Trust chair Keith Morgan looks ahead to the Premier League season as the Bluebirds prepare to kick-off against Bournemouth on Saturday.
After the excitement of last season`s automatic promotion to the Premier League, which was a shock to many of the club`s media critics and, to be fair, probably a surprise to many of us fans of the club, the new season is nearly upon us.
It would appear that our chances of avoiding relegation back down to the Championship are already being almost universally written off by the football media.
So surely this is exactly why all Cardiff City fans will need to pull together and give 100% support to the club and every player that puts on its shirt throughout the season. Loud and proud support that we are capable of even when things are not going well on the pitch (and there will be spells when this inevitably will happen because of the quality of opposition we will face week in week out). It might just lift the players enough to make the difference between a poor result and a good one, even when unexpected.
At the time of writing this we had signed four new first team squad members at not insignificant cost, plus held on to some of our key players who got us promoted last season. As fans, we always want more (there may be some more, last minute, signings before transfer deadline ) but whatever the make-up of the team on the pitch , every player deserves our full support for 90 minutes every game.
Off the pitch, the Trust has continued its regular dialogue with the club`s senior management on key issues such as debt to equity and Profitability and Sustainability (formerly called Financial Fair Play).
We were advised of the recent major debt to equity conversion made by Vincent Tan in such a meeting, agreeing to hold back the information as confidential until the same time that the club was able to issue its own official statement on the matter.
In addition, we were able to advise fans of the club`s confirmed compliance with P&S regulations for season 2017-18. Such issues sometimes are not in the front of the minds of many fans but, without them being addressed, there is a risk that the club may find itself with longer term financial problems (see QPR and Aston Villa). I express this as my personal opinion , but the financial support given to the club by its owner Tan Sri Vincent Tan and the work put in by the club`s directors and staff has been vital to ensure we all have a club to support.
The Trust will continue to liaise with CCFC on such key issues, and will also continue to discuss issues raised by individual fans such as beam back of away games and pre-match access to the car park at the ground (both recently raised and responded to by the club).
So let`s all look forward to the new season with as much optimism and support for the team as we can muster. For those of us who have supported the club for a long time these really are “the good times” compared to many previous seasons. For new fans of the club, come and join us and stay as fans for the long term.
Keith Morgan
Trust Chair