" TRAVEL GROUP MEETING UPDATE " 6th Feb 2012..

I attended a Travel Group meeting last week at the Cardiff City Stadium and here is the run down of what happened.

The meetings normally take place in either the boardroom or the chairman's lounge, but on arrival at the stadium I was advised to go to the home dressing room. When I entered the dressing room there was home shirts hanging on the pegs with the name of the 15 members of the travel group printed on the back of each shirt. I took my seat and noticed as well as the South Wales Police representatives who are usually present, along with Wayne Nash, Julian Jenkins, Mona Sabubba we were also in the company of Alan Whiteley and Malky Mackay.

Malky came around the dressing room and spoke with each of us individually and signed the shirts that were given as a gesture of gratitude from the club for the efforts and hard work we as travel group providers put in each and every week to take fans to away games. It was certainly a surprise for me and something I will always be grateful for, we learned later in the meeting that the shirts will be embroidered with the details of the Carling Cup Final before they are handed to each of us.

Malky Mackay then sat next to Alan Whiteley and thanked us as a group for our efforts, he said the welcome he and his staff have been given since joining City has been superb. Malky poured a huge amount of praise on the City fans and spoke about how he is always impressed when he looks to the away end and sees the amount of City fans there supporting the team, he likened our support to that of Celtic.

Malky offered to have a Q+A with us in the dressing room and a few questions were offered. He told us how close we had been to signing Craig Noone and only the fact the Brighton chairman flew into the UK on the Tuesday afternoon and 'overruled' everyone else that the deal died. Malky also spoke of the £3million bid for Sordell and he told us that he certainly has the backing of the Malaysian investors plus the welsh directors. He said he will strengthen in the loan window.

Malky was asked about Kadeem Harris and he said he has certainly been bought as 'one for the future' but as proved with Joe Ralls and Joe Mason, if the player is given the chance and excels then he will be used. He explained how he is careful when using youngsters and knowing the time when to pull them out of the team is critical to their development.

Malky explained that on an away match the dressing room is 'Blued up' with City flags and badges and a City badge is put on the dressing room door to make the changing room feel as much ours as anything else, he said that once the kit man Ian Lanning has set out the dressing room to his satisfaction 3 hours before kick-off, Lanning then literally stands guard in the dressing room and nobody other than City staff can enter.

Many will have Gwyn Davies' speech that he read on behalf of the travel group and City fans, I got to say Gwyn certainly summed up my feelings and for that I thank you.

Malky and Alan Whiteley left the travel group to attend to business and the 'usual' meeting got underway.

The first issue to be discussed was the drum. The overriding feeling was that the drum has been a success but there have been a dozen or so complaints received objecting to it, for the foreseeable future the drum will stay, Wayne Nash stated that he was against the idea of having a drum but feels as time goes by he has to move with the times. Canton Stand season ticket holders will be surveyed about their feelings towards the drum in the next few weeks.

The allocation for the Leicester City away game on Saturday 11th February will be a minimum of 2,000. At the time of the meeting just 374 tickets had been sold for the fixture.

West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system. West Ham have protested against the voucher exchange but Wayne Nash has been clear and stated that they will travel under the same restrictions we did going to Upton Park.

Cardiff will be allocated 2,500 tickets for the midweek fixture at Brighton on Wednesday 7th March, while the game at Bristol City on Saturday 10th March will be a voucher exchange for Bluebirds fans.

On Tuesday the 14th Feb City host Peterborough at CCS and the club will be announcing a family initiative to gain a larger attendance for the fixture.

Julian Jenkins announced that there will also be an advertising campaign at the two main Cardiff train stations aimed at further improving home attendances for the remainder of the season but did note that this will be done after the Six Nations fixtures are played.

Wayne Palmer revealed that just 21 Cardiff fans have been arrested so far this season and last season there was 44 in total. The majority of the arrests have been for minor offences. He stated that due to the continue fall in the number of arrests does help with us having lesser restrictions placed on us.

Wayne Nash mentioned that he had attended a 'threat assessment' meeting in London the previous day and the behaviour of Cardiff fans during our three previous visits was praised by the stadium's staff and the Metropolitan Police commanders who have been responsible for controlling matches at Wembley. It was highlighted that the concerns the police and intelligence have are that Liverpool fans and not that of ours.

All pubs will be closed around Wembley exactly one hour before kick off to try and deter those going to London without a ticket from travelling, this has been done at previous games held at Wembley.

Wayne Nash said that he has spoken with Wembley stadium officials and he ahs suggested that an area be set aside where City fans can pay their respects to Mikey and the club are waiting for a response from Wembley officials but he did state that it will happen but it is just which area it will be set at is yet to be decided.

The meeting ended at this point.

When City played Crystal Palace at home in the second leg of the Carling Cup, the electronic advertising board in from of the Grandstand cost each company who used it, £2000 for three 20 second adverts.

When discussing the distribution of Wembley tickets, one of the suggestions put forward was that we should maximise the attendance for the Blackpool and Peterborough games by offering supporters in receipt of these two games ticket stubs a guarantee to buy a Wembley ticket but as you now know it was decided that season tickets be rewarded, therefore hopefully maximising revenue for a full season as opposed to a short term gain.

Swansea fans have been singing their own praises recently about the away support but living down this way I get to here quite a bit about the jacks and their following and I know of many cases where their fans are buying away tickets but not actually attending the game, they buy tickets for the likes of Barnsley and Bolton to aid their points scoring for other away games so they can get to see the more glamorous of Premiership teams. So their away attendances are not so cracked up to be as the figures suggest.

thanks for the details carl, and I'm sure everyone will be reading this with interest, even the people who seem to take pleasure in knocking you.

thanks for the hard work

Thanks Carl

Malky in 6 months has over turned the negativity of 6 years of Dave Jones and it is nice to see loyal fans get rewarded for their hard unpaid work.

To me the club is moving in all the right directions and we are building strong foundations for the future.

Cheers Carl

thanks for the details carl, and I'm sure everyone will be reading this with interest, even the people who seem to take pleasure in knocking you.

thanks for the hard work

Thank you

When City played Crystal Palace at home in the second leg of the Carling Cup, the electronic advertising board in from of the Grandstand cost each company who used it, £2000 for three 20 second adverts.

Funny I just mentioned this, where have they gone?

An interesting read

Cheers Carl.

Glad all the travel organisers were rewarded though.

Cheers Carl. Can't wait for the loan window updates

It will be interesting to see who we go for as our loan signings.

cheers carl,

i like the team spirit with the away dressing room ideas !

didnt the jacks offer an away ticket season ticket (if that makes sense) Im sure there was a jack on here bragging about it at the beginning of the season, but im not surprised that ticket sales and actual attendances are miles apart if this away ticket deal was offered to them as the tickets would be shown as sold even if they dont go

Nice bit of info there Carl, cheers. Malky says we WILL be strengthening in the window. That's good news

thanks Carl - anything on away members ticket allocation for WEMBLEY ?

Good update - why ruin it by commenting on the Jacks tho? I don't care how many tickets they sell and their points system.

good write up, nice to see malky taking time to attend. what a man he is.

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

I so wish we went with the Blackpool & Peterborough ticket stubbs. I might have been able to go then.
Also that about the Jacks. Should shut Magicdaps and WalesNo1 up

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

In fairness 1800 away fans will improve atmosphere and will bring in more cash

I so wish we went with the Blackpool & Peterborough ticket stubbs. I might have been able to go then.
Also that about the Jacks. Should shut Magicdaps and WalesNo1 up

A few people bought tickets for the Barnsley and Bolton games to get points in order to enhance their chances of getting tickets for Premier League games as it the place to watch football, not these cup games that Carl mentioned where our reserves play

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

In fairness 1800 away fans will improve atmosphere and will bring in more cash

Gareth, Usually agree with everything you say, but we should of been treated the same as Westham and Wayne Nash should stand up to these clubs more.

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

In fairness 1800 away fans will improve atmosphere and will bring in more cash

The extra 800 fans will only improve the atmosphere for the away team. If we get shit on then we should return the favour if we have the chance.

Thanks Carl, great report. Glad that WHU are having a voucher exchange system, even if they are getting more tickets than we did. We should have charged them £32, or whatever it was, as well. The only way to deal with these clubs is to throw our treatment back at them. Same should apply to the Worzels next time they are here.

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

In fairness 1800 away fans will improve atmosphere and will bring in more cash

The extra 800 fans will only improve the atmosphere for the away team. If we get shit on then we should return the favour if we have the chance.

Are you real! Lets give them a free pie and pint as well shall we. As for returning the favour, we have already been there this season

That update was marginally interesting.

Agree with Annis on West Ham.

Carl, who are the loan targets?

Cheers.

He said he will strengthen in the loan window.

Cheers carl

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

In fairness 1800 away fans will improve atmosphere and will bring in more cash

Gareth, Usually agree with everything you say, but we should of been treated the same as Westham and Wayne Nash should stand up to these clubs more.

I agree with you on the principle of the matter but 800 more fans at 25quid brings in 20 grand to the club which is the wages of a good loan player for a month. Sometimes you have to sacrifice principles

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

In fairness 1800 away fans will improve atmosphere and will bring in more cash

The extra 800 fans will only improve the atmosphere for the away team. If we get shit on then we should return the favour if we have the chance.

Are you real! Lets give them a free pie and pint as well shall we. As for returning the favour, we have already been there this season

Think you miss understood that

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

In fairness 1800 away fans will improve atmosphere and will bring in more cash

The extra 800 fans will only improve the atmosphere for the away team. If we get shit on then we should return the favour if we have the chance.

Are you real! Lets give them a free pie and pint as well shall we. As for returning the favour, we have already been there this season

I think you misinterpreted my post. We should only give them what we had (1000 tickets) and piss in their lager

Carl,
What's happened here,

"West Ham have been allocated 1,800 tickets for the game in Cardiff on Sunday 4th March and they will have a voucher exchange system."

When we went there, first game of the season, we were only given 1000 tickets, with the promise that they would be treated the same! So what has changed?
It's bad enough that the BBC have moved it to the Sunday and it's now on the box for all there scum to watch.
End of Rant

We would have had the option of 1800 tickets at West Ham but only sold 1150.

Cheers Carl