Supporters' Trust to meet Vincent Tan

Last updated : 24 December 2013 By Michael Morris

The Trust is to meet Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan on Saturday, December 28.

It will be the first formal meeting the Trust has had with the club’s Malaysian owner and it was arranged before the latest email controversy involving Mr Tan and manager, Malky Mackay.

Tim Hartley, chair of Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust, said: “We have been pressing for a meeting with Mr Tan since he became owner of the club and we are pleased to be meeting him along with our friends at Cardiff City Supporters’ Club.​

“We have been pushing for greater engagement with supporter groups and fans generally. We hope that this is the start of a regular dialogue.

“There are many issues we will be raising with Mr Tan and will report back to members following the meeting.”

Responding to the statement made by Mehmet Dalman on Sunday Tim Hartley, said:

“After the turmoil of the last week, the club needs stability and we are pleased that Malky Mackay is to remain as manager of Cardiff City. We also look forward to a dialogue now taking place between Mackay and Vincent Tan.

“Mr Tan should let the manager of the team get on with the job of keeping Cardiff City in the Premier League. I’m sure the strength of feeling shown by fans before and at the Liverpool game sent a clear message to him, as did the outspoken comments of many other managers and commentators throughout the UK.

“What this debacle has illustrated once again is that Mr Tan must engage in regular dialogue with supporter groups and fans generally. We will be making that point strongly when we meet Mr Tan on Saturday before the Sunderland game.

“One way he could build bridges with supporters would be to return the home playing kit to blue at the earliest opportunity.

“This episode highlights once again the need for strong supporter engagement in football clubs at all levels. Our friends in the Swansea City Supporters’ Trust have an excellent working relationship with the senior management of their club and a supporter director sits on the board. We’d like to see Cardiff City move towards that in the future.

“We urge Cardiff City fans to join the Trust and strengthen further the voice of the fans.”

Read the Cardiff City statement at http://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/news/article/dalman-open-dialogue-is-key-1250825.aspx