Supporters Dirct have issued a very important statement that addresses the Cardiff City issues, something that every football fan should be concerned with.
Following the announcement from the owners of Cardiff City FC that they intend to ‘reactivate rebranding proposals’ to radically alter the identity of one of Wales’s most historic football clubs in return for ‘investment’, we believe that this raises some wider and very serious questions about the role of supporters at their football clubs.
It is widely recognised that supporters must be given the opportunity to play a more active role in the life of their clubs, and that the position they occupy is not comparable to that of an ordinary customer or consumer.
This was reinforced last July by the Select Committee for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, following their inquiry into Football Governance in England and Wales. Their report supported our call for the introduction of proper, structured relationships between fans and clubs through supporters’ trusts, to increase the understanding between the two, and ensure a decision making process that takes into account a club’s most valuable stakeholder.
Kevin Rye from Supporters Direct said, “The Cardiff City case has resonance for all football clubs in England and Wales, where still on too many occasions, supporters are treated as paying customers who are considered to have no real ownership of the club they have, in many cases, supported for years.
“In cases such as these, we believe that there is a need for a clear pathway for supporter consultation on issues such as the identity or location of a football club.
“We fully support the moves by the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust to ensure that any changes that radically alter the identity of their football club are both consulted upon, and that the reasons for doing it are sound. It is vitally important to ensure that commercial based decisions are not made at the expense of the social value clubs offer to their supporters and wider community.
“We believe that if Cardiff city fans were part of the club’s governance, for example by having a supporter director on the board, then issues like this would occur less often.”