Steve Borley respects those against the rebrand as to those

against modern football, he cant understand

Tue, 21 May 2013
steve borley


I keep reading about people wanting to protest against modern football but what is the modern football they are wanting to protest about.
I remember a s young kid going to watch City against Leeds in the cup in a 50'000 crowd where there was fighting throughout and I admit was scared stiff, is this the retro football they want to go back to where families were an afterthought.

I've seen us play against Millwall in first game of the season where the police bill was more than the gate receipts , is this what they want to return to rather than the 14 police free games we had last season and club benefits

its great to go to CCS and see so many girls and women going to games or would they rather return to the stadium where women's toilets were non existent as the stadium was designed for 50,000 flat cap wearing fans.

CCS has great views wherever you sit or would they rather return to a stadium with restricted views.

CCS is now a stadium that works 365 days a year rather than 30 event days a year thus increasing revenues, is this a product of modern football

Is modern football so bad when you can now produce a pitch that looks great for the entire season when in days gone past we would be playing on a mad and sand quagmire after Christmas. I recon the pitch cost us promotion in 71 as much as anything else.

Is modern football so bad that you see flowing football and fantastic goals or was the football so much better under Durban

Is modern football so bad when you can develop a community system that employs over 80 staff running education and development programmes in fantastic facilities or was it better when run in school yards by teachers.

Is it so bad that it is now more inclusive when we run football, Futsal, basketball ,netball branded teams for elite, male, female, able bodied and disabled persons and more accessible to all.

I know this is long winded but to have a go at the club over the definition over modern football is to have a go at its very fabric which is not just frontline football.

Our ticket prices will be amongst the lowest in the division next year, and we will again win awards for fans match day experiences for both home and away fans.

If you are against the rebrand and the colours then I respect that but to wrap it up as a product of how the club has evolved and developed is crazy. I think the club has earned its wide spread praise for the way its reputation has been turned around.

He is quite right.

How old are you by the way and what experiences have you had of pre modern football to compare to?

I agree with Steve regarding modern football, we had to move on and even though I miss Ninian Park big time, I understand we needed to go forward with our new stadium etc. If you want to be in the Premier League, you have to move with the times.

But as to the stripping of our identity, I will never agree with it, nor accept it and will always continue to try what I can do to get our identity back in a respectful manner. I have explained all this before, so I wont go in to it in full again.
Not wearing anything Red is is one of the simplest protests.

I detest the Colour/Badge, would never buy it, wear it or accept it Free, but thats my belief.
I support the team and the name Cardiff City, The Bluebirds and Blue is the only colour ive known as our first kit since I started in 1972 Supporting them.

Myself and My Family are Pure Blue and Always will be



I never wore Football shirts and yes I wasnt a scarfer, but I watched my team play their home games in Blue, I identified Cardiff City as a Blue team as a kid and All I knew was Blue growing up, to me Cardiff City football Club is Blue and wanting them to remain that way and wanting them now to return back to Blue,is what I want and how I feel and many other Cardiff Fans feel the same.

Steve is totally right about "modern football".

ive been lucky enough to support city long enough to have watched them in all divisions...

i started enjoying my city experience back in 1992.. since 2002 ive had a season ticket, 1st in the lower grandstand at ninian park A block, then moved to the bob bank terrace for the last yr of np.

ive enjoyed many a home and away game with city against all forms of opposition, but while i look forward to every new season, i dont think ive ever been as excited as now...

its great times to be a city fan... its unthinkable how far we have come in the last 10 yrs or so... while i have enjoyed the whole ride up to now, asked if i would want to go back to how it was?? "nah your alright"

yes i miss ninian park games etc.... but this is a new era for cardiff city.... its exciting and im buzzing for next season...

Call it what you like Cardiff are moving in the right direction.

I agree with Borley and his take on modem football and being able to move forward. What I don't get is all these kids protesting against modern football,when modern football is all they've known.

Some of the sarcastic pricks on that thread have extremely short or selective memories. Steve Borley has done more for this club than all the anonymous trolls put together and is more Cardiff than the majority of us and has risked a hell of a lot more

I was proud to shake his hand recently, and just to say"Thank you".

Agree with everything Steve has said.

We had to move on or be left behind (although some would apparently have preferred that).

I can now take my daughters to watch Cardiff City with their mothers blessing, would never have happened back at NP or during our dark days when trouble followed us wherever we went.

Football is now for families and not just a lads day out to get pissed up, shout abuse and fight one another.

Like many, Borley says how bad it was, How intolerable it was, yet 30 years later he's still addicted. Why did he catch the bug initially if it were that bad? Lets face it, footballs attraction was the chaos, a place to meet people from all walks of life, It represented a deviation from normal social rules. a place where you could live on your wits and feel alive for doing so. These days you are banned for leaking a swear word at a heated moment of play. Modern football is purely about commerce and this myopic approach is killing the geese that layed the golden egg.

If you ask me football is dying, the amount of youth going to live games regulary, has dropped off since sky. The amount of nutters/characters from council estates is dropping off due to pricing, The games outlook is extremely short term As with everything capatalism touches.

Call it what you like Cardiff are moving in the right direction.

Away from the fans

Like many, Borley says how bad it was, How intolerable it was, yet 30 years later he's still addicted. Why did he catch the bug initially if it were that bad? Lets face it, footballs attraction was the chaos, a place to meet people from all walks of life, It represented a deviation from normal social rules. a place where you could live on your wits and feel alive for doing so. These days you are banned for leaking a swear word at a heated moment of play. Modern football is purely about commerce and this myopic approach is killing the geese that layed the golden egg.

If you ask me football is dying, the amount of youth going to live games regulary, has dropped off since sky. The amount of nutters/characters from council estates is dropping off due to pricing, The games outlook is extremely short term As with everything capatalism touches.

A lot of people just wanted to watch their team play football

Like many, Borley says how bad it was, How intolerable it was, yet 30 years later he's still addicted. Why did he catch the bug initially if it were that bad? Lets face it, footballs attraction was the chaos, a place to meet people from all walks of life, It represented a deviation from normal social rules. a place where you could live on your wits and feel alive for doing so. These days you are banned for leaking a swear word at a heated moment of play. Modern football is purely about commerce and this myopic approach is killing the geese that layed the golden egg.

If you ask me football is dying, the amount of youth going to live games regulary, has dropped off since sky. The amount of nutters/characters from council estates is dropping off due to pricing, The games outlook is extremely short term As with everything capatalism touches.

A lot of people just wanted to watch their team play football

I don't recall anybody leaving the ground saying they couldn't see their team play.

Like many, Borley says how bad it was, How intolerable it was, yet 30 years later he's still addicted. Why did he catch the bug initially if it were that bad? Lets face it, footballs attraction was the chaos, a place to meet people from all walks of life, It represented a deviation from normal social rules. a place where you could live on your wits and feel alive for doing so. These days you are banned for leaking a swear word at a heated moment of play. Modern football is purely about commerce and this myopic approach is killing the geese that layed the golden egg.

If you ask me football is dying, the amount of youth going to live games regulary, has dropped off since sky. The amount of nutters/characters from council estates is dropping off due to pricing, The games outlook is extremely short term As with everything capatalism touches.

A lot of people just wanted to watch their team play football

I don't recall anybody leaving the ground saying they couldn't see their team play.

You misunderstand.

I mean you claim people went for the chaos and such. Im saying a lot just went to watch their team play football

Agree with Borley massively. Nothing but respect for the man, anyone who put his money in the club and was prepared to keep it there during bad times can only have respect from the fans.

Some of the sarcastic pricks on that thread have extremely short or selective memories. Steve Borley has done more for this club than all the anonymous trolls put together and is more Cardiff than the majority of us and has risked a hell of a lot more

I was proud to shake his hand recently, and just to say"Thank you".

I 100% agree mate. Some people on ccmb who were once excellent posters have become absolute cocks since the rebrand. That borneo walking stick and his gang are tge worst. Whether you hate the rebrand or not I dont see why it has to influence every you make on every subject relating to cardiff city.
Borley once saved our club from impending disaster yet some of our fans think they are more worthy cos they paid £8 every other saturday to watch their team play!

I not particularly a fan of the change but i havent allowed it to spoil what has been an unforgettable season, and if we manage to sign any of the players we have been linked to so far this summer, I absolutely cant wait to see them run out and represent cardiff city and put us on the world stage

I'm sure Steve like most of us would rather we play in Blue, but he is closer to the sharp end and knows what was at risk.
he has more than proven his credentials and love for the club, like the huge majority of us who still attend he could be classed as a reluctant red.

Also like all of us, I'm sure he love to have a Dave Whelan or Jack walker type local billionaire fan running things, but where were they when he had his livelihood and house on the line, how many stepped up to help then.Surely Steve has gone along with things reluctantly possibly, because he knows that was the best option, if not the only viable on that would keep us alive and playing in the football League set up.

I have a great deal of respect for Steve Borley and agree with almost all that he has written there but in my opinion the most interesting thing he says is " What is the modern football they want to protest about".

In my opinion that banner which was put up on a thread yesterday was at best inappropriate for an event intended to highlight the importance of "Blue" to Cardiff City and at worst imappropriate in terms on content i.e. is the rebrand a consquence of what people consider "Modern Football" values.

Anyone who watched football during the era Steve is talking about would remember some, if not all, of the things he is talking about. However given the advancements in pitch design and maintenance today compared to 40 years ago are we really talking "Modern Football"

As someone who can remember the days when only the "Champion" clubs took part in the European Cup or only the "Cup Winners" took part in the European Cup Winners Cup, and those competitions were simple knock out, nowadays I look on the Champions League and Europa League Competitions as representing the very worst values of "Modern Football". As I see it the major driving force behind these competitions in "Money".

Again in my opinion most football fans would agree that the one thing that they hate about "Modern Football" is the "Money, Money, Money" culture which infects the game. At the end of the day the rebrand of our club last season was driven by "Money" by the almost endless search for the next pound, Why? because we are told if your not in the Premier League you are no one.

Whatever the reasons behind the rebrand we were all told it was to try and find "New Revenue" streams in overseas market places and to help we needed to accept the rebranding of our club.

In my opinion Steve that's the type of "Modern Football" values that banner was objecting to, the use of the term "F**k Modern Football" was wrong and again in my opinion spoils the message that these people are trying to put across.

I like many other fans could probably list a dozen reasons why I dislike "Modern Football", or rather the values that modern football portrays, but I bet one thing would be common amongst the list "Money".

That's "Modern Football" Steve driven by money and it cost our club it's traditional colours and almost cost us the "Bluebird".

So Steve instead of writing about the many improvements that have been made just remember what it sounded like when the vast majority at the Bolton game were singing "We're Cardiff City We'll Always Be Blue" . That is the very best piece of market research our club could have on the rebrand and as a board member realise that your customers appreciate all the improvements but disagree with the rebrand, and what caused it - the "Money" first value of "Modern Football".

Yes totally agree with Steve but

1- we should have safe standing in one end for the old Ninian lads
2-we want our blue kit back. Football is about history and tradition

I agree we don't want another Chelsea 1977 Chelsea 1983 etc it was good fun at the time times have moved on.

Castleblue wrote

So Steve instead of writing about the many improvements that have been made just remember what it sounded like when the vast majority at the Bolton game were singing "We're Cardiff City We'll Always Be Blue" . That is the very best piece of market research our club could have on the rebrand and as a board member realise that your customers appreciate all the improvements but disagree with the rebrand, and what caused it - the "Money" first value of "Modern Football".




Spot on Gary (Castleblue)

I'm sure Steve like most of us would rather we play in Blue, but he is closer to the sharp end and knows what was at risk.
he has more than proven his credentials and love for the club, like the huge majority of us who still attend he could be classed as a reluctant red.

Also like all of us, I'm sure he love to have a Dave Whelan or Jack walker type local billionaire fan running things, but where were they when he had his livelihood and house on the line, how many stepped up to help then.Surely Steve has gone along with things reluctantly possibly, because he knows that was the best option, if not the only viable on that would keep us alive and playing in the football League set up.

I am certain steve along with all of us would have preferred us promoted in blue but financial circumstances dictated otherwise.
If we had of worn blue last season with tans investment would this current group of against modern football even exist.
To me it's a case of bluebirds against tan being rebranded to against modern football by a group of youngsters who in reality blue shirt or red shirt have only ever seen modern football in their lifetimes

Call it what you like Cardiff are moving in the right direction.

Away from the fans

How are they moving away from the fans, when we've increased our average attendances season upon season since getting promoted back to the Championship and our season ticket sales have gone through the roof?

The club may well have moved away from your ideals and some of our other fan's ideals, but our attendances and season ticket sales prove that you're seriously wrong here!

Agree with everything Steve has said.

We had to move on or be left behind (although some would apparently have preferred that).

I can now take my daughters to watch Cardiff City with their mothers blessing, would never have happened back at NP or during our dark days when trouble followed us wherever we went.

Football is now for families and not just a lads day out to get pissed up, shout abuse and fight one another.

And there lies the reason why only 300 fans turned up at Rochdale

Agree with everything Steve has said.

We had to move on or be left behind (although some would apparently have preferred that).

I can now take my daughters to watch Cardiff City with their mothers blessing, would never have happened back at NP or during our dark days when trouble followed us wherever we went.

Football is now for families and not just a lads day out to get pissed up, shout abuse and fight one another.

And there lies the reason why only 300 fans turned up at Rochdale

You'd have thought we took 15,000, the way everybody talks about Rochdale on a pissing down Tuesday night on here!

I have a great deal of respect for Steve Borley and agree with almost all that he has written there but in my opinion the most interesting thing he says is " What is the modern football they want to protest about".

In my opinion that banner which was put up on a thread yesterday was at best inappropriate for an event intended to highlight the importance of "Blue" to Cardiff City and at worst imappropriate in terms on content i.e. is the rebrand a consquence of what people consider "Modern Football" values.

Anyone who watched football during the era Steve is talking about would remember some, if not all, of the things he is talking about. However given the advancements in pitch design and maintenance today compared to 40 years ago are we really talking "Modern Football"

As someone who can remember the days when only the "Champion" clubs took part in the European Cup or only the "Cup Winners" took part in the European Cup Winners Cup, and those competitions were simple knock out, nowadays I look on the Champions League and Europa League Competitions as representing the very worst values of "Modern Football". As I see it the major driving force behind these competitions in "Money".

Again in my opinion most football fans would agree that the one thing that they hate about "Modern Football" is the "Money, Money, Money" culture which infects the game. At the end of the day the rebrand of our club last season was driven by "Money" by the almost endless search for the next pound, Why? because we are told if your not in the Premier League you are no one.

Whatever the reasons behind the rebrand we were all told it was to try and find "New Revenue" streams in overseas market places and to help we needed to accept the rebranding of our club.

In my opinion Steve that's the type of "Modern Football" values that banner was objecting to, the use of the term "F**k Modern Football" was wrong and again in my opinion spoils the message that these people are trying to put across.

I like many other fans could probably list a dozen reasons why I dislike "Modern Football", or rather the values that modern football portrays, but I bet one thing would be common amongst the list "Money".

That's "Modern Football" Steve driven by money and it cost our club it's traditional colours and almost cost us the "Bluebird".

So Steve instead of writing about the many improvements that have been made just remember what it sounded like when the vast majority at the Bolton game were singing "We're Cardiff City We'll Always Be Blue" . That is the very best piece of market research our club could have on the rebrand and as a board member realise that your customers appreciate all the improvements but disagree with the rebrand, and what caused it - the "Money" first value of "Modern Football".

I was under the impression the rebrand was to attract more revenue but listening to the latest interviews from Tan it was mainly to give us luck.

I have always believed the Modern game would attract the big business men because of its status and now money. I certainly felt a club like Cardiff would become a prime picking once it got its act sorted. Well my beliefs and feeling were 99% right. I just did not expect us to attract a nutter. Then again looking at the fans through the years perhaps it is what we deserve.

I was under the impression the rebrand was to attract more revenue but listening to the latest interviews from Tan it was mainly to give us luck.

I have always believed the Modern game would attract the big business men because of its status and now money. I certainly felt a club like Cardiff would become a prime picking once it got its act sorted. Well my beliefs and feeling were 99% right. I just did not expect us to attract a nutter. Then again looking at the fans through the years perhaps it is what we deserve.

This rebrand was always about-"exploiting and maximising its brand and commercial revenues in international markets, which it is hoped in turn will bring success to the club locally, whilst also attracting new partners and investors."

I really believe that all that "Lucky Red" and "The Dragon Protecting The Bluebird" is nonsense, and VT knows it, and was nothing more than VT trying to stop the fans singing "We're Cardiff City We'll Always Be Blue".

I don't think the guy is a nutter, far from it, but he has made a rod for his own back here and sooner rather than later he will backtrack and return us to Blue.

When he finds a way of doing it without losing face.

I was under the impression the rebrand was to attract more revenue but listening to the latest interviews from Tan it was mainly to give us luck.

I have always believed the Modern game would attract the big business men because of its status and now money. I certainly felt a club like Cardiff would become a prime picking once it got its act sorted. Well my beliefs and feeling were 99% right. I just did not expect us to attract a nutter. Then again looking at the fans through the years perhaps it is what we deserve.

This rebrand was always about-"exploiting and maximising its brand and commercial revenues in international markets, which it is hoped in turn will bring success to the club locally, whilst also attracting new partners and investors."

I really believe that all that "Lucky Red" and "The Dragon Protecting The Bluebird" is nonsense, and VT knows it, and was nothing more than VT trying to stop the fans singing "We're Cardiff City We'll Always Be Blue".

And he thought that would work, the guy is a nutter.

I don't think the guy is a nutter, far from it, but he has made a rod for his own back here and sooner rather than later he will backtrack and return us to Blue.

When he finds a way of doing it without losing face.

Without losing face being the operative sentence here. Can't see it happening unless the rebrand is a total flop in the Far East then just then there is a possibility of returning to blue.

Some of the sarcastic pricks on that thread have extremely short or selective memories. Steve Borley has done more for this club than all the anonymous trolls put together and is more Cardiff than the majority of us and has risked a hell of a lot more

I was proud to shake his hand recently, and just to say"Thank you".

Well said squire.

Call it what you like Cardiff are moving in the right direction.

Away from the fans

Away from some of the fans. As Tan has said before, business decisions which involve change are never going to be accepted by all just as the decision to move away from Ninian Park was not accepted by all.

I was under the impression the rebrand was to attract more revenue but listening to the latest interviews from Tan it was mainly to give us luck.

I have always believed the Modern game would attract the big business men because of its status and now money. I certainly felt a club like Cardiff would become a prime picking once it got its act sorted. Well my beliefs and feeling were 99% right. I just did not expect us to attract a nutter. Then again looking at the fans through the years perhaps it is what we deserve.

This rebrand was always about-"exploiting and maximising its brand and commercial revenues in international markets, which it is hoped in turn will bring success to the club locally, whilst also attracting new partners and investors."

I really believe that all that "Lucky Red" and "The Dragon Protecting The Bluebird" is nonsense, and VT knows it, and was nothing more than VT trying to stop the fans singing "We're Cardiff City We'll Always Be Blue".

I don't think the guy is a nutter, far from it, but he has made a rod for his own back here and sooner rather than later he will backtrack and return us to Blue.

When he finds a way of doing it without losing face.

Agree totally, and this is why we should be asking him, what can we do for him t try and achieve it. My opinion of him as tempered quite a bit since hearing and seeing him in close up action.

I think the man has quite a dry wit and far more human than I first thought. I think he see it as a partnership if we could offer to do something that suits him with a view to getting the blue kit back, there must be something that would appeal to him and give him a way out without being seen to lose face.

In my opinion he has dug himself into a hole, let's try to help him out of it, rather than get him to dig a deeper hole.