As we approach Christmas and the New Year, I wanted to reach out to you all to provide an update on matters at the club and wish you all a happy holiday season.
2024 has been another eventful year for Welsh rugby but we continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that the key decisions we make are in the very best interests of this great club.
One constant in the past year has been the fantastic support we have been so fortunate to receive both at Cardiff Arms Park and generally on a day-to-day basis. We have enjoyed three home sell outs in the last twelve months and also seen both our attendances and Season Memberships continue on an upwards trend.
That has been replicated within our sponsorship and hospitality numbers, and I must thank you all, supporters, suppliers, and sponsors alike for your incredible support.
Rugby
It has been a pleasing start to the season with the firsts currently sitting fourth in the BKT United Rugby Championship and well placed in the European Challenge Cup and the Rags second in Super Rygbi Cymru.
Both teams are now preparing for back-to-back Welsh derbies, kicking off with the Rags hosting their great rivals Newport at the Arms Park on Sunday (16:45). Meanwhile, the firsts travel to the Dragons on Boxing Day and then at home against the Ospreys on New Year’s Day. You can purchase tickets here.
Performances have been encouraging but as Matt Sherratt has reiterated in the media on multiple occasions, there is still plenty of room for improvement and the team are still searching for that complete 80-minute performance. It would be brilliant if we could see that in the coming weeks and I have no doubt that a good festive period would put us in a really strong position for the remainder of the season.
It has been brilliant to see the continued development of the group under Matt and the emergence of more and more young talent, such as Steff Emanuel and Tom Bowen, who have done so well for the Rags.
As we approach the New Year, we are progressing well in our squad retention, with a number of announcements already made (you can read them here) or planned imminently, while Matt and Darren Allison, our head of recruitment and retention, are speaking to a number of individuals who could further strengthen our squad.
Our strategy remains focussed on building from within by producing and nurturing our own, continuing to bring homegrown talent back, while adding a sprinkling of quality and experience from outside. We boast one of the very best pathways in Europe and it is vital that we fully utilise that and retain as much of the talent as possible.
The appointment of Darren was an important first step in that and you will have seen our investment in the pathway in recent months, with the appointment of Stuart Bradfield as our EPP/Under 16s lead.
Sam Warburton is also playing an increasingly active role in this through his position on our board. He has become an invaluable asset to us and particularly Gruff Rees in terms of the pathway but also more generally in relation to strategy and structures.
Cardiff RFC continue to provide a rich breeding ground for talent, while remaining very competitive in Super Rygbi Cymru. Our priority remains on developing young players and the likes of Steff, Tom, Rhys Barrett, Harri Wilde and Elijah Evans are all testament to this.
Not all the teams in the SRC are taking this approach but we remain committed to this and while there will be challenging periods during international windows, we will hopefully remain in the upper echelons of the table.
My thanks goes to everyone on the rugby side of the business for their continued hard work, dedication and professionalism and I wish them a successful 2025.
Off the pitch
Discussions over the new strategy for Wales continue and this is currently taking up a huge portion of my time. My sincere thanks go to Alun Jones, Martyn Ryan, Jack Treloar, Matt Sherratt, Gafyn Cooper and Darren Allinson, who are also playing an invaluable role in this for us.
We are acutely aware of the speculation in the media and I am kept abreast of topics of discussion and the feeling of supporters on social media.
It would be inappropriate to discuss any specific topics while this important work is ongoing but I can assure you that everything we are doing is categorically in the best interests of both the club and Welsh rugby as a whole.
Protecting the future of Cardiff and giving us the best possible chance of success remains our number one priority. We will communicate more on this when it is appropriate to do so, while I hope to host a supporters Q&A with some board members, at some point in the New Year.
I am pleased to inform you that we have recently agreed a three-year extension to the existing lease with Cardiff Athletic Club, which takes us to 2028 and the conclusion of the EUROs. Discussions over the longer-term future are ongoing but my thanks go to the Athletic Club for their continued support.
Nominations for our Supporter Advisor position has now closed and David Allen was unopposed in this. David will now continue in the role for a further three years and can be contacted on all supporter matters here. On behalf of everyone we send our congratulations to David, who is already an invaluable asset and we look forward to continuing to work closely together.
Commercial
We continue to make strides forward commercially and have surpassed our ticketing targets on all fixtures so far this season.
This is credit to the dedication and style of play from rugby, the hard work of our office and operational staff, and of course you our supporters, who continue to back us through thick and thin.
Looking ahead to the Ospreys on New Year’s Day, tickets are selling very well, with more than 70 per cent issued (at the time of writing. This is now 80 per cent), so we are anticipating another sellout which would be great.
If you haven’t bought your tickets already, please don’t leave it too late!
Our Season-long hospitality has also been in a very healthy position with the Sir Gareth Edwards Lounge sold out for the season and only a handful of boxes available on a game to game basis.
Our non match-days have been busier than ever during the festive season with the Sir Gareth, the Pack Bar and other facilities booked almost every evening.
In recent weeks we have renewed with a number of commercial partners and look forward to announcing some of these in the New Year. We remain indebted to our partners, sponsors and suppliers, who contribute so much to the club.
You will also have noticed recently, or even from reading this newsletter online, that we have recently launched our new website. I’m sure you will all agree it is a huge improvement and my thanks goes to the marketing team and our partners at Box UK and tiQtoQ for delivering a much more robust, flexible and easy to maintain website.
Community
It has, as ever, been a busy few months for the Cardiff Rugby Community Foundation, who continue to go above and beyond to inspire, engage and improve opportunities for all in our communities.
Highlights include a Walking Rugby Festival, which saw more than 150 players take part, our annual Deaf Rugby Day in collaboration with the WRU and our half-term Fit and Fed camps across the region, which saw almost 200 children engaged and holiday hunger tackled.
It was also my great pleasure earlier this month to join some of our staff and players on our annual Christmas visits. I attended Cardiff Foodbank in the morning with office staff and Ty Hafan in the afternoon with some of our players and coaches.
It was fantastic to see the professionalism, empathy and just how personable our players were when meeting young patients and we hope it cheered a lot of people up. It certainly humbled and inspired us.
In total we donated two van loads of food items to four different food banks and visited Ty Hafan and the Children’s Wards at the University Hospital of Wales, Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles hospitals. Thank you to everyone who made this possible!.
Heritage and 150th Anniversary Committees.
Both the new heritage committees and 150th Anniversary committee have recently met and good progress continues to be made.
Important building blocks have been put in place to enable us to develop a museum fitting for a club of Cardiff’s stature and some exciting displays will be put in place in the build-up to our 150th celebrations. Moving forward, we also want to ensure that our fantastic heritage is evident throughout the whole of Cardiff Arms Park.
Focussing specifically on the 150th Anniversary Committee, we have already had some great discussions with actions and plans in place for celebratory kit, fixtures and dinners for both teams, while we have also commissioned a 150th Anniversary book.
My thanks goes to our committee members – Ben Thomas and Teddy Williams from the current squad, Jamie Muir and Mike Brown from our office, former players Andy Booth, Mervyn John and Chris Collins, who is also chair of Cardiff RFC, Keith Morgan and Simon Down from CAC, Sally Carter from CF10 Trust, who boasts a wealth of experience in this field and our supporter advisor David Allen.
Should you have any suggestions for this very special year, please reach out to David.
I hope this provides plenty of encouraging updates as we approach the New Year and once again, from everyone at the club, thank you for your unwavering support.
Wishing a Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year to you all.
Richard,