Cardiff City turning red

[Ron Manager]

I can only stop and think how I'd feel if this was my club. If someone came along and said we will pump $100 million into Southend United on the condition that -

- we want you to play in red

and

- have the Essex coat of arms on your badge

as the historical image of three scimitars and the colour red is more appealing to our overseas fanbase, I would oppose it.

I personally would rather follow Southend United groundsharing with a local non-league side and in the lower reaches of non-league but with our own identity than sell our history for a shot at the 'big league'.

If I was that desperate to support a big Premier League side I could do that now, I could switch allegiances and follow Arsenal or Spurs say. But I don't want that, I want to support Southend United whatever league or division they are in and part of that is the history and integrity of a club that's over 105 years old.

 

[Piece of String]

Totally agree, a very sorry state of affairs & just sums up how money talks in football these days.
I see they've had to make the away shirt the standard Cardiff City blue/yellow/white - a poor attempt to appease the fans or plan B in case they protest so hard they have to revert to blue?

Wonder if their Malaysian investor is paying for all blue seats in Cardiff City stadium to be replaced with red?

 

[MK Shrimper]

Totally agree. A very sorry state of affairs & just sums up how money talks in football these days.
I see they've had to make the away shirt the standard Cardiff City blue/yellow/white - a poor attempt to appease the fans or plan B in case they protest so hard they have to revert to blue?

Wonder if Malaysian investor is paying for all blue seats in Cardiff City stadium to be replaced with red?

Spot on....

 

[Billy is the best]

Reminds me of the time they painted "The blue boar" red.

 

[Napster]

A Welsh side shouldn't be playing in the English leagues anyway.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

I think it's disgusting and I don't see how changing the colour of a kit will make much commercial difference, especially if the away one is going to be their normal colours anyway. They might sell more in Asia because it's the same colour as Manchester United or whatever but they'll probably sell less to their own fans in Wales because they'll be opposed to the change. If some foreign owner took over Southend and suddenly decided to change the colour of our kit without any consultation with fans I'd be outraged. This is taking things too far.

 

[haveaguiness]

I think it's disgusting and I don't see how changing the colour of a kit will make much commercial difference, especially if the away one is going to be their normal colours anyway. They might sell more in Asia because it's the same colour as Manchester United or whatever but they'll probably sell less to their own fans in Wales because they'll be opposed to the change. If some foreign owner took over Southend and suddenly decided to change the colour of our kit without any consultation with fans I'd be outraged. This is taking things too far.

That's the thing though, there were consultations with some of the supporters clubs and by all accounts it was a 90% plus acceptance. I was listening to one of the guys who runs one of the supporters clubs on the Radio yesterday and he sounded pretty drained from the whole affair, but he too conceded that it was a "red or dead" proposal from the Malaysians. They currently have £70 million worth of debt and saw this as the only way out.

Personally I think it is wrong, especially that it is just being done for Money and essentially people that don't even support Cardiff yet (potential customers). They also didn't get it written into a contract that the Malaysian owners can do it as long as they pay off the debt, and only have his word for it, so if it fails he can just run back home and not care what he has done and still leave Cardiff without a paddle.

I honestly could never see Southend playing in any other colour than Blue!

 

[South Bank Hank]

I must be alone in seeing both sides to this.

For me, any club's identity goes way beyond the colour of the shirt and the badge on it. We changed our badge not so long ago and we seem to have survived it. No offence to anyone, but I think people are just getting worked up the way football fans like to get worked up about things which, in the wider context, aren't all that important.

As for preferring to play non-League in order to stand by our principles, I wouldn't fancy being the club Chairman charting that particular course. He'd be crucified. The reason money talks in football is because, without it, clubs go bust.

 

[haveaguiness]

I must be alone in seeing both sides to this.

For me, any club's identity goes way beyond the colour of the shirt and the badge on it. We changed our badge not so long ago and we seem to have survived it. No offence to anyone, but I think people are just getting worked up the way football fans like to get worked up about things which, in the wider context, aren't all that important.

As for preferring to play non-League in order to stand by our principles, I wouldn't fancy being the club Chairman charting that particular course. He'd be crucified. The reason money talks in football is because, without it, clubs go bust.

I can see why they would want to do it in order to get the money and survive, but surely you have some sort of written contract to make such a drastic change, rather than just saying "yes, you can change our identity as long as you give us£70 million, but don't worry about putting that in a contract, we trust you". I honestly can see them getting shafted here and for what?

Normally clubs have a modernisation of their club badge not a complete redesign of the clubs identity in this case the Blue Bird, which we all know will be completely removed within two or three years.

If someone offered Southend £70 million right this very second WRITTEN INTO A CONTRACT, which would build the ground, and make us safe for the foreseeable future I would say yes, but it still wouldn't mean I would have to agree with the principles of it.

 

[southend4ever]

I think it is important to remember that hopefully our football club will last a lot longer than our lifetimes. Therefore if such a change was created to re-brand and become a bigger club in the future then I would be all for it. Yes it is hard to give something up that you love but what will my opinion count for when I am no longer around to stand by it. I'd rather play in orange and green for a chance for future generations to support a successful club than stay in blue just because that is the colour that history tells us we play in.

It's a colour, it's a crest... There is a lot more to a club's history than these two features. Yes, us fans do in many instances see us as a tribal like group that follow our club around the country but we don't need colour to dictate who we support. We are Southend, Southend United regardless of colour and crest and we all share together the same history of the club.

 

[Reg Martin]

Have to say I would be very tempted to take the money if it secured the club's long term future.
There is some history of clubs changing shirt colour - Leeds did not play in white until Don Revie was appointed in early 60s and I think Torquay used to play in Newcastle-style barcode shirts at one time. I think Crystal Palace played in purple shirts in early 70s rather than the blue/red stripey version of today
Some clubs have also changed nicknames eg Sunderland from Rokermen to Black Cats. Others have changed club badges including Southend

 

[Uncle Leo]

Have to say I would be very tempted to take the money if it secured the club's long term future.
There is some history of clubs changing shirt colour - Leeds did not play in white until Don Revie was appointed in early 60s and I think Torquay used to play in Newcastle-style barcode shirts at one time. I think Crystal Palace played in purple shirts in early 70s rather than the blue/red stripey version of today
Some clubs have also changed nicknames eg Sunderland from Rokermen to Black Cats. Others have changed club badges including Southend

I was about to post along these lines. Does anyone know if there was any really negative press when the likes of Leeds, Watford and Palace changed their kits? See these links for ways sides have radically changed their colours in the fairly recent past (you can sort of ignore the early days, when teams all appeared to be a bit confused about what to wear!)

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Leeds_United/Leeds_United.htm

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Watford/Watford.htm

http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Crystal_Palace/Crystal_Palace.htm (to be fair, it seems Palace have never been able to make their minds up)

 

[Ron Manager]

I get the argument of the other clubs in fairly recent memory changing their colours. But is it directly comparable to selling out to foriegn investors who make changes to suit overseas fans (who don't even actually exist yet) in pursuit of a a shot in the supposedly promised land of the Premier League?

I respect completely those who disagree with me on that, but I just wouldn't want it at my club personally.

 

[united we stand]

When it looked like we were 48 hours away from going out of business two/three years ago , if someone had said I will take over, pay the players , make you safe but you have to play in red would I have taken it? ---------100% yes.

as has been said I might not be totally happy with it t but I would go with it.
As an aside I could see the away shirt being rather popular that season :winking:

 

[Jam_Man]

Firstly I really dont get it. Ive read people saying it will affect how well the team do on the pitch. Er no it wont, its a fabric colour, it means **** all.

Now how would I feel if it happened to us ? If someone came in and guaranteed to put a lot of money into the club if we played in red ? I really dont think I would care.

Club history and identity are important but you can get to hung up on it. Change with benefits isnt a bad thing. Changing just because 'red is lucky' however is a different matter.

I certainly wouldnt choose us ground sharing in non league over changing shirt colour....

The badge is different, that should remain similar. It can be updated and redesigned but should be kept. Cardiff have a dragon, what would ours be anyway, a white stiletto?