Trust News

FANS are being invited by Cardiff City Supporters Trust to have their say on their favourite design for a statue in honour of the Bluebirds’ FA Cup winning skipper Fred Keenor.

Supporters will be able to vote on the designs of  James Done (below left) ,Michael Field (centre) and Roger Andrews (right) through forms in the South Wales Echo and here on the Trust website. Voting will close on Saturday, December 12th.

Click each image to see a bigger version. Please vote using the poll at the bottom of the 2nd column of this webpage.

The three sculptors were asked to produce a maquette of their tribute to the 1927 FA Cup winning captain and Welsh international.

Fred’s nephew Graham Keenor, who is a member of the Trust, said: “We’re very pleased with the work submitted by the three sculptors and now we want football fans to vote for their preferred design.

Images taken by Media Wales

“As far as I am concerned the key aspect of the statue must be that people looking at it will instantly recognise it as a tribute to Fred.”

Mike Inker, a member of the Trust’s Fred Keenor Memorial Committee, who originally launched an online petition in support of a tribute, said that the trust was giving fans the chance to vote online because of the many thousands of Bluebirds living across the world as well as in the UK.

“We are sure that the end product will be something every Cardiff City, and indeed Wales fan, can be proud of. The Trust is giving fans the chance to vote online because there are many Bluebirds in the UK and across the world.”

“Fred Keenor and the 1927 team haven’t had the recognition their efforts justify and we’re determined to put that right. There remains a lot of work to do, including raising the necessary funds, but with City fans and the people of Cardiff and Wales behind us, we are very confident of raising the funds required,” added Mike.

Roger, who hails from Llantwit Major, was commissioned to produce the statue of Sir Tasker Watkins, which now stands outside the Millennium Stadium.

Cardiff-based James created the tributes to comedian Tommy Cooper in Caerphilly and the full-size bronze statue of Merthyr Tydfil’s boxing legend, Johnny Owen.

Michael, who also lives in Cardiff, produced the statue of footballer Ivor Allchurch, which stands outside the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.

The Trust plans to launch a public appeal for funding in the new year and will approach Cardiff council, the Welsh Assembly Government and local businesses for financial support, along with football fans. City chairman Peter Ridsdale has given his total support to the campaign.

The location for the statue has yet to be finalised but the most likely site remains at the Cardiff City Stadium, where land is available.

The Trust has received permission from the Football Association to use the image of the FA Cup as part of the statue.

Trust board member David Craig is acting as project manager for the work.

Fans who choose their favourite design through the Echo should send the form to CCST, PO Box 4254, Cardiff, CF14 8FD, by the December 12th closing date.

Firstly, I would like to give a warm welcome to the new members who have recently signed up with the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust, and I would also like to thank those of you who have renewed your memberships during the last couple of months. Your support is very much appreciated by the Trust’s board.

As you are no doubt aware, the club is already offering fans the chance to buy season tickets for the 2010/11 campaign. The ‘Platinum Ambassadors’ deal involves a promise of a guaranteed price freeze for a further four seasons for those of us who are amongst the first 10,000 supporters to purchase season tickets before 31/12/2009.

On the face of it, the offer appears to be an excellent one for City fans, whether you are a current season ticket holder or not. Naturally enough, the board of the Supporters’ Trust welcomes any initiative which gives our members a chance to save money. However, we currently have three main concerns about this scheme, which are as follows:

1) The fact that the club has once again implemented a new ticketing policy without any consultation whatsoever with the Trust, the Supporters’ Club or any of the other fans’ groups.

2) The fact that supporters are now unable to pay for their season tickets by interest-free instalments (the only instalment option is through a company called Zebra Finance and involves paying interest at a rate of almost 20% on top of the price of a season ticket).

3) The timing of the deal. Selling season tickets in the last week of October is a totally unprecedented move as far as Cardiff City is concerned. It would suggest that our club is once again desperate to raise money quickly, which is a definite worry considering the increased crowds following the move to the new stadium, the much-publicised talk of new investment and the fact that we are less than three months into the current campaign.

The Trust’s board will be meeting on Monday evening to discuss this issue, and ticketing policies are sure to be high on the agenda when our representatives next meet with the club’s officials. Therefore, we would like to hear your opinions on the subject of the Platinum Ambassadors scheme.

Do you think this initiative is a positive or a negative step for our club to be taking at this point in time? Do you have any particular concerns about the way the deal is structured? Will you be taking advantage of the club’s ‘Platinum Ambassadors’ offer? If not, why not?

Please e-mail your views to members@ccfctrust.org

Many thanks for your continued and much-valued support.

Dave Sugarman

Membership Secretary

Tiny Tilly Abraham has become the youngest-ever member of the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust after being registered by proud father Annis less than forty eight hours following her birth.

Bluebirds fanatic Annis contacted the Trust the day after Tilly’s arrival and ensured that she joined mother Joanne and sisters Annaise and Alexandra on the membership roll.

Tilly, who weighed in at 6lb 9oz, was delivered at the University Hospital of Wales on 22nd October. Mum Joanne, 34, said: “No sooner was the baby born than her father was talking about buying her a Cardiff City season ticket and signing her up with the Trust.”

Author and publisher Annis, from Castleton, said: “The whole family are massive Bluebirds fans. I’ve been taking Annaise and Alexandra to City matches ever since they were babies, and Tilly will be visiting the new stadium before long.”

He added: “Annaise was less than three years old when she saw her first City game, while Alexandra was just eight months. My only regret is that Tilly won’t get to watch the Bluebirds play at Ninian Park like her sisters did.”

Supporters’ Trust membership secretary Dave Sugarman said: “We have plenty of young members, but it’s safe to say that Tilly is our youngest!”

In the first issue of our Trust magazine, Moving to a Different Beat, we gave members a chance to win signed copies of the following books: Cardiff City Fans Through the Years by Annis Abraham Jnr, The Rise and Fall of the Cardiff City Valley RAMS by Gwyn Davies, and From Shattered Dreams to Wembley Way by Annis Abraham Jnr.

The question we asked was as follows:

When Annis Abraham Jnr first saw Cardiff City play in November 1973, the Bluebirds defeated Bolton Wanderers 1-0 in a Second Division game at Ninian Park. Which Cardiff-born Welsh international forward scored the winning goal?

The answer was Gil Reece, who made over 100 appearances for the club between 1972 and 1976.

The winners of the competition were as follows:

David Hutchinson of Pontypridd, who wins a copy of Cardiff City Fans Through the Years.

Cliff Jones of Bristol, who wins a copy of the Rise and Fall of the Cardiff City Valley RAMS.

David Griffiths of Cardiff, who wins a copy of From Shattered Dreams to Wembley Way.

The books will be sent out to the winners next week, but if they would like to collect their prizes before the Nottingham Forest game on Sunday, then they can drop membership secretary Dave Sugarman a line at the enquiries e-mail address below in order to make the necessary arrangements.

Look out for another competition in the next issue of Moving to a Different Beat, which should be available in January.

Celebrating Diwali

The Festival of Lights – the Trust helps celebrate Diwali in Grangetown

Celebrating Diwali

It was not a case of straight down the pub after the disappointment of the draw against Palace last month for some of us. No, members of the Trust’s Community Group were in celebratory mood as they joined in the festivities to mark Diwali at the Hindu Temple in Grangetown.

Diwali is a five day festival when homes are decorated and candles and lamps lit, rather like Christmas celebrations.  The festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil.  In Hindi, Diwali means “Festival of Lights” and it commemorates heroic figures in Indian mythology that triumphed over the forces of evil.

We had been invited to join the celebrations of the Hindu New Year by a group of young Hindus who had attended our community event at the stadium in September.  One of the lads is a season ticket holder and the group asked some very probing questions about the Cardiff City FC and the local community.  Our community evening was part of the Trust’s drive to bring club and the community closer together.

Members of the Community group attended the Hindu centre in Grangetown to celebrate the third day of Diwali which is the last day of the Hindu calendar.  We were given a fantastic welcome and made more good contacts on the night.  The evening included the serving of some superb Indian food before we sat down for the special Diwali show of Indian dancing.

Trust members enjoy the celebrations

The Grangetown Hindu Association has been running for 25 years and we were given a presentation on its history.  The evening was also a chance for the Association to honour the academic and sporting success of young Hindus.  As members of the Community Group we were particularly interested in the annual cricket tournament organised by the Association and we are looking at the possibility of organising a football tournament involving the Hindu community next year.

Special thanks must go to Mr Arvind Vasani, the Chair of the Association, and Shanta Rupalia who made us so welcome and gave us such a fantastic evening.

Tim Hartley

Vice Chair CCST