by Neil MacSorley
For those of you who are Cardiff Athletic Club members, we urge you to attend the upcoming AGM, on January 28th at 7pm, which will be followed by an EGM at 8pm. There are two vital proposals that will affect the future of Cardiff Rugby so your attendance is vital to protecting the interests of our Rugby Club.
The first proposal is to allow an amendment to the constitution which will allow the Management Committee to spend the proceeds of an asset sale in any way they see fit. This could very well mean that any future sale of Cardiff Arms Park would see the Rugby section end up with a low percentage of the proceeds despite providing more than 75% of Athletic Club members. As the Management Committee have backed the proposed move of Cardiff Blues to the new stadium in Leckwith, the potential sale of CAP becomes more and more likely. There is supposed great council interest in the land and the WRU are said to be more than interested in "completing" the Millennium Stadium. Therefore, it is vital that the rugby section benefits proportionately from any sale. This means that the distribution of funds must be proportionate to the members, not at the whim of the Management Committee which may allow other sections of CAC - (Bowls, Cricket, Hockey and Tennis) - a more than fair proportion.
The EGM has been called to propose a change to the numbers of rugby representatives that sit on the Management Committee of CAC. The recent events concerning the potential move of Cardiff Blues from Cardiff Arms Park have further highlighted the imbalance in the Management Committee representing the membership of Cardiff Athletic Club. We are aware that the rugby section has by far the greatest number of members yet were not canvassed en masse as to their opinion regarding the move of Cardiff Blues. Furthermore, we feel that the three seats on the board of Cardiff RFC ltd are not being used in the best interest of members of Cardiff Athletic Club. There is no organised flow of information from the Board members to Athletic Club members, or vice versa, and this is characterised by a lack of communication regarding the move of the Cardiff Blues from Cardiff Arms Park.
Therefore, we propose a change to the Management Committee to ensure that the views of the members of the Rugby Section of Cardiff Athletic Club are given their proper representation. Increasing the number to eight (4 at present) will reflect the comparative number of Rugby Section members and will allow the Management Committee to properly represent the view of Rugby Section members both on the future of Cardiff Arms Park and during Board Meetings of Cardiff Rugby Football Club ltd - the business that owns and runs both Cardiff Blues and Cardiff RFC.
If you require further information or would like help in getting to and back home from the meeting please contact: Neil on either 029-2056-0304 or 07780?521-170.