ealingfox Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan open to name change Comments (129) Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has said that promotion to the Premier League could trigger further "rebranding" and did not rule out changing the club's name to Cardiff Dragons. The Malaysian billionaire has already insisted upon a colour change from blue to red, as well as a new club crest. "We will think about it when we know the final result of this season," he said about using Cardiff Dragons. "Then we will think what's the best way to brand it." Tan acknowledged the "rumours" that have recently emerged over the use of Cardiff Dragons but added: "We haven't discussed this. I've not really thought about this in detail. "But when we get there we'll make a decision. And when we make a decision we will convey it to everyone." Tan, who has an estimated wealth of $1.3bn, wants Cardiff to maximise all possible revenue and marketing opportunities in Asia. Who is Vincent Tan? Named on the Forbes billionaire list with an estimated worth of $1.3bn (£800m) He is chairman and chief executive of Berjaya Group and it is a portfolio which includes golfing, property, resorts and gambling Owns social networking site Friendster.com and has shares in Facebook Operates Malaysia's MiTV pay-TV service Bought Malaysia's McDonald's franchise in 1982 and in 1985 bought Sports Toto lottery agency After buying more than 35% of the club's shares for £6m in 2010, the 61-year-old Malaysian threatened to withdraw his support in June unless the club agreed to ditch its traditional blue home shirts in favour of red ones. The new colours were accepted, so too a new badge as a Welsh dragon replaced the bluebird, and further investment followed. In an interview with BBC Wales' Sport Wales programme, he justified the "controversial decision" of the club's colours, and stressed he is prepared to and intends to make more changes. "A few were upset but like in any business if we get 80% or 75% of the customers happy, with 20-25% not happy, that's fine," he said. "If they don't want to come to support our business, that's fine. We need the majority." He added: "I believe the change is for the better. And if you put in a lot of money, surely you have the right to make a call on some things you believe will make it better. "If you don't have a say, why the hell do you want to put in so much money?" After years of financial instability, Cardiff were on the brink of administration before Tan's takeover as part of a Malaysian consortium. Cardiff City's new badge, dominated by a red dragon The club continues to struggle financially, recording losses of £13.6m in the year up to the end of May 2012, with an overall recorded debt of £83.1m. The accounts also show that the debt to Langston, the company represented by ex-City owner Sam Hammam, is put at £19.2m, with a one-off payment of £5m due if City reach the Premier League while the debt is outstanding. Tan said that resolving this debt is a priority for the club, and again called on Langston to renegotiate to a "fair level" and then convert the "unsecured" loan into equity. If that happens, Tan said he is willing to turn the £63m loan he has given to the club into equity. "Their loan is not secured," he said. "If anything happens to the club, Langston will get nothing. So I will convert [my loan] if we can resolve with Langston. "And if Sam Hammam loves Cardiff as he claims he does, he should come and sit down and then we'll find a solution." Having failed in the Championship play-offs three years in a row, Cardiff are in a stronger position than ever to reach the Premier League. They have an eight-point lead with 13 games remaining, but Tan said he would not walk away if promotion was not secured. "If the fans welcome me, I can stay for a long time," he said, promising a further £25m to manager Malky Mackay for new players should they go up. "But if I find they are not welcoming and rude, then maybe I will find a new buyer and go off. But if I were to sell, I'd make sure I would leave it in good hands." A section of Cardiff fans continue to oppose Tan's colour change. A protest was held at the end of the last home game to Brighton - which Tan attended - when free red scarves were handed out. Tan referred to the dissenting voices as "a bunch of mostly young kids" and argued a change was long overdue. "Have they achieved any success under this bluebirds brand?," he asked "So why do we hold onto something that hasn't achieved much success?"
foxfanazer Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Absolutely soulless!! Just a brand to them. Hope we don't become the same. Don't think we will though
Finnegan Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 I highly doubt out owners would ever feel the need to change our name. Tan is trying to buy in to the Welsh identity as a unique front for the club. Leicester has no cultural, international significance. The few local symbols that are relevant (Foxes, coat of arms, etc) are already tied to the club.
ealingfox Posted 28 February 2013 Author Posted 28 February 2013 Luckily for them, I can't think of anything else he realistically could do after changing the name. Can't imagine the Cardiff fans will care too much to be honest, pretty sure they'll go with anything as long as the super-effective hoofball continues.
MC Prussian Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Must be great being a Cardiff City fan now - very likely to get promoted, but the club the way they knew it would cease to exist. I hope our owners will use the Redbirds' case as an example of how not to run a football club.
AdamN Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 I highly doubt out owners would ever feel the need to change our name. Tan is trying to buy in to the Welsh identity as a unique front for the club. Leicester has no cultural, international significance. The few local symbols that are relevant (Foxes, coat of arms, etc) are already tied to the club. Plus, it seems they've actually got their heads screwed on and have some sort of understanding about the mentality of football fans (touch wood!). In the past few years, we've gone from being Leicester City with sponsors to being Leicester City with a few different sponsors. Hardly anything to write home about. But still. UP "THE ORANGES" LEICESTER FOXES PREMIER LEAGUE 2014!! Yeaahhhh!!!
goose2010 Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 The thing i would worry about if I was a Cardiff fan would be what happens if they get relagated after 1 season in the premier league. How would there owners react to them getting less than say 30 points? Then coming back down to the championship and then struggling to go back up (bit like Bolton and Wolves) would they still plough the money in or move on?
ealingfox Posted 28 February 2013 Author Posted 28 February 2013 Plus, it seems they've actually got their heads screwed on and have some sort of understanding about the mentality of football fans (touch wood!). In the past few years, we've gone from being Leicester City with sponsors to being Leicester City with a few different sponsors. Hardly anything to write home about. But still. UP "THE ORANGES" LEICESTER FOXES PREMIER LEAGUE 2014!! Yeaahhhh!!! 2014/2015 Home Kit Now On Sale!
Raw Dykes Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Laughable. They'll drop Cardiff from the name next. Wales Dragons.
Finnegan Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Blue and white appear to be the colours of King Power already else I wouldn't write off them trying this stuff on us. We're a marketing tool for them. They're renamed our ground and smothered it and us in Thai branding, it's hardly like we're untouched by their influence. 2014/2015 Home Kit Now On Sale! Don't get Kokopops' hopes up.
foxfanazer Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Blue and white appear to be the colours of King Power already else I wouldn't write off them trying this stuff on us. We're a marketing tool for them. They're renamed our ground and smothered it and us in Thai branding, it's hardly like we're untouched by their influence. Can't really blame them for that. They've certainly put enough money into the club (playing staff, training facilities, relaying of the pitch etc) Think they seem a lot more in touch that the Cardiff owners
Raw Dykes Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Blue and white appear to be the colours of King Power already else I wouldn't write off them trying this stuff on us. We're a marketing tool for them. They're renamed our ground and smothered it and us in Thai branding, it's hardly like we're untouched by their influence. True, but the stadium has always had a sponsors name. That's fair game. Of course there are indications of their ownership on the club, but none of them go any further than branding what was already branded by someone else before. To try to compare what our owners have done to what Cardiff's have done is grasping at straws, really.
Leicesterpool Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Daft as this might sound but just imagine if one day a rich owner buys a football league club he changes the colours and what have you, then suddenly he realizes that there just isn't much of a fan base in that city so he decides to relocate the club but decides not relocate the club in england not even in Britain, but actually going the whole hog by moving the club abroad and bringing in a club from abroad into our League. Being the first ever non british club to enter the english league, stupid as it might sound we could start having rumours of clubs being bought out and being relocated abroad and playing our league! Okay sounds mad might never happen but in this day and age it doesn't sound far fetched either. So just imagine that Malaysia DRAGONS v Plymouth Arygle!
ealingfox Posted 28 February 2013 Author Posted 28 February 2013 Another little interview with Tan: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-21610017 He sounds like a committed and astute businessman, and maybe even a decent bloke, but its clear as day the sentiments of history and tradition don't even register with him.
21st Century Fox Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 I highly doubt out owners would ever feel the need to change our name. Tan is trying to buy in to the Welsh identity as a unique front for the club. Leicester has no cultural, international significance. The few local symbols that are relevant (Foxes, coat of arms, etc) are already tied to the club. No way! We'll be Leicester Carpark Kings next season. Money in the bank.
ealingfox Posted 28 February 2013 Author Posted 28 February 2013 Interestingly, there already is a Cardiff Dragons FC: http://cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk/
ADK Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 To be honest i'm torn on the whole thing, didn't Leeds change their kit in the 60's to white? I can't see them changing the name from Cardiff City, Cardiff Dragons would just sound bad. They arnt going to relocate as they already in the capital.
AyewJoking Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 "Then we will think about the best way to brand it" In the same way they changed the colour of the shirt, it will mean fúck all in the long term. They are widely known as Cardiff even though (at the minute) its Cardiff City. Likely they will be nicknamed the dragons by fans, pundits etc further wiping out the "bluebirds".
Guest Bilo Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 It's already been noted that the blue 'away' shirt seems to be actively avoided of late when there's a kit clash. I daresay blue will be completely expunged from all of Cardiff's kits next season, and this name change will certainly go ahead. Some of us predicted this when their fans readily, in some cases enthusiastically, accepted the colour change and were accused of being 'anti-modern-football' drama queens. It's basically another Red Bull Salzburg drawn out over a longer period of time. Red Bull purchased a skint SV Austria Salzburg, poured money into the club then stripped every hint of its identity. Annoyed SV Austria Salzburg fans set up their own amateur club in the non-leagues and it continues to progress despite Red Bull Salzburg's ongoing success. Over to you now Cardiff fans, chance to win some respect when this goes ahead.
AyewJoking Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 It's already been noted that the blue 'away' shirt seems to be actively avoided of late when there's a kit clash. I daresay blue will be completely expunged from all of Cardiff's kits next season, and this name change will certainly go ahead. Some of us predicted this when their fans readily, in some cases enthusiastically, accepted the colour change and were accused of being 'anti-modern-football' drama queens. It's basically another Red Bull Salzburg drawn out over a longer period of time. Red Bull purchased a skint SV Austria Salzburg, poured money into the club then stripped every hint of its identity. Annoyed SV Austria Salzburg fans set up their own amateur club in the non-leagues and it continues to progress despite Red Bull Salzburg's ongoing success. Over to you now Cardiff fans, chance to win some respect when this goes ahead. Yes but should Bluebirds FC start out in the Welsh or English foundations?
Guest Bilo Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Yes but should Bluebirds FC start out in the Welsh or English foundations? I do think you could be onto something there. This bloke isn't stupid, he knows he has the club over a barrel. The club are £80m in debt to him, an amount that could make Pompey's financial woes seem mild. All he has to do is threaten to pull out again, and the Cardiff fans' pants start going brown and smelly until they're forced to accept a name change. It worked with the kit change, it'll work with the name change. The thing is now that they're even more dependent on him. He's invested huge amounts in loan form so that is a golden ball and chain. He can easily argue now that they'd go into liquidation immediately after he pulled the cash out. Good luck to them getting back in the English leagues as a new or phoenix club once that happened, the legal challenge from the Old Firm would scupper that instantly. I think we now know why Tan invested in Cardiff rather than an English club.
Finnegan Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Plenty of Welsh clubs in the English league, there's already a precedent there, a phoenix club with enough support would easily get in the English system. Must you sensationalize EVERYTHING to do with Cardiff?
Guest Bilo Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Swansea, Newport, Wrexham et al have all been there for years. Their presence in the FL and English league system actually predates the FAW. UEFA would dig their heels in as they're opposed to teams joining leagues outside their geographical borders, the Old Firm would kick off and cause a legal storm over it as well. You can talk about fanbase but two massive, established clubs with fanbases Cardiff can only dream of can't get in after years of battling. Why would the phoenix version with the remnants of a fanbase that was only ever Championship level at best be allowed in over two of the biggest clubs in Europe?
MooseBreath Posted 28 February 2013 Posted 28 February 2013 Tan has issued a statement denying he is going to change it now. Shame. Article is in the daily mail. Interesting bit about the existing Cardiff dragons fc in there as well. I think a few posters from here must play for them.
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