"The worst kind of patronization is that which claims that it's telling you what to do for your own good" Christopher Hitchens
I was referring to the protest not the match. I was told I would be ignored I wasn't, 1 - 0 in my eyes.
I'm a drunk football fan, not a hooligan, I gave up on hooliganism around '82. And the battle/war analogy is a common turn of phrase, I can confirm that this campaign does not actually have access to an aircraft carrier, or semi-automatic weapons. PS - I'm sober now.
Thousands of leaflets were given out, people were very supportive, there were 3,000 badges made but unfortunately they'd run out by 2.00 pm, thousands more are being made for the Villa game.
No. But I believe that owners have duties as well as fiscal rights. Football clubs 'belong' to the fans and the communities that generated the teams in the first place. The smarter chairmen or owners know this and adopt a humble 'custodian' role, and find life far smoother. The ones who say 'It's mine, I paid for it, I do what I like and **** the fans' invariably have a sticky end sooner or later. And the clubs rarely prosper either.
Extremely harmful. It will make us a laughing stock and alienate our fans. Tinkering with our name is a crass attempt to wind up local politicians.
Just Aggers being a prick as usual. Same paper Observer's only on a sunday. Funny how he doesnt mention HCFC in every post just lately isnt it...........
My daughter spent yesterday handing out leaflets advertising the sale at the antiques shop she works in, gave out hundreds. Most people were polite and accepted one, some not obviously. So I assume they're going to be run off their feet today as this is considered a success? If not, I'm gonna suggest getting some badges. People like badges.
You old cynic Happy.... next you'll be claiming that those handing out badges yesterday were actively targeting supporters with children.
Now you're suggesting that people took No To Hull Tigers badges, just because they like badges? The badges ran out an hour before kick-off, twice as many badges will be given out at the Villa game. People taking the leaflets were very supportive of the campaign and wished the leafleters good luck. You're sounding more and more sad and lonely with each post, we're down to two or three posters on here who support a name change and you simply deny it. It's laughable.
We actively targeted City supporters, some of whom were children. Most of the badges I handed out were to adults. I had a good day yesterday, I wasn't insulted, crushed underfoot or ignored, the team won and Gary Lineker seemed to have a twinkle in his eye when he called us Hull City, rather than just the usual Hull. Your education continues.
Robbo Where have you been. It is not just the dropping of AFC it is the fact that Assam wants to call us Hull Tigers. Also as you say he said from the beginning he would run the club like a business but where is the proof that Hull Tigers will attract more investment and sell more shirts. The Premier League is envied throughout the world and no other club will have a silly name like Hull Tigers. If changing your name attracted money then why haven't other clubs done it. He did not have his business head on when he made this decision, he had his "I am the owner and will call the club whatever I like" head on.
Ok Robo, you say you want a serious debate, here goes. Yesterday an old lady asked to have a badge pinned on her coat because she couldn't manage to do it herself. She said four generations of her family had watched City and her late husband would have been furious at the name change. What she didn't say is that Hull City is the thread that links all four generations of her family. It is the thread that should link future generations of her family to our football club. It is part of her family's identity as it is mine and maybe thousands of others. I grew up calling City "City" because of my mother. I suspect there are many other similar stories, but the name would have come from brothers, fathers, uncles, cousins and a smaller minority mothers. That thread binds us together and makes us a community. A community that stretches from Spence to Chilton, from Carter to Ashbee and all those supporters who went from Boothferry to Wembley. Assem Allam has called our identity lousy and wants to take it away from us, his community. He wants to take it away from his community because he can and he owns the club. He hasn't asked us and no doubt is organising a selective consultation that would get the name change through the Premier League and the FA. He isn't prepared to take into the account the views of his community because he is right and nobody else matters. When I talk about our history it isn't just the players on the pitch, its also the community of Hull City fans, those that took pictures of their dead relatives to Wembley so that they could feel part of it, those that said I told you we'd get to Wembley one day, the ones that watched us in the fourth division thinking one day we'll be better than Leeds United and after watching what was on the pitch thinking are you right in the head. That is what the name Hull City AFC is about, its about us. But we don't use the full name. When do you ever say I'm from Kingston Upon Hull? Unless you are a pedant you'll say I'm from Hull. It doesn't change our name it just shortens it. Assem Allam bought Hull City for £1. He lent the club £66 million (from the Look North interview) to pay off Bartlett's debts and provide the money to get us into the Premier League. As he said he's businessman not a football man. Therefore it was an investment first the consequence was saving the club. He could have waited for it to go into administration and bought it cheap. Well that would have made no business sense at all. For a start the club was faced with liquidation which meant that the club would have ceased to exist, the players would have walked away from their contracts like Sone Aluko and the parachute payments would have disappeared. Oh, more importantly any reformed club would have started playing non-league football. It would have taken decades to get back into the premier league, if at all because of the fair play rules. A businessman would have weighed up his opinions and thought if I invest millions now I could be back in the premier league in 3 or 4 years. A risk for most of us but that's why we're not businessmen. He may say he could have waited for the club to go into administration. Well he could have done. But with hardly any football creditors he would have had to put millions into the administration to satisfy the Inland Revenue so they would vote for it, maybe close to 100 pence in the pound. In return we would have got a new company running it and the club would have got a 10 point deduction and possible relegation. To return to the premier league we would have needed two promotions and players would have been more difficult to attract. A sensible businessman would have thought if its going to cost me roughly the same what benefit is there in taking a 10 point deduction why not pay all the debts and push for promotion. I don't know Assem Allam but I suspect faced with those choices he choose the best course of action for his investment. He is now in the premier league and the value of his shares have risen. Do I mind, not really. He took all the risks he's entitled to the rewards. In lots of ways I like what he's doing with the club. I'd like to see him stay and build a legacy which establishes us as a premier league club, develops the KC and together with the council transforms the area around the stadium. An invitation for the club and the council to visit the Etihad is on the table. I'm sure Sheik Mansour could explain why living in a council house isn't bad. All of this is possible with a little give and take on both sides. So why not let him change the name. As I said at the beginning its not his name to change. It belongs to us it is part of our community. If he wants to take it I'll campaign to stop it. For me its not a lousy identity, its the name of my football club. To me Hull Tigers is a lousy identity no matter how successful the current set of players. The initials AFC tells the world we are not a company owned by one or two individuals but a football club that is at the heart of the community. To me that's why it is important. Finally, songs. Until the proposal to change the name I'd not heard one song include AFC. We now have three. We have many songs with the word City in them. In three years time and we're in front of a world audience and were singing Hull City FC, by far the greatest team, I can see people watching on TV asking who are Hull City and why are those idiots singing that when their watching Hull Tigers. That is our future if we take Assem Allam's advice and call the club City. We will look stupid in front of the rest of the world. A fine gift to his community.
