I am writing to you following last Saturday’s protest which saw more than 3,000 Cardiff City fans come together to demonstrate against the change of colour and crest imposed by the club’s owner, Vincent Tan. As you will know Cardiff now play their home matches in red rather than in their traditional blue colours. This change was made without any consultation whatsoever with the fans or supporters’ groups.
We are aware that proposals to change club names already require the approval of the Football Association. Indeed, we welcome the further extension of that process by embracing some degree of consultation with supporters. The current case of Hull City has seen a welcome introduction of consultation with supporters’ groups, as well as national bodies, Supporters Direct and the Football Supporters Federation.
However, like many involved we believe that football must go further to protect the identity of football clubs for the sake of the integrity of clubs themselves and of the wider game. As such we have two proposals that chime with much of the current thinking in this area:
- That there should be an addition of both club colours and badges and crests to the protected elements requiring formal FA approval.
- That clubs that want to bring in such changes should have the proposal subject to a formal, independently verifiable and recognise process of approval on the part of supporters, and approved by the FA.
Whoever it is that owns a club, they cannot be permitted to simply run roughshod over a club’s history, tradition and its supporters, many of whom have followed their football club for decades.
I am enclosing for information details of our recent annual survey which showed that 85% of the 1,000 people who responded are opposed to the rebrand of our club. (The answers to some of the questions in our poll are blank because supporters comments that were too numerous to publish. However, they can be made available if required).
The Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust would be happy to meet you or your representatives to discuss our ideas for ensuring that some valuable lessons are learned from this incredibly sorry episode and that fans are treated fairly and respected by club owners.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Hartley,
Chair, Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust