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The home shirt colour and badge change by Cardiff City’s owner and the attempted name change at Hull City provided examples of how owners – who make massive investments into football clubs – think that they can just run roughshod over the tradition and history without proper consultation with fans.

The panellists on the workshop, ‘Protecting Club Identity’ were Chris Cooper (City til I die – Hull City), Brian Mertens (CCST), Mark Harris (Evo-Stick League) and Clive Efford MP (Shadow Sports Minister).

There was an excellent debate with contributions from Malcolm Clarke (FSF, FA Council rep), various Trusts and a description of how the Portuguese Leagues control what owners can do.

Clive Efford explained that he is leading a cross-party investigation into these very matters, but he warned that involving politicians can result in the wrong solution for most.

Not all owners refuse to consult with supporter groups but rules were needed that clearly state what can and can’t be changed.

The FA could change its rules so that club owners would have to fully consult its supporters before making significant changes, but it would require a 75% vote in favour! ‘Turkeys voting for Christmas’ was mentioned!

Malcolm Clarke asked that we send our proposed rule changes to him and he will put these forward.

The end result of these discussions was that we can tackle these problems through political changes, FA rules or we as Trusts could do something ourselves.

A kite system where clubs are fully consulting with their fans, could be awarded by Supporters Direct and this could be seen by clubs as ‘a badge of honour’ which could be lost if they failed in the future.

This is a debate that will roll on until something satisfactory results.

Brian Mertens

Cardiff City Supporters Trust Liaison Officer

A new message to fans from the Football Supporters’ Federation

httpss://www.facebook.com/high5itapp/app_1450359361881048#_=

As members may be aware, tickets for the pre-season friendly with German Bundesliga giants VFL Wolfsburg on August 2 will initially only be on sale for the newly developed Ninian Stand.

We have been asked by a couple of individual members to point that any fans who don’t want to sit on red seats are able to purchase blue covers on the internet. They are being sold by several sellers on ebay at prices from £1. Alongside is one examplehttps://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371037024369.

Please note for clarity,  this is not a Trust initiative and board members are not recommending members or fans buy the covers – only that they are available because many supporters feel strongly about the red seats.

Supporters Direct and the Football Supporters’ Federation will host the joint annual Supporters Summit in London at Wembley Stadium on July 26, bringing fans together from across the UK and Europe.

Fans and supporters’ organisations will debate the key issues at the heart of the game and one of the stand-out sessions will involve discussion of the ongoing campaign to return the Back to Blue at Cardiff City.

The sessions will  include high profile figures from  football, sport, media and politics, including Clive Efford  MP, who is Shadow Sports Minister and Valerio Casagrande, Chief Financial Officer of Italian Serie B and Pat Lyons, chair of the Irish FORAS Trust and Cork City FC.

Trust board member Brian Mertens will be among the panellists on a discussion about Protecting Club Identity along with Chris Cooper (City Till we Die), Clive Efford  and Mark Harris (of Witton Albion FC and the Evo-Stick NorthernPremier League). It will be chaired by Jacqui Foster of Supporters Direct.

Trust member Jeff Mansfield will also be present at the event which also has sessions on Away Fans, Fixing Football, Supporter Liaison Officers, Licensing System, Fans and the media, Fans for diversity, Financial Fair Play, Supporters’ Trusts, Safety Advisory Groups and a Q&A by the Blizzard.

The AGMs of both organisations will be held on the evening of July 25.

Last year’s Supporters Summit, held at St. George’s Park, included debates on governance, ownership, transparency, ticket pricing, discrimination and safe standing.