June 2012 Archives

Last week, Cardiff City signed Jordon Mutch from Birmingham City, a promising box-to-box midfielder and the type of acquisition that would ordinarily have fans and message boards purring.

Unfortunately, more was made of the fact he was holding a red shirt at his unveiling than his potential impact on the field.

Picture by Pete Thomas

There will be those that roll their eyes at such a suggestion and those that sympathise, either way, fans have been divided and for some, bridges have been burned.

Few former Cardiff City players are as fondly remembered as Leopold Paul Osborne Fortune- West.

All arms and legs, his spirited, physical performances were a staple of the early Sam Hammam years. A £300,000 signing in 2000, he dropped down a league to sign for Cardiff in the third division, having scored 17 goals in firing Rotherham to the second division the previous season.

Yet Leo did not consider the move a backwards step, willing to make a short-term sacrifice to enable a long-term gain. "I loved every second at Rotherham, but this was an opportunity to be part of a club which was a sleeping giant, so I took it with both hands. The transfer was at the time a record and I think this was paid with a view of getting promotion and the beginning of our upward journey."

Football fans are loyal to a fault. In a consumerist society operating in a tough economical climate, football clubs can rely on unwavering brand loyalty, punters turning up in their droves every week, despite high ticket prices and increasing disillusionment with the game.

But they do have principles, they also have a breaking point. For many Cardiff City fans, that breaking point arrived with the introduction of a new badge and change of colour. Enough is enough.