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Shareholders gathered at the Cardiff City Stadium for the EGM this morning. Attendance was much lower than the last EGM, around 60 shareholders in total. Present on the podium were Steve Borley, Peter Ridsdale, TG and Alan Whitley. Mike Hall and Paul Guy were interested spectators.

The meeting was done and dusted in 15 minutes. It concentrated solely on the business in hand, namely three resolutions to be voted on which authorised the directors to increase the share capital of the club. Without going into technical details, in essence, the shareholders who currently own slices of the Cardiff City cake were being asked to vote on making the cake bigger so that the Malaysians can have a (big) slice and existing shareholders can enlarge their slices. Peter Ridsdale asked for any questions relating to the resolutions before putting each of them to the vote. There were no questions at all and when each resolution was voted on, they were accepted overwhelmingly (unanimously, I think) by a show of hands.

Ridsdale then formally closed the meeting but asked TG to say a few words.TG spoke of feeling honoured and privileged to become involved at CCFC, of the warm welcome he had received in Wales and spoke of two nations (Wales and Malaysia) now being behind Cardiff City.

The thrust of his message was hey, Saturday was fun but for the sake of his health and ours, let’s do it the easier way next season by finishing in the top two of the Championship. He sounded very confident of mounting another promotion challenge but also spoke of the need to run the club properly and sort out the finances. He mentioned his intention to be in the background because that’s the way it should be. He spoke quietly but very confidently and received a sustained round of applause from all present.

That was that, apart from Keith Morgan, Trust Director and its official representative at the meeting, asking Alan Whiteley whether he knew how much of the £2m pounds of new shares on offer to existing shareholders had been taken up. Whiteley said around £130,000has been  but there had been pledges to buy around £500,000 worth of shares, which fell by the wayside when we lost to Blackpool. Keith also asked whether the Club would be exercising its right to convert a further £2.7m of PMG’s loan into new shares. Whiteley was non-committal and said it would be discussed.

At this point, a shareholder rose to his feet calling the meeting to acknowledge the tremendous job Ridsdale had done during his time at the club. A round of applause followed. That’s it. End of meeting, apart from Ridsdale wishing the new board every success.

You may wonder why questions about the tax bill, Ridsdale’s pay-off, etc etc were not asked. My answer would be threefold. First, no questions were invited except about the share capital. Second, there was no attempt by Ridsdale to blow his own trumpet and to depart in a blaze of glory. I respect him for that. If he had tried to do so, I’m sure there would have been challenges from the floor. Thirdly, following TG’s upbeat and very dignified speech, I personally felt it would have been disrespectful and embarrassing to him to rake over old muck. It’s a new era, time to move on. It’s early to make judgements but personally, my heart warmed to TG and I think we have found a very worthy new leader.

Following the meeting, Trust Directors were able to mingle and meet with TG and Gethin Jenkins, the new Chief Executive at the club. Both confirmed that they will be happy for regular meetings to take place with the Trust once the new regime has settled in.All in all, a terrific start to a new era at Cardiff City and a much needed lift to us all, I’m sure. Onwards and Upwards!

A NEW breed of Cardiff City supporter has been discovered – the Kenyan Bluebird. 
 
The Cardiff City Supporters Trust organised a day of footballing activities for eight ‘active citizens’ from Kenya.
 
This included a tour of the Cardiff City Stadium, a presentation from the club’s Football in the Community team and a visit to the Gôl Centre in Leckwith to see young people coaching football.
 
Former City star Scott Young and his team showed how children’s behaviour, health and literacy can all be improved through football. 
 
Trust members also had a chance to tell the Kenyan visitors about the need for the supporters’ voice to be listened to by the club and of the links being built with the local community around the new stadium.
 
The day, which was organised in conjunction with the British Council, was rounded off with an international seven-a-side match.
 
 All the men and women visiting Wales took part along with members of the Trust and other people living near the Gôl Centre.
 
The Kenyans, some of whom coach football sessions themselves in Mombasa, were deeply impressed by the way Cardiff City club works in the community.
 
 ‘Active Citizens’ from Cardiff have already visited Kenya and the Sudan to see how young people there get involved in voluntary community work.
 
Katiba Mkungu from Kenya said: “I am thrilled to play my part in Active Citizens programme and can’t wait to try to apply your ways of working with youngsters in my own country. Football is a powerful tool in community building.”

Supporters’ Trust Chair Tim Hartley added: “It was great to be able to show our friends from Kenya what a force for good football can be. Some of them are already coaching in a scheme called ‘Football for Peace’ which aims to stop ethnic violence between communities in Kenya by bringing people together through football.
 

 “They were impressed with the Cardiff City Stadium and all the work the club is doing in and around Cardiff. Premiership football is followed closely across Africa.  Two of the Kenyans were Arsenal supporters before they came to Cardiff.  But they have seen the light and are now hoping to start up the ‘Kenyan Bluebirds’ to support the boys next season!”
 
“Many good links were made between our visitors, the club and the Trust during the visit which we hope to build on.  Our thanks go to the City’s Football in the Community team for their welcome and to the British Council for their partnership for this event.”

Tim Hartley was elected as chairman of the Trust at the first board meeting following the AGM.

Tim had been acting chair following the resignation through ill-health of Paul Corkrey (Corky).

The new vice chair will be Mike Roderick, who was elected to the board at the AGM earlier this month.

We wish both Tim and Mike all good wishes in their roles for the forthcoming year.

Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust has agreed to buy more than £5,000 worth of shares in the Bluebirds thanks to a deal struck with their members.

Under Trust rules, half of all proceeds of “Phil Dwyer” Trust membership has been ring-fenced to buy shares in the club.

That opportunity will come next week as shareholders meet to ratify a deal struck between the club and a Malaysian consortium headed by Datuk Chan Tien Ghee.

Trust Board member and financial expert, Keith Morgan, said that the purchase of the shares would fulfil a commitment made to fans that signed up as “Phil Dwyer” members.

He said: “The Trust is pleased to be able to buy shares in the club at a time where there is so much optimism about the future of Cardiff City.

“The Trust was set up to give fans a voice in how the club is run and purchasing shares gives us that representation.”

The announcement comes as the Trust fast approaches the milestone of having 1,000 members since its inception in September 2008.

“Currently we have just over 980 members and we hope to reach 1,000 in the coming weeks,” Mr Morgan continued.

“We will be starting a major drive in the coming months to attract new members with 2,000 our next target. The more members we have, the louder our voice will be.”

The following question was raised this week at First Minister’s Question Time by Chris Franks, the Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales Central, whose regional seat includes Cardiff. Chris Franks is Cardiff-born.

He asked: “As you are probably aware, a grass-roots fundraising campaign has been launched by fans of Cardiff City Football Club to erect a statue in honour of Fred Keenor and the FA Cup-winning team in 1927—the only time that the FA Cup has been taken out of England. Fred captained the Cardiff City side, but also played for Wales on over 30 occasions during a period when many fewer internationals were played and despite being injured in the Somme. Fred, who was Cardiff born, is a true Welsh hero, who played at a time when footballers were not well paid. Will you give your support to this worthy fundraising campaign, which is organised by volunteers led by the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust?”

First Minister Carwyn Jones gave a disappointing response: “I can certainly give moral support. I am aware of what happened in 1927, although, clearly, I was not there. It is something that is writ large not only in the history of Cardiff City, but in the history of the city of Cardiff itself.

“With regard to financial support, criteria are used by the Minister for Heritage in deciding whether or not such a statue would get support, because it is important to understand that we cannot support everything. However, I certainly wish the proponents of the statue well in looking to turn this into reality.”