by Call to Arms
Robert Norster has signed a “Heads of Terms” agreement with Cardiff City Football Club agreeing that Cardiff RFC Ltd. will relocate the Cardiff Blues to Leckwith as tenants of the aforementioned football club. A “Heads of Terms” agreement is a non-binding document outlining the main issues relevant to a tentative partnership agreement. In other words, it is little more than a letter of intent. We take a look at gaps in Mr Norster's thinking.
Firstly, turning to the commercial success (or otherwise) of Cardiff RFC Ltd. Since the rebranding to the Cardiff Blues, the company has returned the following financial results.
| Turnover | Operating Loss | |
| 2003 | £4,066,186 | £157,046 |
| 2004 | £4,041,941 | £953,026 |
| 2005 | £4,490,566 | £1,108,542 |
| 2006 | £5,057,268 | £776,378 |
Mr Norster claims significant growth in commercial revenues. The losses made by CRFC Ltd and the negligible increase in turnover would indicate otherwise.
If there are plans which show the redevelopment of CAP are both financially and logistically impractical, we urge the board to release these plans for public scrutiny. It seems strange that the WRU did not agree that the redevelopment of a stadium at Cardiff Arms Park was not “financially and logistically impractical” when the Millennium Stadium was built.
The Cardiff Athletic Club are the major shareholder in Cardiff RFC Ltd. Call to Arms believes that the management committee of CAC are not acting in the best interests of the rugby club. This announcement underlines this position. We need to change the management committee at CAC.
Mr Norster calls for change throughout his statement. We too support change – but not the change he advocates.
Sadly, Mr Norster's statement also glosses over the fact that only a limited number of rugby clubs are tenants of football clubs. The Liberty Stadium is not owned by Swansea City Football Club, the Llanelli Scarlets are building their own ground, and thanks to support from the WRU, Newport RFC’s ground is also being redeveloped.
He ignores Gloucester RFC’s development of their ground, the money spent by Leicester or even the development of Adams Park by a partnership between London Wasps and Wycombe FC.
Mr Norster claims that the relationship between CRFC Ltd and Cardiff City FC will be the same as that between CRFC and CAC. This is grossly misleading. CAC is the major shareholder at CRFC Ltd. If the landlord is a major shareholder in the tenant, then the relationship is far closer. Are we to infer from his statement that Cardiff City FC will shortly be buying shares in Cardiff RFC Ltd?
As stated at the head of this article, the agreement with CCFC is as yet only a Heads of Terms agreement. There is still time for fans to exercise their rights to change this decision. This means, changing the management committee at CAC. If you’re not a member of CAC, then please join. This comes automatically when you buy a season ticket for the premiership side. When the SGM is called, fans will be mobilised and changes will be made. This is a Call to Arms!