CARDIFF CITY SUPPORTERS TRUST have released a press statement this evening in response to another weekend of bad news stories, mayhem and disputes between the football club and newspapers at the expense of the supporters knowing what is going on.
It is time to ask serious questions, stand up and be counted and credit to the Trust for asking individuals to pool shares and shareholders to call for an E.G.M. to make the club and key representatives accountable for providing factual detail and clarity.
The following statement has today been issued to the press by the board of the Cardiff City Supporters' Trust:
Members of the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust are bitterly disappointed to read reports today of further financial problems at our football club. If Sunday's newspaper reports are accurate, it appears the fans have not been dealt with honestly by the club’s board of directors.
More than ten thousand supporters have recently parted with their cash to buy season tickets for next season on the clear understanding that the money will be going towards strengthening the squad during the January transfer window. If the newspaper reports are true, then it seems we have been duped into bailing the club out, as the money we have been paying for our season tickets will be used to clear outstanding tax bills.
There appears to be very little transparency in the club's dealings with its fans. We need to know if we have been sold false promises. Were the statements made by the club inaccurate? From what we have read, it appears the club’s finances are not being managed properly. It seems that, once again, Cardiff City is in a terrible financial mess, with significant bills not being paid on time.
We believe the fans are entitled to know who is being made accountable for this situation. Attendances are good, season ticket sales are excellent, players have been sold for many millions of pounds in recent times and yet the club is still allegedly in danger of going out of business. So why on earth have the major shareholders and board of directors allowed the club to get into such a mess?
We will be consulting members of the Supporters Trust and other individuals who hold shares in our club this week to discuss the possibility of calling an Emergency General Meeting of shareholders. We feel the club’s major shareholders have a duty to the other shareholders and the supporters to explain the current situation.
We believe the fans and the shareholders deserve some straight answers to the following questions:
Is Cardiff City Football Club genuinely facing the prospect of being put into administration, with all the sanctions such a course of action would bring from the football authorities?
Future income streams are apparently being earmarked to pay current debts, so what are the directors’ plans for the time when all of these sources of income have been used up?
Are there any serious investors in negotiations to take the club over, or is that merely a smokescreen while we are once again being asked to dig into our pockets?
We believe the fans and the shareholders have a right to know what the true situation is so that we can attempt to prepare for a worst-case scenario. The vast majority of Bluebirds supporters are fed up of hearing about the club’s financial problems, and we have had enough of the positive spin that invariably accompanies any bad news stories. We implore the club’s board to be honest with us. We want to know the truth, however alarming it may be.
Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust Board
Sunday, 3rd January, 2009
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