They probably would if they were all together, but the reality is, what's left will most likely be scattered in different stands. I think it's just another thing in the list of things that need addressing within the reality of what we've got.
Another evictee story... I was an E2-er, went with 3 other lads. We reluctantly got moved to North, which included a worse view combined with a price increase, the only potential positive was the possibility of contributing to a new version of what we had in E1-3. The reality of North Stand soon became obvious: 1. A worse view 2. A price increase 3. People who had formed bonds over the years nowhere to be seen and disjointed what had worked in E1-3. 4. A large number of the people who moved into North who weren't originally from E1-3 had clearly moved in there to soak up the atmosphere and observe, rather than contribute to the support - the droves of non-singers diluted the support that did and people stopped trying to get things going. 5. Not enough turnstiles to accommodate the whole of North stand (4 I think?) meant huge queues missing the first 5/10 mins every week, even when getting there early. 6. Away fans being given priority over home fans: Allowing the away fans out first at the end of games, meaning home fans in the North stand had to either wait an extra 20-30 mins for the away fans to disperse or walk around the entire stadium just to walk back to the city centre. After 1 season in the North of realising it was a load of ****e, and the addition of yet another price increase, the 3 lads I went with stopped going and haven't been back since. I didn't renew either, but went to a few games at the start of the season, as I still had the football bug. I saw the Driffield Tigers (who were great at getting chants going) a couple of rows in front of us in E2, now in North Stand this season, stood in silence, bemused, looking around as if to say 'what the **** has happened to this club?!!'. The club then got rid of the turnstiles, the ticket office and made it so you have to jump through hoops to get a ticket. The only games I've been to since those changes have been away games and games were a work colleague couldn't attend and offered their pass to me. I think next season, all those effected by the scheme, you'll get a % who give up entirely, and a % like us who will give it a season and realise it's not the same, and then a % who'll continue and sit silently, bemused at what the club has become.
Going to the KC is rapidly losing its appeal aint it. I dont go all the time and i can't say that when i dont go i miss it.
Selling football tickets and a matchday experience should be easier than selling chocolate, yet our club makes it like trying to sell ice to eskimos.
.... We had a membership scheme once before to get into the East Stand at Boothferry Park. The benefits were restricted views, restricted numbers, no bar, flooded stinking toilets, crumbling terracing and asbestos roofing. The team at that time was made up of free transfers and journeymen and were more then often fighting relegation from either the old div 3 or to stay in the league. The 'members' could be counted in the very low hundreds and we used to pass our 'membership' cards through the fencing so others could join us. This was City's Kop, our singing section, the heart beat of the club although he club couldn't give a **** about us and the Kempton was always the first bit of the ground to be closed off completely when a health @ safety issue raised its head or some more of the terracing crumbled away. The Kop shifted about like a load of nomads looking for a new home, North Stand, behind the goal in the South Stand and eventually high in the corner of the seated section of the South Stand, all of which were ****. Then came the shiny new council built KC Stadium and the council listened and took advice from Hull FC fans on the seating arrangements and even the colour of the seats. FC fans wanted a 15k capacity and to be able to change ends at half time. Someone reminded them it was the year 2000 and not the 1930's. But in the many meetings they held with 'FC Voices' many decisions were made and after much complaining from City fans who felt left out, lip service was eventually given and a last minute meeting with them was eventually held after all the major decisions had already been made. Our concession was to have a sprinkling of amber seats in the ground to break up the masses of black and white. No-one asked or thought about where the 'Kop' would be and it was taken for granted that the South Stand would suffice. Some things never change.
The spec or brief as given to the architects seems to have been majorly flawed. They designed a Sports Stadium. not a football or rugby one, where thought should have been given for segregation and variable amounts of away fans. At the time it all seemed fantastic given where we were, but now it's clear the major faults need addressing such as the flow of people outside the ground after the game, the Walton St car park. Don't hold your breath with this council and this chairman. They have a vested interested in making each other look daft.
It doesn't bode well, when the 'experts' add a gate at one end, a bottle neck at the other, with people trying to get to the south of the stadium, while others coming the other way are heading north, all at the point fans leave the ground in the south east corner to go over the walkway that someone stuck another bottleneck on, and have to navigate both flows. To add to the fun, Police stand in the bottlenecks, restricting them further. While all this is occuring, away fans are directed around the fence, at a point where the route to the walkway isn't clear, meaning they climb over on to the crowded path. These are the people looking at the safety implications of any changes.
How many more years will we have to see this? 5? 10? We've had it almost a decade now......and because it's outside it's off the club's radar, and the council don't seem to want to do owt. Most other clubs/councils would have sorted it in a few months.
Some of the decision making is bewildering. You can't help but think that, if they're right, I know where there's a ward full.
