Cardiff City weren't promoted last night. Cardiff City died last summer'

[LCFC_FAN_1995]

Good read from one of few true Cardiff fans. 'Cardiff City weren't promoted last night. Cardiff City died last summer'

http://www.guardian....ied-last-summer

Scott Thomas, who started following Cardiff City during the 1975-76 season, explains why he does not regret walking away from the club last summer – even after promotion

Craig Bellamy celebrates Cardiff City's promotion to the Premier League. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images

In the summer of 2012 Cardiff City changed their colours from blue to red. The owner, Vincent Tan, thought the club would thrive on the field and in the Asian market if they played in red and wore a dragon on their shirt.

Some fans were pragmatic enough to accept the changes. They have gone on to enjoy the uptake in the team's form that culminated in Cardiff City's promotion to the Premier League on Tuesday night. Other supporters, such as Scott Thomas, thought the bargain was not worth it. After 30 years of following the club, Thomas walked away from Cardiff City last summer. Here he explains his decision.

"I don't watch Cardiff City games any more but, when I saw a picture of Craig Bellamy holding a red scarf emblazoned with dragons and the word 'Cardiff' rather than the club's proper name, it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. It confirmed that I made the right decision. I was surprisingly sanguine about the promotion. Cardiff City didn't go up last night; Cardiff City died last summer.

"Seeing fans celebrate on the pitch during a news bulletin felt like watching the plug being pulled from a life-support machine that has been keeping an old relative alive. It was just another day at the office for club I no longer recognise. They are just another team now, not the one I supported for decades.

"I never dreamed that Cardiff City would make it to the top flight and I wouldn't be there to see it. But the club I supported disappeared when a Malaysian businessman with no previous links to the city and no interestin its football took over Cardiff City and made it literally unrecognisable. The club I followed had history and traditions that went back 100 years, but now its future is subject to the whims of a single man.

"I began supporting the club when my uncle and cousin took me to a match against Sheffield Wednesday in the 1975-76 season. I followed them to over 60 grounds in the fourth, third and second tiers with 25 friends I picked up over the years. I'm proud to say only a few of those guys renewed their season tickets for this season and some of them will not be renewing for next year.

"It was big decision to walk away. Every fan has their own tipping point, but I knew immediately that I couldn't support a franchise. I wouldn't support a business like Tesco or Sainsbury's, and that's what Cardiff City have become. The club is no longer a community asset; it's just a football team that happens to play in the city. Cardiff City are one step away from MK Dons.

"Many supporters stayed and many more will join now – people love a bandwagon – but a lot of the old-timers go less regularly and with less passion. More would have left, but a perfect storm of circumstances whipped fans into a demented reaction. They were desperate for success after so many near-misses and couldn't bear to see Swansea City do so well up the road.

"I hate to admit it – old habits die hard – but Swansea City are a model club in many ways. Fan ownership has to be the way forward, but the Football Association aren't going protect the historical identity of clubs. The FA are just a booking agent for Wembley Stadium these days, as shown by the announcement of a 5.15pm kick-off time for this year's Cup final.

"Even the national team are inferior to Premier League clubs now. Owners with money – or the promise of money – can do as they please. The FA didn't prevent Newcastle from rebranding their stadium and they didn't save Wimbledon, so they weren't going to save Cardiff City. We have listed buildings in this country, but football clubs are a free for all.

"I could never support another club, but I've enjoyed watching other teams and other sports. I went to Wales's game in Scotland at Hampden last month, then to the Six Nations at Murrayfield and then to see Rangers play a few days later. Going to the Olympics and Paralympics, as well as rugby and boxing has been refreshing. On balance, it's better to be away from the venal, soul-destroying situation at Cardiff City."

[Guest MattP]

Great read.

[Guest Bilo]

First Class.

I think he and fans like him have been well and truly outnumbered by bandwagon jumpers though.

[buzzy]

very honest article from a fan who as had enough

[Webbo]

Get over it. So they changed the colour of their shirts, boo hoo.

[buzzy]

Get over it. So they changed the colour of their shirts, boo hoo.

no they lost there identity as a club its not just about changing colours. would you like lcfc to change to red and lose the fox on there badge and replace with something else i know i would not

[Webbo]

no they lost there identity as a club its not just about changing colours. would you like lcfc to change to red and lose the fox on there badge and replace with something else i know i would not

No I wouldn't but I'd soon get over it.

[Corky]

No I wouldn't but I'd soon get over it.

And change your avatar

[MooseBreath]

"The club is no longer a community asset"

That's the crux of it for me there. It would be great if football clubs were owned by the fans for the fans to the benefit of the community. But they're not, and haven't been for decades.

The fact that people get mad over something as trivial as a change of shirt colour (when shirts change pretty much every single season anyway) is laughable considering for how long and how far football has already drifted away from its roots.

Also it's a pretty interesting article to appear in the guardian. Obviously they're looking at it from an evil rich millionaire vs innocent commoner perspective, but actually if we were being honest I think we would admit that if Vincent Tan was a local, nobody would have given half a shit about changing the shirts. Just like we see constantly with our owners, he is given dogs abuse simply for being foreign. Nowhere in English football is that likely to be the case more than in the isolated backwaters of south Wales. It's just as much British people against foreigners than it is anything else. If the Guardian had their head screwed on they'd realise this.

hold on, if the guardian had their head screwed on when has that ever happened?

[Yojoe36]

Get over it. So they changed the colour of their shirts, boo hoo.

Inb4 King Power FC

[Fox92]

no they lost there identity as a club its not just about changing colours. would you like lcfc to change to red and lose the fox on there badge and replace with something else i know i would not

I think you'd get over it, especially if we were Premier League.

They have changed their kit colour - big deal! They haven't lost their history at all.

Many clubs have changed kit colour, including the likes of Leeds and Manchester United.

[Bayfox]

Fair play to him. I think i would feel the same. But would i want to miss out on last night?

However i do wonder how far away we are from our owners bending us over and right royally giving us a good shafting. So to speak.

[Bilbo]

Sad read. If Leicester decided to change their colours I would refuse to go also, due the principle that the club has played in blue since it was formed and it is part of the club's history/identity.

Really surprised at those saying "boo hoo", "get over it" etc, i thought our fans had better standards than to roll over just because some tycoon decides HE thinks one colour is "luckier" than the other.

[Fox92]

Really surprised at those saying "boo hoo", "get over it" etc, i thought our fans had better standards than to roll over just because some tycoon decides HE thinks one colour is "luckier" than the other.

We've all got different opinions, but at the end of the day, if we changed our shirt colour I'd still go. It's still Leicester City you're watching. Suppose the colour maybe 'luckier' now they are in the top flight!

[Haydos]

It's not changing the shirts, it's the changing of the club soul. And beyond that it's the changing of the club soul for money, for the profit of some random Malaysian who has no real interest. They're a product now and while cynics may say that all football clubs are nowadays, there's a clear difference.

[Bayfox]

Sad read. If Leicester decided to change their colours I would refuse to go also, due the principle that the club has played in blue since it was formed and it is part of the club's history/identity.

Really surprised at those saying "boo hoo", "get over it" etc, i thought our fans had better standards than to roll over just because some tycoon decides HE thinks one colour is "luckier" than the other.

But we havent!!!

Our 1st kit was brown with a pale blue sash. Hence the 125 year away kit.

[Simmo86]

It's not changing the shirts, it's the changing of the club soul. And beyond that it's the changing of the club soul for money, for the profit of some random Malaysian who has no real interest. They're a product now and while cynics may say that all football clubs are nowadays, there's a clear difference.

100% this.

People keep bleeding on about how others have changed their shirts. Leeds did it to copy another club, bit gay but fair enough. If Cardiff came out at the start of the season and said 'We changing to red next season so we look like Man Utd' then fair enough. Cringeworthy but fair enough. But the ONE and ONLY reason Cardiff changed the identity of their club is for money. Where does it stop? What will the fans do when Mr Malaysia wants to call them Cardiff Dragons? They've shafted themselves for one season in the Prem!

[C-man]

Get over it. So they changed the colour of their shirts, boo hoo.

Great attitude this. Wish more fans would follow your lead and accept the shit thrown at them on a daily basis by their club who once valued their support but now mercilessly exploits their loyalty.

If we change our kit to red and stuck a massive tiger above the fox on our badge, I would honestly never go again. It simply would no longer be the club that hooked me in aged 4.

[Webbo]

Cardiff haven't been in the top flight for 50 years, they were £83million in debt before Mr Tann took over. Can anyone honestly say that they'd rather be scrapping around in the lower leagues or out of business rather than change the shirt?

We changed our name from Leicester Fosse to City.We've had 3 different badges while I've been alive and I don't recall anyone giving a shit.

[Fox92]

100% this.

People keep bleeding on about how others have changed their shirts. Leeds did it to copy another club, bit gay but fair enough. If Cardiff came out at the start of the season and said 'We changing to red next season so we look like Man Utd' then fair enough. Cringeworthy but fair enough. But the ONE and ONLY reason Cardiff changed the identity of their club is for money. Where does it stop? What will the fans do when Mr Malaysia wants to call them Cardiff Dragons? They've shafted themselves for one season in the Prem!

Everything (or most things) in football are done for money.

Our owners took down the banners around the ground of our club legends, and replaced them with 'King Power'... If that's not selling their product, I don't know what is.

And as Webbo said, which I thought about earlier, we've changed our badge and name. I remember the voting of a club name only ten years ago as well.

Just think some of you are over-reacting - 'never watching the club again'! Cardiff might have lost a few fans (in the arlicle posted), but they are playing Premier League football next season. And Cardiff didn't get promoted because of this change, they got promoted with a consistent and good team led by a good manager.

[Guest Bilo]

Everything (or most things) in football are done for money.

Our owners took down the banners around the ground of our club legends, and replaced them with 'King Power'... If that's not selling their product, I don't know what is.

And as Webbo said, which I thought about earlier, we've changed our badge and name. I remember the voting of a club name only ten years ago as well.

And about 90% of fans binned off the idea, disproving the notion of 'what's in a name.'

I must admit I was disappointed with the idea of the King Power banners being purely blue with no club legends on them, as well as being disappointed that there wasn't more grumbling about it.

You would hope we would be much more proactive with any more drastic changes though, I'd be embarrassed to see us roll over if Top decided we were to be called the Elephants playing all in yellow like the Thai national team.

EDIT: As for Cardiff, the red kit change appears to be vindicated at the moment. A season like Reading or QPR have had, which doesn't seem unlikely given they've hardly been spectacular, may lead to their fans waking up to the reality of what's happened. There'd have been much more backlash if they hadn't gone up this season, which is obviously a major reason for them outspending every other team in the division.

[Kitchandro]

I think you'd get over it, especially if we were Premier League.

They have changed their kit colour - big deal! They haven't lost their history at all.

Many clubs have changed kit colour, including the likes of Leeds and Manchester United.

That is a very short-sighted view.

Do you realise how naive you sound?

[leicsmac]

Cardiff haven't been in the top flight for 50 years, they were £83million in debt before Mr Tann took over. Can anyone honestly say that they'd rather be scrapping around in the lower leagues or out of business rather than change the shirt?

We changed our name from Leicester Fosse to City.We've had 3 different badges while I've been alive and I don't recall anyone giving a shit.

It depends on the reason. There are certain lines that should never be crossed.

Changing the kit and badge of a football club solely to support the whims of a man who views a football club as an expensive plaything without any consultation from the fans - hell no.

Society today seems to be full of people that believe that because they have lots of money, they have power over things other people care more about. Football is a clear sign of that...quite possibly the clearest.

[Fox92]

That is a very short-sighted view.

Do you realise how naive you sound?

Yeah.

[Kitchandro]

100% this.

People keep bleeding on about how others have changed their shirts. Leeds did it to copy another club, bit gay but fair enough. If Cardiff came out at the start of the season and said 'We changing to red next season so we look like Man Utd' then fair enough. Cringeworthy but fair enough. But the ONE and ONLY reason Cardiff changed the identity of their club is for money. Where does it stop? What will the fans do when Mr Malaysia wants to call them Cardiff Dragons? They've shafted themselves for one season in the Prem!

I wouldn't say it was fair enough if we changed to be like Man Utd.

The difference is Leeds had a different colour kit for about 40 years, and they changed it over 50 years ago. It's not comparable. They didn't have it for 100 years. And the fans who watch them now, pretty much all of them will only remember them playing in white.

If we did a Cardiff I'd have all these memories of a club who played in blue. Then a month later 'we're' playing in red. No, sorry, not having it, that's not my club. That's the red dragons. Or whatever.

People say the club would still be the same because it's still in Leicester. That's like saying Man City is the same club as Man Utd, then.