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On Monday evening, the board of directors of the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust unanimously voted to donate £1,000 of Trust funds in order to kick-start the Fred Keenor Statue Appeal.

The public fundraising campaign will be officially launched on 1st March. The Fred Keenor Memorial Campaign committee will also be approaching Cardiff Council, the Welsh Assembly Government and local businesses in a bid to raise the money needed to produce the long-awaited tribute to Cardiff City’s 1927 FA Cup-winning captain.

It is estimated that the statue will cost somewhere in the region of £100,000. The location for it has yet to be finalised, but the most likely site remains in the grounds of the Cardiff City Stadium, where land is available.

Sculptor Roger Andrews, who is based in Llantwit Major, won the contract to build the Fred Keenor tribute in December following a poll organised by the Supporters’ Trust and backed by the South Wales Echo. Roger recently created the statue of Sir Tasker Watkins, which now stands outside the Millennium Stadium.

Membership Secretary Dave Sugarman said: “The Trust has been at the forefront of the campaign to get a statue erected in Fred’s honour for some time now. We feel sure that our members will be pleased that some of their money is being used to get the fundraising effort off the ground.”

During Monday’s board meeting, acting Treasurer Brian Mertens revealed that the Trust currently has over £11,000 in its bank account. The board therefore decided that a £1,000 donation in order to start the Fred Keenor Statue Appeal would be appropriate.

The football club has responded to offers of help from the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust and the Cardiff City Supporters’ Club to ensure that Saturday’s game against Blackpool goes ahead by requesting that any volunteers turn up at the stadium at 9am on Friday and bring a shovel.

The current situation is as follows:

The pitch is fine. The team trained on it yesterday and will do so again tomorrow.

Inside the ground is fine. The walkways have been cleared of snow and, where affected, the ice has been broken down with chemicals. These areas have also been covered with sheets to prevent re-freezing. A worst-case scenario would see a limited number of fans in the Family Stand being moved to other seats.

Outside the ground needs further attention. Currently, around half of the ground is in an acceptable condition. The turnstiles, walkways and exit gates are the areas where more work is needed.

The council are going to plough and grit the car park tomorrow as well.

The situation will be reassessed on Friday afternoon. Trust members will be kept informed of any further developments.

Further to our statement of 3/1/2010, the Seceratry of the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust yesterday sent a letter by registered mail to Alan Whiteley, the Secretary of Cardiff City Football Club (Holdings) Ltd, requesting that an Annual General Meeting of the company be held within the next 28 days.

Mr Whiteley was advised that the general nature of the business at the meeting we have requested is to allow the Directors to outline their plans for the club to the shareholders and to evidence the financial stability and viability of Cardiff City Football Club in the short, medium and long-term.

If the club’s Directors have not convened an Annual General Meeting within 7 days of the date of our letter, the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust will vigorously campaign for the convening of an Extraordinary General Meeting as soon as possible by the requisite voting members of the Company (being 5% of them), pursuant to Section 303 of the Companies Act 2006.

We will endeavour to keep our members informed of any further developments.

Dave Sugarman
on behalf of the board of the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust
7/1/2010

Members of the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust are bitterly disappointed to read reports today of further financial problems at our football club. If Sunday’s newspaper reports are accurate, it appears the fans have not been dealt with honestly by the club’s board of directors.

More than ten thousand supporters have recently parted with their cash to buy season tickets for next season on the clear understanding that the money will be going towards strengthening the squad during the January transfer window. If the newspaper reports are true, then it seems we have been duped into bailing the club out, as the money we have been paying for our season tickets will be used to clear outstanding tax bills.

There appears to be very little transparency in the club’s dealings with its fans. We need to know if we have been sold false promises. Were the statements made by the club inaccurate? From what we have read, it appears the club’s finances are not being managed properly. It seems that, once again, Cardiff City is in a terrible financial mess, with significant bills not being paid on time.

We believe the fans are entitled to know who is being made accountable for this situation. Attendances are good, season ticket sales are excellent, players have been sold for many millions of pounds in recent times and yet the club is still allegedly in danger of going out of business. So why on earth have the major shareholders and board of directors allowed the club to get into such a mess?

We will be consulting members of the Supporters Trust and other individuals who hold shares in our club this week to discuss the possibility of calling an Emergency General Meeting of shareholders. We feel the club’s major shareholders have a duty to the other shareholders and the supporters to explain the current situation.

We believe the fans and the shareholders deserve some straight answers to the following questions:

Is Cardiff City Football Club genuinely facing the prospect of being put into administration, with all the sanctions such a course of action would bring from the football authorities?

Future income streams are apparently being earmarked to pay current debts, so what are the directors’ plans for the time when all of these sources of income have been used up?

Are there any serious investors in negotiations to take the club over, or is that merely a smokescreen while we are once again being asked to dig into our pockets?

We believe the fans and the shareholders have a right to know what the true situation is so that we can attempt to prepare for a worst-case scenario. The vast majority of Bluebirds supporters are fed up of hearing about the club’s financial problems, and we have had enough of the positive spin that invariably accompanies any bad news stories. We implore the club’s board to be honest with us. We want to know the truth, however alarming it may be.

Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust Board
Sunday, 3rd January, 2009