Cardiff Blues
Too Much, Too Quickly, for Too Many
Cardiff Blues 2003
By Andrew Collins
January 12 2012
The message boards have been red hot in recent days following Dharris15’s new topic CCS vs CAP. There has been huge support for the new stadium, equally matched by those who are whole-heartedly against it. It’s the argument that never goes away.
June 6th 2003; 127 year old club side Cardiff RFC becomes the Cardiff Blues. Well, sort of. Cardiff RFC will carry on playing, it doesn’t die, but creates a new regional side by a new name, the Cardiff Blues. No one can mourn the loss of CRFC as they still exist. Just, not as we know it. But it’s ok, because Cardiff Blues will play in Blue and Black and are a stand alone region. So they are the same really. Same players, same stadium, same coaches, same colours. Yeah that’s ok. It’s basically the same.
July 2004; The Celtic Warriors are disbanded after 1 season. Cardiff’s stand alone status diminishes as they suddenly now encompass the Rhondda Valleys, home of fierce rival, Pontypridd. So it’s still Cardiff, but the’re called the Blues and now they represent Ponty too. Ok, fine.
June 2006; Cardiff Blues launch an all-blue shirt in a move away from their traditional colours, blue and black. This is seen as an attempt to appease Pontypridd fans, who understandably, see nothing in the Cardiff Blues which represents their team. So it’s still Cardiff, just called the Blues, playing in all blue, representing Ponty. Oh and Cardiff RFC do still play, but their semi-professional these days.
September 2007; Following months of speculation, Peter Thomas announces that, in 2009, the Cardiff Blues will move from the Arms Park to Leckwith in a ground share with Cardiff City football club.
May 3rd, 2009; With Cardiff Blues playing arguably the most attractive rugby in Europe, they take on Heineken Cup giants Leicester at the Millennium Stadium. 44,212 pack into the Welsh national stadium and act out the most dramatic European rugby match, perhaps, ever. They lose on penalty shoot out after extra-time couldn’t separate the two sides. It still hurts.
Season 2009/10; Cardiff Blues move to the Cardiff City Stadium. Last season’s success initially adds to the attendances, but poor performances see hype wane away. Despite a diabolical start, Cardiff go on a miraculous end of season run resulting in them being crowned Wales’ first European champions, winning the Amlin Challenge cup.
Season 2010/11; Wales’ reigning European Champions see a fall in attendances.
12th January 2012; Dwindling crowds across Wales’ four regions provide major cause for concern. Disenfranchised fans make their voices heard.
It’s a mess.
In 2003, Robert Norster said, "A huge amount of effort has been made to ensure that the past 127 years of club traditions are not lost. We are delighted by the way these aspects have been respected and retained within the new modern brand."
What we have now is not Cardiff RFC. We do not play at Cardiff Arms Park. We do not play in Blue and Black. Our traditional rivals our now part of us. We only play 3 other Welsh sides in the league. We have an entirely different name.
No matter how strongly you support the Blues – and believe me, I do! – you cannot argue the above.
For many, too much has changed from the side they loved. What they see now is not the same side they watched home and away, week in, week out, for countless years. They weren’t consulted when the club chose to change their name, they weren’t asked when we changed our colours and they certainly weren’t approached when the decision was made to move stadium. If they choose not to follow it anymore, I can’t blame them.
So where does that leave us, the Cardiff Blues generation? (I should clarify here, by generation, I’m not suggesting you have to be a certain age to support the Blues, but I use it as a term to represent those of us who have bought into the new team and taken it on as passionately as we did Cardiff RFC)
We have lost a large number of committed fans who feel totally left out by the whole regionalism thing and in my opinion, we practically have to start again.
For too long the Blues have given away match tickets to people happy enough to go down for free and enjoy the day out. What HAS to be done, is to turn those part-time supporters into full-time season ticket holders. We need to build a new fan base built around people who will come every week as many did at Cardiff Arms Park. The only way to do this is to make season tickets such an attractive deal, it is frankly impossible to turn down.
The answer to all the big questions ultimately comes down to the attendances, and while it’s all well and good to give freebees away to the odd game here and there to boost the attendences, it’s not enough to make anyone think ‘I’m going to buy a season ticket’. In fact, it has the complete opposite effect as these people will just wait until the next free ticket comes along.
Cardiff Blues must come out very publically and say, this is the end of free tickets. Instead, make it free to U12’s and make adult season tickets starting price just £100. This isn’t a number plucked from thin air. 3 Welsh derbies and 3 Heineken Cup group matches at £20 a ticket cost £120. You’re average pop-along fan will go to those 6 games. If a season ticket works out as £20 cheaper than these fixtures and you get all the other RaboDirect and Anglo-Welsh matches on top, then you’re going to get a decent number of people buying into a it.
And once you have a season ticket, going to all the games just comes naturally. They may buy it with just the ‘big games’ in mind, but once you have a season ticket, you’re far more compelled to go even to the Connacht and Edinburgh matches. Following sporting teams very quickly becomes a habit.
Season ticket prices MUST represent an irresistable deal. STOP giving free tickets away and 2-4-1 / Two for £20 / Buy 2 get a free jersey deals, this is just stopping them from buying season tickets!
For all the arguments, the long term answer is so simple.
We need more fans. Once you have fans, the atmosphere improves. When the atmosphere improves, people will enjoy it more. When the support is good, the team plays better. When the team plays better, they get more success. Whenever there’s success, there’s even more fans. Just look at May 3rd for proof.
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Pretty soon even the sale of CAP will not cover PT's debt.
1) Money spent - the club can only recuperate money if fans turn up, too many protests against atmosphere, or rather a lack of it, means that fans don't turn up.
2) The Ltd's account, well this can only be raised by match day sales.
3) Too far from the city centre, having logged on just this morning I see this has been used twice! Good bus link provided by club, rail link from Grangetown, if you were a proper fan you would be willing to travel 5 MAYBE 10 minutes down the road for YOUR team.
4) Perhaps the most reasonable of excuses, touched on in this article, is the older CRFC supporters unwilling to support the region from day one of the move. These are the fans who are most likely to be brought over to the Blues, already fans of rugby within Cardiff. As Andrew's article points out, the Blues have tried to distance themselves from Cardiff Rugby Club, not out of spite but in respect as a separate entity.
You are right ticket sales need boosting, perhaps it is down to removing offers, reducing the cost of season tickets or even trying to bring supporters back into the fold. Perhaps the club has made a mistake on this gamble to move the team, but it would have had to pay lease rates on the CAP, was on another teams ground and felt the team was better supported than it was and moved to a bigger stadium to open the club up to new fans, and make sure the old supporters did not miss out either.
IMO, people are grasping at straws too much. There are way more factors involved in the declining numbers.
Stadium is not ours, too big, no atmosphere.
The Games. I can't say I've enjoyed many Blues games in the last two seasons. Players, there are a lot that need to move on and be replaced with new or developed talent.
Too many pointless games watering down the rest and most being televised.
Ultimately, money also comes down to it as folk just don't have as much as they used to or are just being more careful.
Without wanting to bang on about CAP, people liked going there. If the game was dire, the occasion wasn't. It was an event, just like going to the MS is for a lot of supporters. The CCS is soulless, and will always be. There is no way on earth that The Blues will fill this any time soon. Even if they won the HC , had Carter at 10 and Henry as coach.
By charging less for a ST and not giving away freebies won't boost the attendances one bit.
