The Stay-Away fans - Is the dream over?

The Stay-Away fans - Is the dream over?


There is no doubt that Cardiff City have once again lost the latest generation of fans to the "Big Boys".

I have to admit that I find it a chore attending home games and have stopped going away all together.

Whilst my reasons might differ from the majority, it got me to wandering about the reasons why people have simply given up on the Club.

I've not been around CCMB for a long time so may well be repeating things that many have been said before me.

Whilst there appears to be obvious reasons and blame i.e Tan and his ridiculous rebrand, the lack of ambition in the transfer market and of course the enigma that is Russell Slade.

Chatting to many people who still attend, there could be a simpler answer to this conundrum.

THE DREAM IS OVER!

Most regular fans, of a certain age, have witnessed the dross of Durban, Osman, Samesh Kumar, Jim Cadman, Pat Heard, Jeff Chandler & the bullshit of Ron Jones but, even through those dark days, we continued to dream.

"What if's?" were always in our minds especially when we saw lesser Clubs like Wimbledon, Watford & Wigan flourishing in the top league & in the Cup competitions. Many optimistic fans dared to dream that one day that would be us.

We looked at Chairmen like Jack Hayward (Wolves), Jack Walker(Blackburn) & Dave Whelan (Wigan) and often asked why we couldn't find a benefactor.

Move on a generation and we find ourselves spoilt with successes and most fans have witnessed us in the top division, Wembley Cup Finals and signing multi-million pound players.



So, is the dream over?

What, realistically, can we aspire to? only the Champions League which is just too far fetched.

I was chatting to a Swansea fan on Monday and he said a fair few of their older fans have stopped going as they have "been there, done it, bought the tee shirts etc".... they have been replaced by the new generation of fans.



Cardiff City have realised their dream and, to be frank, it wasn't all that.

I can't be alone in looking at the situation at Portsmouth and thinking that their dream has re-kindled and every season it is a challenge. They look at fixtures against Bristol Rovers & Oxford and class them as "big games". I wouldn't even get excited if we played Man UTD, Liverpool etc in the cup any more.

What 'dream'? There never was a 'dream'. We just supported Cardiff City, and still do. Take each game as it comes. I'm looking forward to Shrewsbury on Sunday.

This is not CCMB, just in case you were 'wandering'.

I said this that all my life supporting the city it was about getting to the promised land but I think once we got there must realised it isn't as good as we thought and I believe that's why our crowds are back down to what they were at ninian park

No offence mate, but all this "stay away fan" stuff is just a load of baloney.

In the last 3 decades you have averaged higher than you do now for a small fraction of time. Why you think 20,000 a week is the norm I just dont know. Its like a crippling dose of selective memory. This is the sort of average attendance you had when you first got to the Championship and in fact a good few seasons after too. Before hand it was rare you broke the 10,000 mark.

This is your fanbase.

The dream of reaching the promised land was ruined with the disgusting rebrand. Many city fans like myself are not bothered if we get there again.

The dream of reaching the promised land was ruined with the disgusting rebrand. Many city fans like myself are not bothered if we get there again.

About sums it up.

We all dreamed of a main benefactor to the club and we all finally got it in Tan....so we all thought.

What an absolute idiot he has proved. How unlucky are we.

The dream of reaching the promised land was ruined with the disgusting rebrand. Many city fans like myself are not bothered if we get there again.

Have to agree. The chase was more exciting than actually being there. Only consolation now is that the next time we reach the so called Promised Land we will be in Blue. Teza

No offence mate, but all this "stay away fan" stuff is just a load of baloney.

In the last 3 decades you have averaged higher than you do now for a small fraction of time. Why you think 20,000 a week is the norm I just dont know. Its like a crippling dose of selective memory. This is the sort of average attendance you had when you first got to the Championship and in fact a good few seasons after too. Before hand it was rare you broke the 10,000 mark.

This is your fanbase.

You mean hardcore fans? Fanbase is all south east Wales even if don't attend games!

The Stay-Away fans - Is the dream over?


There is no doubt that Cardiff City have once again lost the latest generation of fans to the "Big Boys".

I have to admit that I find it a chore attending home games and have stopped going away all together.

Whilst my reasons might differ from the majority, it got me to wandering about the reasons why people have simply given up on the Club.

I've not been around CCMB for a long time so may well be repeating things that many have been said before me.

Whilst there appears to be obvious reasons and blame i.e Tan and his ridiculous rebrand, the lack of ambition in the transfer market and of course the enigma that is Russell Slade.

Chatting to many people who still attend, there could be a simpler answer to this conundrum.

THE DREAM IS OVER!

Most regular fans, of a certain age, have witnessed the dross of Durban, Osman, Samesh Kumar, Jim Cadman, Pat Heard, Jeff Chandler & the bullshit of Ron Jones but, even through those dark days, we continued to dream.

"What if's?" were always in our minds especially when we saw lesser Clubs like Wimbledon, Watford & Wigan flourishing in the top league & in the Cup competitions. Many optimistic fans dared to dream that one day that would be us.

We looked at Chairmen like Jack Hayward (Wolves), Jack Walker(Blackburn) & Dave Whelan (Wigan) and often asked why we couldn't find a benefactor.

Move on a generation and we find ourselves spoilt with successes and most fans have witnessed us in the top division, Wembley Cup Finals and signing multi-million pound players.



So, is the dream over?

What, realistically, can we aspire to? only the Champions League which is just too far fetched.

I was chatting to a Swansea fan on Monday and he said a fair few of their older fans have stopped going as they have "been there, done it, bought the tee shirts etc".... they have been replaced by the new generation of fans.



Cardiff City have realised their dream and, to be frank, it wasn't all that.

I can't be alone in looking at the situation at Portsmouth and thinking that their dream has re-kindled and every season it is a challenge. They look at fixtures against Bristol Rovers & Oxford and class them as "big games". I wouldn't even get excited if we played Man UTD, Liverpool etc in the cup any more.

What you say has more than a grain of truth to it.Whatever you think of Tan and his re brand that was our one chance to be one of the big boys as you put it and I'm guessing by what you write that were probably a similar age.People that started supporting the city after the turn of the century are probably wondering what you are on about.Plus the fact that people of our age are to busy wishing it was like the good ole days when you didn't worry weather the city won or not as long as long as you could get pissed up and fight the away fans.Those times also will never return.And the couple of pompey fans I know can't wait to get back to "the big time".

I said this that all my life supporting the city it was about getting to the promised land but I think once we got there must realised it isn't as good as we thought and I believe that's why our crowds are back down to what they were at ninian park

Wez, a very good point there, I felt the same, all I ever wanted to do was see City in the Premier League, we got there, it was worse than awful thanks to Tans circus and now there is nothing to look forward to,thats how many see it.

But I still believe you should still support your local club

I said this that all my life supporting the city it was about getting to the promised land but I think once we got there must realised it isn't as good as we thought and I believe that's why our crowds are back down to what they were at ninian park

Wez, a very good point there, I felt the same, all I ever wanted to do was see City in the Premier League, we got there, it was worse than awful thanks to Tans circus and now there is nothing to look forward to,thats how many see it.

But I still believe you should still support your local club

It's all I ever wanted to do but as you say it was not the best thing however I would like to see the Club back in the PL.

The City needs it and the club whether the fans do Hmmmmm

I never thought I would give it up and Annis you are moving in March so technically have also cut back.

VT needs to take his head out of the sand and push the club forward. No need to spend stupidly however a top manager with a decent budget would get us there, that's the laughable thing about it all.