Off Topic Well done Hull FC

At the time the KC was being built/planned Groaks and his fc cronies, FC voices, held several meetings with HCC about the size and lay out of the new stadium. His view then was that a 15,000 capacity would suffice. The one meeting held with City fans, which I attended, was a last minute paying lip service one when the stadium was almost complete. HCC and the planners had already made their minds up. Also Sport England and a £5m grant, which never materialised , was instrumental in capping the limit at 25k. Trevor Booking had a big say in this.
Brooking forgot that the last time he played football in Hull the crowd was over 30,000.
Terry Geraghty also seized on the very same game, City v WHU at Boothferry Park some 25/30 years earlier to say that was last time City got over 30,000. He forgot to mention that the capacity of Boothferry Park had been drastically reduced after that so it was impossible to get regular gates of 20/30,000 even if we had been top of the old First Division.

 

It was 15k not 20k.

 

I remember the original scheme of putting it where St stephens is now with a 20,000 capacity which at the time seemed reasonable.

 

Planning a new multi-use stadium is always tricky, the fan bases of all Hull clubs has fluctuated massively over the years. In the end the probably got it spot on, any bigger and it would have been too much, any smaller and it would have inhibited the growth of the clubs.

Obviously those concerned with the rugby club wanted it most suited to them, similarly those involved with the football club wanted it suited to them, its only natural to look after your own interests.

What is undeniable is that the stadium would never have been built in the first place without both clubs been involved, City would never have made it the PL and I very much doubt FC would be enjoying their current success without it. At times its an inconvenience sharing a ground but I think people often overlook just how important it has been in both clubs recent history. Whatever your opinion, both clubs owe a debt of gratitude to the other, its one of the best things to happen to both clubs and has brought joy to millions of people, bickering about who said what 15 years ago is just missing the point entirely.

 

Millions of people?

 

Yeah, none of us know anyone who supported one of the 'big clubs' and then suddenly turned up to watch City in the Premier League.

 

Really? Based on what? There is no barometer you can use that doesn't show City are better supported than either rugby club.

 

So this is my first report of the build up direct from Kamari Beach, the big game in all the sports bars last night was Panathinaikos going out of the Europa Cup and coverage of the Champs League draw. Mention of Hull to a few locals met with recognition of Marko Silva going from Olympiacos to City, and blank faces regarding eggchasing. Took a walk around the sports bar chalk boards this morning and Bristol/Villa are up against PSG/St Etienne tonight, no City. So the big day Saturday and its F1 quality, Newcastle/West Ham, then a mix of ManUtd, Genoa/Juve, Romania/Inter, then McGregor/Mayweather, strange but I'm struggling to find FC/Wigan, looks like complete apathy across Europe, how are Humberside bigging it up?

 

He's right, but it isn't impossible, and it's easy to blame technology.

I'm 24, so when I was little video games were still a thing. Not mobile phones and tablets obviously but we had PlayStations. And we still went outside. My dad took me to City at age 5 and got me hooked. It's not impossible for that to happen now. I guess the difficulty is the ones who haven't been introduced to the idea by their parents from a young age. A large majority of young people I'd guess. It is easy to watch on Sky but it's nowhere near as good and the people who don't go don't realise that. It doesn't help that if you take them to a one off game their experience is all this sit down, sit still, be quiet, you're a criminal which dominates the modern matchday.

 

I agree with the above but I think 'bickering' is a bit of an understatement. Groak and FC Voices at the time the KC was built were very instrumental and for some reason they had HCC ear. It would have been fairer at the time if both clubs supporters had been involved from the start and not just those of FC. The case for a small stadium was based on the attendances City had been getting in the lower leagues during the worst period in the clubs history and playing from a ground who's capacity had been severely reduced by those now deciding how big the new stadium should be. Before you jump down my throat, it was Humberside CCC who decided on the capacity of the stadiums in the area at the time because they issued the safety certificates and Terry Geraghty was the leader of Humberside CCC. I met them and argued the case that they were reducing the capacity of the East Stand, which was concrete and asbestos roofing but allowing a wooden stand at Grimsby to operate to full capacity. They were not listening. This was before the Liverpool FA Cup game 88? when the club said they could have sold Boothferry Park out 'twice over'
Point being, we had a glorious chance when the KC was built to really make a statement and deliver a magnificent stadium with a capacity of at least 35,000. The problem seemed to be is that no-one making the decisions ever thought that Hull City would ever get out of the lower leagues when a brief look at our history since WW2 and not just from the 1980's would have given them all the information they needed without having to listen and believe the likes of Groak, Geraghty and Trevor Brooking.
A successful Hull City always packed the ground.
Plus all the really big crowds in this city since WW2 had been for football, not rugby league.
As it was the KC was built and magnificent as it was/is it is still on the scale of a MK Dons type of club and when City finally did reach the Premier League, the first time in particular the size of the KC stadium held us back.

 

Ruddy Nora I had you down as much older.

I'm **** at this, I always assumed Syd was a pensioner as well.

 

Yes that's some decent points.
It doesn't detract from the facts he pointed out about attracting 16 to 24 year old son to the sports isn't easy.

 

I was thinking the same.
He is somewhat wise for 24

 

Yeah more than likely, hundreds of thousands have used the KCOM in person, then there's countless others around the world that have enjoyed both clubs recent successes which are a direct result the stadium. I think its a fair estimation that it probably runs into the millions.

 

I'm not sure hundreds of thousand will have had joy brought to them at the KCom or indeed millions around the world.

 

No, a few thousand people have enjoyed the KCOM regularly. Which doesn't run into hundreds of thousands of different people let alone millions.

 

I don't doubt there will have been games that we could have sold 30K plus tickets for a City game, however I don't believe there were many, pretty much only our first season in the PL and maybe half of the following season, thats less than 30 games, given we've played well over 300 games at the stadium that represents less than 10%. The fans that would have bought those extra tickets are the same ones that would have no interest if we then struggled or got relegated.

Whilst it would be nice to have that level of support I just don't believe a bigger stadium would have maintained that nor do I think its essential for premier league stability (see West Brom, Swansea, Stoke, Bournemouth...etc).

In the end I think the balance was about right, I'd much rather turn away a few thousand glory supporters on rare occasions than have crowds of 15k in a 35k stadium. I don't think that shows a lack of ambition, its just realistic. We've have shown we can maintain those big crowds in the past but football was different back then, you could turn up on the day and get in with the change in your pocket, given the size of the City, the wealth of its inhabitants and the cost of modern football I don't think we'll ever see a return to those days.

 

A lot - particularly fans of other clubs who like to take the puss but also seemingly some of our own - seem to forget people camping out for 48 hours to get season tickets and Sky reporting that they'd never seen anything like it.

 

You genuinely think less than 100,00 different people have entered the KCOM in 15 years? The millions I quoted takes into account both clubs global fanbase that have enjoyed the success of both teams that wouldn't have been possible without the stadium.

Obviously its an estimate, we don't have those figures, but its undeniable that the place has made a lot of people happy over the years either directly or indirectly, it still remains one of the best things to happen to our city.

 

We've had one sold out season since we've been there, we haven't even sold out of season passes for any of the other seasons.