Vincent Tan on his Cardiff City love affair
Malaysian owned team Cardiff set to soar in League Cup final against Liverpool
FOR someone who came into football late in life, Berjaya Chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan is surprisingly knowledgable when talking about the Beautiful Game.
“I didn’t even know about the offside rule until about two years ago, just before I took over Cardiff City,’’ he quipped.
But that hasn’t stopped Cardiff’s owner from becoming a passionate Bluebird (the nickname given to Cardiff’s fans). So much so, that he is now a recognisable figure in the Welsh city.
“The Cardiff fans appreciate what we have done for their football team. And because of the branding (Malaysia is emblazoned on all the team’s jerseys, both home and away) they are also very pleased to meet Malaysians,’’ he said.
Come Feb 26, all of Wales and dare we say, a large number of Malaysians will be united behind Cardiff City when they take on Liverpool in the League Cup Final at Wembley.
“Very few people give us a chance against Liverpool. But I say the ball is round and with divine help, we can win,’’ Tan says with a hearty laugh.
To date, the businessman has invested £36mil in shares and cash into the club.
At the time of writing Cardiff sit third in the Division Two table, three points behind second-placed Southampton and automatic promotion spot into the English Premier League.
It has been a roller-coaster introduction for Tan to life in English football. While he has put the club on firm financial footing, Cardiff have agonisingly missed promotion to the EPL in two consecutive seasons, falling in the playoff stage.
Their first Cup Final since they famously become the one and only team to take the FA Cup out of England in 1927 (beating Arsenal in the final), means so much for the Welsh nation. The majority of Cardiff fans are, however, torn between success in the Cup and promotion to the EPL.
Tan has no such qualms. “Winning the Cup would be a dream come true, but winning promotion to the EPL will mean a £90mil windfall and securing the club’s future for at least the next four years,’’ he said.
“This club is stillaworkin progress. We could have spent big in the January transfer window, but not at the expense of the club’s operations. Beside’s I have faith in our manager Malky Mackay and the work he is doing with the talented squad that we have,’’ he added.
“God willing if we get promoted we will definitely spend big,’’ he said, drawing comparisons to the example of Thai duty free giants Kingpower, who took over Leicester City and hired former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson for a reported £3mil a year. Eriksson spent a bomb on players but eventually got the sack midway through the season.
“The Cardiff club are good with a strong fan base. Our average attendance is better than some EPL clubs. We get more than 22,000 fans at each match (capacity is 27,000), but we have room to put in another 8,000 seats and we will invest another £8mil to £10mil for this if we get promoted.
“I have some ideas if Cardiff get promoted. I want the club to have a strong Asian fan base. Look at Manchester United and their army of Asian fans. Malaysian fans love English football and they have their favourite teams to support like Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal. I hope Cardiff can become their second team,’’ he said.
Tan and his partner Datuk Chan Tien Ghee own 49% of Cardiff City.
“Anymore and I would have to make a general offer and buy everyone out,’’ he said, adding that it was Chan who convinced him to buy Cardiff.
“It was May 2010 and my first match was watching us lose to Blackpool in the playoff final at Wembley. My friends told me I was crazy to get involved with football because no one makes money!
“My friends tried to persuade me that buying a club without any football knowledge was madness, but I told them that it is like any other business. You may not know much about it but if you have the passion, you will learn pretty fast,’’ he said.
And learn he did, at the end of the 2010-2011 season, Tan took the bold but necessary step of sacking Dave Jones, the previous Cardiff manager.
“Dave had taken us as far as he could but we needed someone who could take us to the EPL,’’ he said.
Tan also dropped the previous shirt sponsors SBOBET, an online gaming company.
“I was looking for another sponsor and then decided to brand Malaysia. I have no regrets – the shirt sponsorship is worth more than £1mil to the club and I pay the club this amount for the right to put ‘Malaysia’ on our jerseys.’’
“Malaysia has been very kind to me I have been successful because of the country. This is my country, I was born here, I say to my Malay friends “tanah tumpah darahku” – we will always be here. This is a small gesture of my gratitude to my beloved country – to promote the country and bring the Welsh people and Malaysia closer together,’’ he added.
He said the 1MCC academy led by Chan was an initiative by Cardiff to develop young talent in Malaysia.
“In the United Kingdom, they have the Under-10, Under-12, Under-15 leagues and so on. This is what we need,’’ he said, adding that he would consider taking some talented Malaysian youngsters to be based in the Cardiff City Academy.
With an expected TV audience of 800 million people around the world watching the Cup Final, Cardiff and Malaysia are going to be on the world map. A proud Tan will be there watching, just like he was at the Leadgue Cup semi-final on Jan 24 when the Bluebirds beat Crystal Palace.
“Our fans gave us a standing ovation and Chan and I had to do a lap of honour after the match,’’ he said.
Owning Cardiff hasn’t brought Tan any financial dividends, but it has brought him emotional dividends.
“I will go into the dressing room before the final and give the team a pep talk. I will tell them to do their best and pray!’’