Stadium update. Contracts are signed.
Sam and Mayor Goodway will exchange the legal documents on the Ninian Park pitch at half time. With City top of the table a big crowd will be expected. An extra incentive then for City fans to get to Ninian Park is here in the form of the contract exchange.
Talking to the Echo today Sam said
"This is a very special day for Cardiff City, and the people of Cardiff. Everyone talks about the manager, the players or myself, but the success rests on a very important political decision.
"This is a very special day for Cardiff City, and the people of Cardiff. Everyone talks about the manager, the players or myself, but the success rests on a very important political decision.
If we succeed, this club will take it's place in the upper echelons of the Premier League then we will owe a lot to Russell Goodway. I hope everyone realises the importance of Russell Goodway to this scheme."
The new stadium will start life with 30,000 seats and have the ability to increase in size to 60,000. The scheme that will cost over £100m will see the City of Cardiff have a second world class venue for sport.
Sam must now spend over £1m on major impact studies specifically regarding traffic and retail. The Leckwith site will host the stadium, a hotel, retail outlets and leisure facilities. Cardiff City must build a new athletics stadium before the current one can be knocked down.
Once the impact studies have been complete the plans must be approved by the council. Thankfully the same council that have agreed to the terms in the first place. Because of the money, the retail outlets and the impact on the City of Cardiff the final decision will probably have to go before the Welsh Assembly.
Russell Goodway said
"Its' the begining. Lets not underestimate the challenges that Sam and his team have got before them. I want everyone to come together, Cardiff Council, the assembly, the club and fans. One of the gaps that exists in Cardiff is a Premier League club. If we are to fulfil our ambitions, then we have to lift our horizons from the bootstraps to the sky.
This is nation building stuff."