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Trust chair Keith Morgan

A message from Trust Chair Keith Morgan about the latest legal action against football agent, Willie McKay. 

You will recall that last month I wrote to you after legal action that the legal action by Cardiff City against McKay over the recovery of documents related to the transfer of Emiliano Sala from FC Nantes had been settled.

Legal action in Cardiff was taken by the club’s lawyers this week against McKay for the further disclosure of documents while a contempt of court hearing is set for April 10.

Meanwhile, the club’s legal case against Nantes was the subject of a preliminary hearing in the French city. It was to hear what both sides intend offering up as evidence in the multi-million pound compensation claim by Cardiff City.

Reliable sources tell me that a full case hearing is not expected for several months so the saga will drag up for some time yet unless the case is settled out of court.

As mentioned previously the hearing will be in a civil court before business people rather than legal judges so that the“ balance of probability” argument is a more relevant factor than might otherwise be the case.

I will brief members further when I have more information to report.

Keith Morgan

Trust Chair

Keith Morgan, Trust Chair

Trust Chair Keith Morgan has written an update for members on the latest news on football governance. 

As you will be aware from my previous updates, I have been involved in developments on this topic on behalf of Trust members for a few years, through the Fans-Led Review and the Government White Paper.

Today has seen a big and important development as it has been announced that the Government Bill will be placed before Parliament today. It is expected to be voted through with a very large majority as the White Paper received support from all major parties and both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have publicly given their strong support.

The above development means that the appointment of an Independent Regulator of English Football (IREF) will be in place sooner than later and the football industry will be obliged to implement new procedures, including ensuring that full and proper consultation is held with appointed fans groups on strategic matters.

I will continue to be involved in these discussions and consultations, both as Trust Chair and as a member of the recently formed Fans Advisory Group (FAB) at Cardiff City.

The FAB is set up to hold meetings with the club and be consulted on higher level strategic matters such as the club strategy going forward, its board structure, potential new investment and any major plans for ground development etc. This is the level of consultation required under the Government White Paper and Bill so FAB members are not diverted away from such key issues by too much discussion of issues to be dealt with in other formats available to fans.

Matters such as travel and ticketing arrangements will not be on the FAB agenda but will continue to be discussed at the regular Supporters Liaison Officer (SLO) meetings where such matters should be raised.

There will also be bi-annual Fans Parliament meetings where a larger number of fans will have the opportunity to be addressed by senior club officials in a more informal way (Although I understand that the first such Fans Parliament meeting due to be held this month was cancelled at short notice).

As and when further developments occur, and generally, the Trust board will endeavour to continue to keep our members informed.

Keith Morgan

Chair

One of our members, Rob Gough, complained to South Wales Police over policing in Sloper Road after the derby against Bristol City last November.

A fan for 70 years, he was troubled by the way police handled the situation which he felt was excessive and not proportionate.

Below is the response from South Wales Police to his complaint.

There has been a lot of talk about the latest transfer window. Trust chair Keith Morgan sets out the issue of profitability and sustainability in a message to Trust members.

 Dear Member

You will recall that, in my last communication to you after the meeting called by Mehmet Dalman prior to the Preston game. I undertook to update you on the current situation regarding Profitability and Sustainability (formerly known as FFP). I have now been able to clarify some issues so here is my summary of the current situation and its impact on the January Transfer Window. 

There has been quite a lot of criticism on social media about the club only making player signings very late in the transfer window and missing out on “first-choice signings”, so I thought that this brief explanatory note might be helpful.

Since March 2022 the monitoring of club finances in the EFL has been carried out by a separate independent panel of qualified accountants called the Club Financial Reporting Unit (CFRU). It is they who decide whether EFL clubs are in an adequate financial position to have transfers authorised and to what extent. Their rules have become increasingly strict and their monitoring checks far more frequent recently.

The basic rules have not changed much. EPL and EFL clubs are monitored on the basis of the losses they incur. If losses are below £5m on average over a rolling three-year period then no further checks are made. Greater losses are allowed if the difference is made up by new cash introduced and funding guarantees by club owners so that the average is increased to £35m in the EPL and £13m in the EFL. In Cardiff City`s case the “top up” has been made by new cash introduced by Vincent Tan by way of paid-for new share issues.

There was a further restriction introduced in June 2023 in that if a club is even a few days late in paying its HMRC debt then this has to be reported as a Default Event and the EFL can introduce an immediate transfer embargo until the matter is sorted.

The impact in January was that the CFRU only gave clearance to a number of clubs very late in the transfer window. As a consequence, there were more Championship club transfers in during the last two days of the transfer window than in the whole of the rest of the full month.

Keith Morgan

Chair

The latest Trust magazine is about to be delivered to members.

In our main feature article, Peter Jackson, distinguished journalist and former Cardiff City reporter for the South Wales Echo, recalls the club’s efforts to qualify for European competition from the bottom end of the then Division 2. Those fans of Cardiff City today concerned about the club’s form might be interested to learn that over 10 weeks back in the 1960s the Bluebirds went 10 games without a win with just two draws and the rest losses. There are also Bluebirds-related pieces from Rob Jeffery, Paul Evans and David Collins, so plenty to digest.

And, of course, there is the usual Bluebirds Brainteaser quiz for members which comes with a £50 prize.