It is very fitting the captain of that great side will be honoured with a statue at the new stadium where the club go from strength to strength.  He wasn’t just a legendary Cardiff captain, Fred Keenor was also a war hero who was wounded at the Somme in World War I so I am doubly proud that the council has contributed to this handsome statue. This permanent monument will inspire generations of football fans and is the least he deserves.”

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One of the fans that will be at next Saturday’s Fred Keenor statue unveiling will be George Thomas Dupe who has penned a special poem about Cardiff City’s FA Cup winning skipper.

George, who is 87, has supported the Bluebirds for a fantastic 74 years.

Born in Llanedeyrn, George family’s wooden house was burnt down when he was just five and the family moved to Albany Road, Castleton and, finally, Rumney.

George was taken to his first match by his Uncle Billy in 1938. He had gone to the 1927 FA Cup Final and seen Keenor lift the cup and told George the story of that fantastic day.

A season-ticket holder in the Canton Stand for 16 years in the 1950s and 1960s, he used to organise coaches for away matches on a regular basis. George once told a friend that he couldn’t be his best man because “City are playing that day”.

He gave up his season ticket after getting married in 1963, moving to Newport because of work, and having three children. He worked as a delivery driver for a wholesale chemist for around 25 years.

George took his daughter, Ceri, and son Kevin to their first games in 1970 when Kevin was just five, standing on the Bob Bank. Ceri and Kevin are now season ticket holders themselves, along with Kevin’s son Max, who is 15.

Click on the Keenor poem link alongside to read George’s tribute Keenor poem