PETER'S END OF AN ERA NOTES
Well here it is, at long last, the very last scheduled league game at Ninian Park. Whilst today's results will hopefully mean that we have another game here before we finally say goodbye to Ninian Park, today still goes down in history.
When I was asked to come here in the spring of 2005, I was told about the 'new stadium plans' but in reality the chances of building a new stadium were slim at best. Indeed the odds of still having a football club were not good. Since that date there have been many changes. We managed to rewrite the stadium business plan to the Council's satisfaction, we restructured the company's debts and we started the task of rebuilding the Club from top to bottom. We then raised the funds for the new stadium complex and work at long last began.
Today will allow many of our supporters to remember their favourite memories of Ninian Park. The favourite goals, the special matches and the lifelong friendships they have formed. Some four years after I first arrived in Cardiff, I am privileged to have been a part of what will be a truly historic moment when we celebrate the opening of our new stadium this summer, when we entertain Celtic Football Club at the 'Official Opening' on July 22nd.
In saying goodbye to our current home, Ninian Park, I can understand the mix of sadness and nostalgia. Let no one be in any doubt however, that without the move to our new stadium, we had no chance of affording to compete in the Championship, let alone the Premier League. The new stadium is a new chapter in our long history and one that will give us a real chance of achieving Premier League status and more importantly being able to stay there.
In the four years I have been here I have become truly attached to our club, our aims and ambitions, my colleagues within the Club and most importantly our supporters. When we wrote our new stadium business plan we said that we would average 13,000 crowds at Ninian Park. The Council's auditors scoffed at the suggestion! This year we will have averaged over 18,000 ... a remarkable feat and a sign of the progress that the team has made and the confidence that you, our supporters, have shown in the Club's management. I really thank you for your magnificent support.
In achieving the progress that has been made there are a number of people that deserve to be mentioned and many that I might by accident forget to thank. Within the football management, the best decision we took was to bring Dave Jones to this Club and an even better one was to stand firm in the autumn of 2007 and demonstrate that it takes time to build a successful football club. Last year's Cup Final appearance was the first sign of the rewards that come with such patience and this year's progress in the league is also a just reward.
We haven't been in the top flight since 1962 and we had to build solid foundations which I hope are now in place to push us further towards our ultimate ambitions. Alongside Dave has been his coaching staff of Terry Burton, Paul Wilkinson, Martyn Margetson and Alex Armstrong. We have some of the best medical advice and physiotherapy with Physio Shaun Connelly and Professor Len Nokes. With other backroom staff such as Ian Lanning and Enda Barron we have turned this club into one of the most professionally run clubs within the Football League (indeed, probably within football as a whole).
Within the playing staff we have been magnificently led by club captain, Darren Purse and team captain, Joe Ledley. All of the players have given us a truly memorable last season to remember. The Academy has also done us proud under the direction of Neal Ardley and our Football in The Community and Football Education staff are coveted by the rest of football.
Outside of the football management, we have built an outstanding Board of Directors with a breadth of expertise that has allowed us to make substantial progress, which in turn has seen both the new training HQ as well as the new stadium, being completed and opened and a team that has real strength in depth for the first time in years.
I also inherited a wonderful management team at Ninian Park whose skills, hard work and dedication just required the 'chains to be unleashed' so that they could rise to their potential. This they have done with flying colours. Yet another sign of the progress that has been made was our ability to attract Alan Flitcroft, a partner at Ernst and Young and add him to the senior management team and as a Director, last Autumn.
For football clubs to survive and thrive they also require the goodwill and support of the local community. Cardiff City Council quickly gave their trust to this Club shortly after I arrived and without their trust and support we would neither be here today nor celebrating our move across the road. However much hard work you put into any project and I can assure there has been a substantial amount, by many people, you still need the funds to succeed.
As well as my colleagues on the Board, Alan Whiteley and Steve Borley who in some of the darkest days stood shoulder to shoulder to ensure that 'we came out the other side intact', we also needed someone with confidence in what we were doing to help with the funding gap. In Paul Guy and Mike Hall we found not only professional friends but also individuals without whom we could never have completed the stadium funding. Everyone connected with Cardiff City should be grateful for their confidence in us and their support.
Our move across the road to our new home is therefore one of enormous team work. A success that proves that with everyone pulling in the same direction, adversity can truly be overcome. In saying a fond goodbye to what has been our home, we look forward to an outstanding new home that will be the platform for future success. In completing the task that I was brought here to achieve, I would like to thank everyone that has worked with me and supported me.
Many people will look back and say one of their great memories was beating a Leeds United team in the third round of the FA Cup in January 2002, when Leeds were sitting loftily at the top of The Premier League. Yes, I also remember it well. In the intervening years the challenge, the hard work, the court cases, the turmoil and now the success has made me a true 'Bluebird'. For that I thank all of you.
Peter
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