Can you imagine Colchester United changing their main club colours to red and white?

It is the kind of act that would enrage most U’s fans.

Spare a thought then for Cardiff City’s supporters, for whom such rebranding has been a ghastly reality for quite some time now.

Perhaps it’s no wonder, therefore, that the evidence of their dissatisfaction was plain for all to see when the U’s paid their first-ever visit to the splendid Cardiff City Stadium, last Friday night.

It was a venue that inhabited its lowest-ever crowd since its 2009 opening.

And while other factors such as live television coverage, the cold weather and January costs probably did not help matters, neither did the apathy and anger felt towards Cardiff owner Vincent Tan which prompted many to boycott the third-round tie.

It was Tan and his fellow Malaysian owners who initiated the rebranding of Cardiff’s traditional colours of blue to red and the changing of the club's crest.

Robbie Cowling has had his critics.

But surely few would argue against the notion that Colchester United have a chairman who has always had the long-term security and identity of the club at heart.

Some supporters may not always entirely agree with the direction in which Cowling has chosen to invest his funds, more recently ploughing them into the club’s youth academy.

And it is sometimes hard to look too far ahead when the U’s are languishing near the bottom of League One and facing a fight to stay in the third tier.

But despite continuing low crowds at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, Cowling has steered Colchester clear of any financial strife and is preserving the club's future, while also respecting its tradition.

At Cardiff last Friday night, the second-half introduction of teenage substitutes Tom Lapslie and Dion Sembie-Ferris saw the U’s hand debuts to two more talented academy products.

In contrast, Cardiff sent on Fabio Da Silva, Kenwyne Jones and Adam Le Fondre off the bench, a trio with a wealth of Premier League experience.

But they did so with the trio wearing colours and sporting a club badge that their supporters simply cannot relate to.

It might be tough being a Colchester United fan at the moment - but at least their identity remains.

For all of the latest Colchester United news, see the Daily Gazette.