Cardiff City’s Malaysian owners have proposed changing the club’s shirts from blue to red, is it another example of foreign owners failing to understand a club’s culture?
If the owners of Cardiff City one day face fan protest and similar scenes to the Venky’s at Blackburn, they will be able to pin point this moment as when it all started to go wrong.
They have suggested the club, nicknamed the ‘Bluebirds’, change their traditional home strip from blue to red.
Why? Because red is seen as more ‘dynamic’ in Asia. Shouldn’t they have just bought Barnsley instead?
There is one other reason for the suggestion, is is put forward that the ‘red’ has more connotations with the Welsh flag, which would give the nickname the ‘Red Dragons’ taking the symbol from the country’s flag.
Surely if Welsh fans want that national pride, they can attend the matches of the Welsh national team?
It is not so easy to change over a century of history. Looking back to the past, Cardiff have nearly always had a blue home shirt, from 1908 onwards. Only in 1899 when they were known as Riverside, did they play in brown and gold.
This one may not be so easy for Cardiff to wriggle out of though. The owners are believed to be making the kit and nickname change a condition of investing a much-needed £100 million into the team and towards stadium expansion.
Should Cardiff sell their soul for money? Or is it just a kit after all?
The club do need investment, their squad was the weakest of any to make the play-offs, which was cruelly exposed by West Ham over both legs.
Perhaps Bluebirds fans should be thankful the owners haven’t suggested a name change. In 2005, Austria Salzburg was bought up and renamed Red Bull Salzburg by the drinks company.
It could always be worse. What has angered Cardiff fans is that the designs for the kit have already been drawn up and revealed by the club’s chief executive Alan Whiteley, with no direct consultation from the owners themselves.
You tell us, is it a bad idea, or one supporters should tolerate?
image: © joncandy
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