I was one of those who confronted the Calendar film crew. Don Robinson never did own Hull City outright, he was always just the acting chairman, Chris Needler owned the club and when Robinson realised he couldn't actually own the club, lock, stock and barrel, he left and gave his shares away for free. Actual 'ownership' hinged on some 'non voting shares' which Needler held. It was a very complex arrangement, made so that the Needlers always owned the ground on which the club played on. Bob Chapman and Ian Blakey were the mainstays at City in 1980, it was those two who brought Mike Smith and Cyril Lea, Bobby Brown and Gordon Dimbleby to the club in a deal that all but bankrupt us. We were the first club to be placed in Receivership which released us of their contracts. It was a bold and brave move at the time to recruit the Wales manager Smith, who had never actually managed a league club and it backfired dramitically for us. I still have a memory of Robinson on Look North making the announcement to the Fc fans to come and support Hull City v Brentford after their televised game ended in his usual flamboyant way. Another memory is that the Fc lot actually came into the ground a few minutes after the game had kicked off, or am I imagining that too? It was only forty odd years ago afterall.
Don Robinson did not get involved with City until after receivership in 1982 . He came in and brought along Colin Appleton as manager. We all thought Don was now the owner but the Needlers had the non voting shares which meant they had all the power. I always thought it was the Fc chairman who asked FC fans to come and back City .
I played football with lads who’d been city fans in the early 70’s but as soon as City dived and FC and Rovers rose they jumped ship and on our playing days tried to take the piss in the changing rooms - I really hated them for it and we didn’t get on at all , and all the others that found it funny , at work wherever . Before the Brentford incident I would never have wished them Ill nor Rovers but that match left a scar with FC and completely changed my opinion . As for ‘letting it go’ it doesn’t pre occupy me at all but my feelings haven’t changed towards them - if they folded tomorrow I wouldn’t bat an eyelid . People like Adrian Durham perpetuate the rugby town myth because their age group witnessed the era of the towns rugby success whilst we floundered . Bad timing !!!!
I definitely remember the FC fans coming into the ground a few minutes after kick off, don’t know why. But I’m sure there was only maybe 200 to 300 of them. And yep they took the piss.
Just had a look on HDM site. Their reporter had his finger on the pulse with his prematch statetements. “The Leythers, meanwhile, are still looking for their first win of the year, and, like Hull, they have some key players out to injury. That all makes for an intriguing fixture, with a closely fought battle predicted.”
What's gone wrong? I know they've been badly hit with injuries but is there more to it than that? Poor recruitment, or not enough investment?
Do they still sing that soppy song before going to bingo? It's not funny of course if you're a season ticket holder. What is there to look forward to?
They’ve recruited poorly for a number of years, they’ve let their good players go and replaced them on the cheap, it’s probably the second worst squad in Super League after London, who still have some part-time players. Pearson is out of money and out of ideas, he’s still blaming Covid loan repayments for the lack of investment, but all clubs took them and aren’t having the same issues. FC will be a shambles until he sells up, but he’s not prepared to do so.
The club is worth of fraction of what he’s put in and the value is dropping each year. He needs to cut his losses before it gets ugly!
