Sky Bet Championship: Cardiff City will revert to blue home kit with immediate effect
Friday 9 January 2015 15:48, UK
Cardiff City will change their home kit back from red to blue with immediate effect, owner Vincent Tan has confirmed.
The decision to alter the team’s home colour to red in June 2012 proved unpopular with many of the club’s fans and, following a meeting between Cardiff officials and supporters on Thursday night, Tan has bowed to pressure by agreeing to revert to a blue home kit.
Tan's move came on the back of a record-low Cardiff City Stadium crowd of just over 4,000 for the FA Cup third-round tie with Colchester, plans for anti-red protests and the threat of thousands of season tickets not being renewed.
There was unanimous support at the meeting for the Sky Bet Championship club to make the change, with the traditional Bluebird crest replacing the dragon as Cardiff's primary emblem.
To paraphrase John F. Kennedy: 'Let us never compromise out of fear. But let us never fear to compromise.'
In a statement, Tan said: "The Christmas and New Year period has given me time to reflect on the events of the last year. Spending time with my family had a profound effect upon me. My mother, Madam Low Siew Beng, a devout Buddhist, who attended Cardiff City Football Club to watch them play, spoke to me on the importance of togetherness, unity and happiness.
"Cardiff City Football Club is important to me and I wish to see it united and happy. With the guidance, blessing and influence of my mother, I asked my Chairman, Mehmet Dalman and Chief Executive Officer, Ken Choo for their advice and to consult with a good cross-section of the fan base.
"This meeting took place last night (Thursday), when some 70 representatives of our supporters were present. My thanks and gratitude to those who gave up their evening and time to be there. I am informed that this was a very productive and frank exchange of views, but all with the same objective to strengthen our club. These views were also added to by a large number of emails that were sent to the club over the last 24 hours from our wider supporter base.
"To paraphrase John F. Kennedy: 'Let us never compromise out of fear. But let us never fear to compromise.'
"My wish is to unite and make the club successful and in order to achieve this I fully support the Board’s decision to implement the following changes.
"Starting from Saturday, 10 January 2015 and until the end of this season, our home kit shall be blue. Our away kit shall be red. I would like to thank the Football League for their approval to facilitate my request.
"For the 2015-16 season, Cardiff City’s home kit colour shall be blue. Our away kit colour shall be red. The club badge will be redesigned to reflect the dominance of the Bluebird, while celebrating the proud history and heritage of the club. I also wish to incorporate elements representative of my culture and beliefs, which I hope are respected."
Cardiff play host to Fulham in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday.
