On Saturday 23 November, during the first half of the home game against Crystal Palace, a banner reading âWe Are Hull Cityâ was displayed within the ground. Stewards attempted to remove the banner by trying to pull it out of the hands of its owners. The resulting tug of war caught the attention of television cameras and the national press, and has aroused strong emotions amongst many Hull City supporters. City Till We Die would like to clarify that this banner was not produced or financed by our group, and that we were unaware of its existence. Our 25-foot wide City Till We Die flag was paraded in front of supporters before kick off. We sought permission to do so before the game, and this was agreed to by the club. Our No To Hull Tigers campaign encourages supporters to make their feelings on the name-change known by singing City-themed songs, as a way of simultaneously backing the team. We have no desire to cause disruption which might distract the players. However, we think it is a sad state of affairs when a banner with a message as harmless as âWe are Hull Cityâ is deemed unacceptable in our own ground. We believe the actions of the stewards who tried to confiscate the banner were ill-advised, could have had very unfortunate consequences, and were certainly not in line with Dr Allamâs assertions that City supporters can âsay what they likeâ and âcall the club what they wantâ. We hope there will be no further attempts to deny Hull City supporters their right to engage in peaceful protest. Links: The Guardianâs match report: âOther than forcing three or four corners, all of which were easily cleared, the crowdâs interest featured on a protest in which some of the many supporters against the clubâs mooted change of name to Hull Tigers were initially prevented from parading a banner reading âWe Are Hull Cityâ in front of the East Stand⦠Eventually the stewards relented, taking the heat out the situation, but the chanting continued, and the episode left club owner Assem Allamâs assertion that most supporters do not care about the issue looking ridiculous.â http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/nov/23/hull-city-crystal-palace-premier-league The Press Associationâs match report: âIt was a grim and forgettable outing at the KC Stadium, as notable for the home fansâ protests against the proposed renaming of the club as anything that occurred on the field. Owner Assem Allam looks set to proceed with plans to rebrand the side as Hull Tigers, but there was nothing for the locals to roar about as they turned in arguably their limpest display of the season⦠Most of the best entertainment involved fan protests against the proposed name change, with a large âWE ARE HULL CITYâ banner being paraded around the stands before stewards waged an unsuccessful tug-of-war with the ring leaders. When the message was once again unfurled, it was met with deafening approval from all four corners.â http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...t-minute-winner-for-10man-palace-8959470.html http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...aim-first-away-win-of-the-season-8959410.html http://www.itv.com/sport/football/a...es-his-new-team-snatch-precious-three-points/ YouTube http://youtu.be/FSGXO5xpD_E - view from the East Stand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q04lat8lgck http://notohulltigers.tumblr.com/post/68056369124/we-are-hull-city-banner
Lets hope they are having a long think about where we are going and what to do next. Hopefully they will reject the proposed name change start making some bridges to the fans to formulate a plan to get us the investment we need to make us an established Premier League team. Imagine what we could achieve if we used some of the energy shown over the past few months to help Assem Allam get us into Europe.
If the club announced even a 'temporary' moratorium on the name change can you imagine the mood change amongst the fans ? Sunday's atmosphere would be electric.
I've just re-read my post and it seems I posted it in a moment of conciliatory expectation which now seems like , in hindsight, the rantings of a naïve fool.
How can you prepare for the unknown ? The club's next press release will determine the course of the season.....
How strange that Assem Allam granted permission for the CTWD banner to be paraded and then instructed the stewards, during the game, to halt the "We are Hull City" banner being paraded. Well done to CTWD for distancing themselves from any protest that could in any way affect on field team performances.
Please grasp the fact that when I sing I di not want to show my opposition to the name change.I know quite a few others who feel the same.After the incident and chanting that climaxed with it the people near me who normally are the few left trying to generate atmosphere were much quieter than usual. I want to sing against Liverpool but genuinely do not know what to do -I do not want you to make claims about my support for you and your campaign.Please stop making such claims
City Till I Die is one song, there's plenty of others for you to join in with without them sending out any message at all. Or do what I do, just shout abuse at the referee instead.
I don't think it does claim that. It asks supporters of our campaign to sing City themed songs, one of which is City Till I Die. The more people who join in the better. Some sing it because they sing, some sing it because of the campaign and some sing it because they don't want to be left out. I for one wouldn't claim that everybody who sings it supports our campaign, although a large number do. One thing is certain though, more people sang it on Saturday then previously. I've thought about what you've said about "We say no" and think some of it is valid. I will see if I can get it discussed further within the campaign.
i imagine it was a stewards decision based on H&S as they were walking back n forth across the front of the stand .
Quite possibly, though I'm still wondering whose decision it was to threaten corporate members with ejection for standing and singing at 19.04, it certainly wasn't some spotty seventeen year old steward(we only get spotty kids as stewards in the West, as there's normally any reason for them being there at all).
City themed songs is a pretty big net.I do not want to engage my small brain in editing myself every time a song is started. If 5 scousers get chucked out on Sunday there will be uproar(predictable) from us lot.This is fun not campaign support
What? You don't think Dr. Evil instructed one of his fiendish minions to show those protesters who was boss?? Are you insane?? Surely it's obvious to even a 3 year old that it was all down to Allam? The fact he granted permission for the CTWD banner to be displayed just shows that errrrr, errrrrrr. it shows that errrrrrr, well that he's just crazy!
Who is the Corporate Entrtainment manager? You know, the one who wouldn't want there to be any unpleasantness that might frighten away Corporate customers?
I don't think singing at a football match can be considered 'unpleasantness', even in the corporate seats.
