Cardiff owner wants to rebrand club to red shirts

The Malaysian owner of Championship side Cardiff City has angered fans by suggesting that the club scraps its famous blue kit in favour of red shirts, reports said Wednesday.

Cardiff -- known as the Bluebirds for their iconic blue shirts -- saw their hopes of promotion to the Premier League dashed by West Ham on Monday after defeat in the second leg of their play-off semi-final.

Owner Vincent Tan, a Malaysian tycoon of Chinese origin, is now considering changing Cardiff's strip to red, believing it to be a luckier colour, a report in The Sun said.

The paper also suggested the club was considering replacing the bluebird on its club crest with a dragon, which appears on the national flag of Wales and which in Chinese culture is considered a symbol of power, strength and luck, as is red.

The BBC quoted a spokesman for a Cardiff City supporters group as saying that a decision to change the colours and badge had already been taken.

To soften the blow, Tan's consortium has offered to invest £100 million (124 million euros, $162,000) on players, a new training ground and stadium improvements, the report said.

"We were told in no uncertain terms that this was a fait accompli," said supporters chief Tim Hartley following a meeting with Bluebirds chief executive Alan Whiteley.

"This investment is going to come into the club. We were shown a design of the logo, Cardiff City will be playing in red, they will be wearing a dragon on their chests," Hartley told the BBC.

"This is going to happen whatever us supporters think about it."