The success of Cardiff City's new stadium in getting more families through the turnstiles was highlighted in March as the club held a successful 'Enjoy the Match' family fun day.

Now in its second season, The Football League's Enjoy the Match campaign was created to eradicate foul language and abusive behaviour in family areas of grounds across England and Wales to encourage more mums, dads and kids to attend.

The area below the family stand at Cardiff was transformed on Sunday 21 March for the visit of Watford into two fully-fledged kid's zones containing four Playstations and four televisions showing cartoons to cater for all ages.

An Astroturf carpet, together with the entertainment, left children engrossed before, during and after the game. Space outside the ground also allowed the club's community team to install a large funfair with rides, a keepy-uppies section, jukebox juniors and Welsh Choir 'Only Men Aloud'.

"This is the first time that we have been able to reap the benefits of the new stadium; we had no room at Ninian Park," admits Julian Jenkins, Cardiff's Head of Customer Services and Ticketing.

"We hope this is the start of things to come for Cardiff. We have plans to create a theatre area with a stage for kids providing entertainment before in the hour before kick-off to encourage more children into the club. We want to be known as a proactive family club."

The innovative approach to families taken by Cardiff is beginning to bear fruit with the South Wales club now boasting 5,000 family season ticket holders compared to just 500 three years ago.

In a questionnaire sent to hundreds of families following the 2-0 home defeat to Barnsley in February, not one of the replies mentioned the result, whilst 98% said they would recommend the experience to a friend or colleague.

And the trend is set to continue spiking as the club announce an overhaul of their mascots. Mike Young, the creator of cartoon SuperTed, has redesigned the main mascot Bartley to make him more appealing to a younger demographic.

Young has also created three new recruits to join Bartley, a girl (Zoe), a boy and an Asian character who are yet to be named. The new quartet, known as the 'City Kids', will permit two mascots at any one time to be in the community delivering key club messages to current and potentials fans.

There are also plans to introduce a family supporter's group consisting of eight adults and eight children forming a monthly action group to set the family agenda.

"Cardiff City are a shining example of a Football League Club going above and beyond to give something back to their community and encourage more families through the turnstiles," said Glynis Firth, Administration Director at The Football League.

"I went to the Watford game and Cardiff's efforts should be highly commended - everyone there had a great family day out."

But it is not just Cardiff fans benefiting because the club have installed an Enjoy the Match away family section to cater for visiting fans. There is also a point of contact for travelling families in the Customer Focus Manager and a designated section in the car park next to the entrance for 30 families.

On matchdays, two dedicated Family Liaison Officers in the 125-seater branded away area permits travelling families to enjoy a day out in Cardiff.

For all the latest news on Cardiff City please click here