First of all, I would like to thank you for your incredible support this season. Despite the many challenges facing the professional game in Wales, we have been overwhelmed by the wave of positive sentiment we have received, whether on social media, in the stands at Cardiff Arms Park or from those who have already purchased their new Season Memberships.
That positivity is infectious and has been an enormous source of encouragement to the entire business and we remain as motivated as ever to build, grow and ultimately succeed.
As Duke Al said in his brilliant poem to promote our Season Memberships, the campaign just gone was the ‘season of fight’ and I think it is fair to say everyone has shown that fight whether players on the pitch giving everything for the jersey, with some incredible performances, or staff going above and beyond despite stretched resources.
And right beside us, always, have been our supporters. Through thick and thin. Thank you.
On the pitch, there are so many reasons for positivity and optimism as we reflect upon 2023-24 and build towards 2024-25.
Results may not have gone our way but the fact that we picked up 11 losing bonus-points is testament to the fact that we were in the fight virtually every week and, with a bit of luck or with a decision or two going our way, we could easily have won a few more games and finished much higher up the table.
That said, the squad, which is full of home-grown talent played an attacking and exciting brand of rugby, which was enjoyable to watch. With that fighting spirit and pride in the jersey, combined with an attacking brand of rugby and the emergence of so many young players, the green shoots are undoubtedly there.
At this point it would be remiss of me not to mention and congratulate Evan Lloyd, Alex Mann, Mackenzie Martin and Cam Winnett who won their first international caps in the Six Nations, to Ellis Bevan and Jacob Beetham who followed suit just last weekend and now Efan Daniel, who is in line for a first cap Down Under.
All of this has come on the back of eye-catching performances in Blue and Black, so there is no doubt that the potential is there.
Matt Sherratt has built a brilliant team environment and while the past season was about fight, Matt and I have talked about the need for us all to be patient and encourage this team to grow towards its potential during season 2024-25.
The challenges remain but Jockey’s recruitment and retention policy has been considered and effective with Ed Byrne, Danny Southworth, Dan Thomas, Callum Sheedy, Rory Jennings, and Iwan Stephens already announced and some 20 players penning new deals. We also have further announcements to make at the appropriate time.
It is important that we both recruit and retain experience, of the game and of different playing environments, within our squad, and you can see those attributes in the signings we have made so far.
We all learn from experience and having a blend of experience in the squad will help us develop, improve and to fulfil our undoubted potential.
On the coaching side, we are thrilled to have added Corniel van Zyl as forwards coach, while Gethin Jenkins will go full time and Johnny Goodridge replaces Richie Rees. Scott Andrews also deserves credit for the fantastic job he did with our forwards in his first year of professional coaching and we are delighted that he will continue as scrum coach while assisting Corniel.
We must also congratulate Cardiff RFC, who enjoyed a really strong second half of the season to reach the play-off places, losing to eventual winners Llandovery. My thanks go to Steve Law, who has now left the club following a successful period as head coach. We now enter a new era in the Super Rygbi Cymru competition, with Dan Fish appointed as head coach under Gruff Rees.
The Rags will have a new look squad for the competition and have recently announced eight new signings in Josh Thomas, Benji Williams, Jarred Williams, Marc Thomas, Gavin Parry, Thomas Harper, Aled Ward and Charlie Manship.
While those not involved in summer tours are now enjoying a summer break it remains a busy time at the Arms Park as the management team and staff prepare for the season ahead.
We are enormously grateful to Helford Capital for completing their acquisition of the business earlier this year. I am confident they will help us to deliver a bright and exciting future for the club.
It was always Helford’s preference to take over at the end of the financial year, but they stepped in early to support the business alongside our existing shareholders. There have been challenges over the last few months, in professional rugby generally and while we and Helford restructure and transition our financial arrangements, but we are all looking to the future.
We have also been working hard with our colleagues in the Professional Rugby Board and at the WRU to help craft a new long-term strategy for the professional game. As you may have already seen, the WRU have now provided an update on this strategy, which can be found HERE.
It would be inappropriate to comment further, as the work continues, but please rest assured, we are doing everything possible to ensure the best outcome for Cardiff and for Welsh rugby and I am very encouraged by the new board at the WRU and their willingness to support the professional game.
On the home front, we are in the process of completing a new short-term lease with Cardiff Athletic Club, as work continues on a proposed redevelopment of the ground.
Helford also has an appetite to redevelop the site into a fit for purpose, modern stadium, however, any redevelopment would not be possible until after Euros 2028.
In the meantime, we will continue to make small improvements to the Arms Park to ensure our match day experience continues to excel and we make the most of non-match day revenue streams.
We truly appreciate there are ongoing issues with, what in truth, is an ageing stadium, and we will do our best to tackle these within our financial means and with one eye on redevelopment.
You may have already seen the refurbished Pack Bar and the Street Food Unit, promised during last season, is on course to be in use for the start of the coming season.
Work continues to establish a new fit-for-purpose gym at the Arms Park, although the plan has changed somewhat since our last update.
Thanks to the new collaborative working approach with the WRU, a large space adjacent to Cardiff Arms Park has now been made available. We are working with our partners Matrix to convert this area into what I am sure will be a fantastic facility.
This will ensure our commercial revenues from hosting hospitality events in the marquee are not impacted negatively.
Despite the challenges both on and off the pitch last season, and as I mentioned at the beginning of my update, we received brilliant support last season.
Season Memberships were slightly down but we more than made up for that shortfall with our best match-day ticket totals for some years. Our average attendance was up by approximately 1,000 a game and that was felt by all of us in the exhilarating atmosphere on match days.
We enjoyed a succession of bumper crowds and three sell-outs, including against Connacht, which was our Clubs’ Day.
As we know, our Welsh derbies and European fixtures will always appeal to fans, but the marketing and ticketing teams have worked hard to produce creative means of increasing attendances. Last season we enjoyed our most successful Clubs’ Day and student events, while targeted offers such as those for Blue Light workers, community clubs, and schools saw more newcomers to the Arms Park with greater diversity overall.
Season Memberships still remain by far the best value way to watch our teams, giving access to all regular season home games for the first team, Cardiff RFC and our age-grade teams.
We have enjoyed a really strong start to the season ticket sales period, which is just approaching the end of the Early Bird window and are already at around 75% of the total number sold last season.
To purchase your 2024-25 Season Membership, please click here.
If you have not already seen them, our BKT United Rugby Championship fixtures have been announced and can be seen here.
The headlines are that we kick-off against Zebre on Friday, September 20, travel to Parc y Scarlets for our first Welsh derby of the season in Round Two and take on the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Boxing Day, while we host the Ospreys on New Year’s Day.
We will be announcing our pre-season fixtures very soon, while the pool draw for the European Challenge Cup takes place next week.
It has certainly been a busy season and next season is promising to be just as busy and just as exciting. I cannot thank you enough for your support and encouragement. I know everyone at the club feels the same way. If this season was all about the fight for the jersey, next season is about patient growth, while we continue to build our team around our pathway and our heritage.
I am looking forward to seeing you all next season.
Quoting again from Duke Al, ‘New era, new players, new owners, one community but always Cardiff’!
Diolch o galon, pawb! Ymlaen Caerdydd!