Hull owner: The fans can die as soon as they want

Lord Spencer wrote:I find it very strange that the owner does not attempt to meet the fans in the middle and just call it "Hull City Tigers"

BeautifulGame wrote:Hull City owner Assem Allam has reiterated his intention to walk away from the Premier League club if his proposed name change is unsuccessful.

Allam is attempting to rebrand the club as Hull Tigers in order to increase their commercial appeal to potential sponsors, but the Football Association is set to block his proposal.

In a statement, the governing body said that, at a meeting last Wednesday, its membership committee had made the recommendation to reject the request to the FA council after "consultation with stakeholders within and outside of the game".

The statement added that a full vote would be taken as planned on April 9 and that Hull were able to respond with a new submission, having been sent the written reasons.

Allam later insisted once again that he would walk away from Hull if his plan failed, but moved to deny he would liquidate the club.

While also admitting he would now ask Hull's season ticket holders to vote on the issue, he said: "We will announce a ballot this week, and we will challenge the decision.

"If the FA does not allow our plan, we will walk away, put it on the market to sell the club. We would not put it into liquidation; there is a lot of money at stake. I will get my money when I sell."

Allam's quest has been met with a furious response from supporters and led them into a war of words with the owner.

But the Football Supporters' Federation has praised their campaign, called City Till We Die, and believes the right decision has been made.

FSF chief executive Kevin Miles said: "This is undoubtedly the right decision and credit should go both to the FA and to Hull City fans, who led a tremendous campaign.

"The fans' groups and fanzines who came together under the City Till We Die banner have protected their club's heritage and 110-year-old name with great dignity.

"The FA's decision should also serve as a warning to other owners - such fundamental changes to a club's identity should not be made without the support of the fans."

Allam's son Ehab restated the case for a change as recently as last week, pointing out his family had invested £74m in the club.

"We have nothing left to give and this is the reason why the club has to become financially self-sustainable," he wrote in a letter to the Hull Daily Mail.

"Currently there are six teams in the Premier League with 'City' in their name and, with the exception of Manchester City, all of those clubs are in a similar league position to us, and playing to similar sized crowds.

"We need something that makes us stand out from the pool of teams we find ourselves in when it comes to attracting potential international sponsors, who are simply hoping to use the Premier League, and its global audience, to advertise."

rwo power wrote:

Lord Spencer wrote:I find it very strange that the owner does not attempt to meet the fans in the middle and just call it "Hull City Tigers"

Apparently he hates the word "city"...

Hull City have accused the Football Association of prejudice after the governing body rejected their request to change the name of the Premier League club.

Owner Assem Allam wants the team to be known as Hull Tigers from next season, and is balloting season-ticket holders to determine their appetite for change.

A fans-led campaign 'City Till We Die' is calling on all supporters to block the proposal and Allam believes the FA took their views on board before coming to their conclusions.

In a statement, Hull City said: "The club is disappointed with the timing of yesterday's announcement made by The FA. We feel we have been prejudiced right from the outset.

"The FA introduced a new policy to handle our application on the back of consultations with the City Till We Die group, and we therefore feel that our application was already pre-judged.

"This feeling has been reinforced with yesterday's announcement, as the club feels this will further prejudice the forthcoming ballot of season pass holders.

"However, this is now the time for the silent majority to come forward and support the club's aspirations. Details of the ballot will be released to season pass holders within the next 48 hours."

Monday's setback prompted Allam to repeat his threat to quit the club should he fail in his ultimate goal to force through the name-change.

"If the FA does not allow our plan, we will walk away, put it on the market to sell the club. We would not put it into liquidation; there is a lot of money at stake. I will get my money when I sell," he said.

Yohan Modric wrote:The FA Council rejects Hull City's proposed name change to Hull Tigers.

Hull City have failed in their bid to rename the club Hull Tigers after the proposal was rejected by the Football Association Council.

Club owner Assem Allam had wanted to change the title of Hull to incorporate their nickname in order to make it more marketable and has threatened to pull out of the club if he is blocked.

However, the FA Council has opted to follow the recommendation of the governing body's own membership committee, who voted unanimously that the plan should be rejected last month.

In a statement on their official website, the FA revealed that the Council's decision was carried by a 63.5% vote of its members.

The Council, which is made up of representatives from across football, did not take into account the results of a poll conducted by the club, and published on Monday, which offers evidence of support for the name-change among its supporters.

In a ballot of season-ticket holders over the age of 16, 2,565 voted for the rebrand with 2,517 against. A further 792 expressed indifference while another 9,159 did not take up their right to vote.

Fans were invited to vote "Yes to Hull Tigers with the Allam family continuing to lead the club", "No to Hull Tigers" or "I am not too concerned and will continue to support the club either way".

Opposition group 'City Till We Die' believes Assem Allam, and his son Ehab - the club's vice chairman - attempted to exploit loyalty towards them by wording questions in favour of the poll.

Prior to the vote, Ehab said in an open letter to fans that his family "had put in £74m to the club and had nothing left to give."

Ian Waterson of 'City Till We Die' told Sky Sports News: "We are obviously very happy. For the thousands of people who have supported us not just in Hull but nationally and internationally it is something to be proud of.

"He (Allam) has piled a lot of money into this football club to get it where it is and has done a magnificent job but what he has done on this one issue is something we have had to take issue with because history and heritage is important.

"It is his decision how he wants to take this now. The proper channels have been gone through, the fans have had their say and the club have had their say and the FA have chosen in this instance that the name change should be rejected and we feel it is the common sense decision.

"I can say now, though, that we don't want the owner to leave. We are very happy with what he has done here."

The name-change issue has rumbled on throughout what has been a successful season for Hull, who face Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-finals this weekend.

A statement on the club's official website read: "The club will not be making any comment on the outcome of today's FA meeting.

"Our focus is on supporting Steve Bruce and the team ahead of Sunday's FA Cup semi-final, our first in over 80 years.

"We look forward to seeing you all at Wembley."

El Chelsea Fuerte wrote:go ahead and change the badge, big *bleep* deal

VendettaRed07 wrote:l don't get why the FA allowed Cardiff owners to change their colors and their badge to where they are almost unrecognizable.. Yet won't let the Hull owner change the name to Tigers. Seems unfair to me, to either the Cardiff fans or the Hull owner that they weren't protected/the Hull owner wasn't allowed to do the same.