Probably the saddest promotion the world has ever seen

For too long, too many football supporters have been too hasty to dish out the stick towards Hull City fans over their Wembley appearance in the Championship play-off final. Or the lack of it anyway. The richest game of football in the world? Definitely. The greatest club prize you can win outside the Premier League? Probably. So why then, the apparent apathy from Hull City fans?

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Well, right there, that's your first mistake. It isn't complacency on behalf of City fans. After all, this is a club that's been starved of any recognition or adulation for the first 104 years of our meagre existence. On Saturday 28th May, you weren't watching blasé, cavalier fans, drunk on the recent and relative successes of bidding for a fifth season in the Premier League in eight years, this was in fact football torment on the grandest scale imaginable.

Post match, much mirth and merriment was enjoyed hurling insults at Hull City fans for their apparent 'no show' at Wembley. But actually, shouldn't you really be asking yourself, why indeed this happened at all? Let's be clear here; Hull City v Bristol City back in 2008 was the record attendance for this very fixture - and has only ever been eclipsed once since - as both sides sold out their given allocations. This isn't about a perceived lack of interest on Hull City fans' part. Instead, this is a far more sinister story that will unfold before you. Here, you will understand why there came to being such huge swathes of empty Wembley seats.

What follows from this point, is arguably football's hidden shame. This epilogue won't be found stirring in the the local media. Good grief, perish the thought. No, the media here in East Yorkshire are paralyzed to tell this tale. Too much rocking the boat around the club and the apparent 'culture of fear' from the outside would trigger an iron-like fist from the club. Or so the perception goes. Criticism? Of Hull City owners? After all they've done? Right, we'll see about that. As ever, yet again, it will need to be the national media that will have to come to the fans' rescue on this latest discrepancy affecting the supporters of the club.

I digress. Get used to this, though. This narrative is set to become increasingly more intricate and complex as we go along. So anyway, where were we? Ah yes, Hull City are back at Wembley. An opportunity has been presented to the club to reclaim their Premier League place at the first attempt. In a Championship play-off first, the only guarantee on the day would be a Yorkshire side booking the last place on offer to the English top flight, as Sheffield Wednesday stood in the way of a swift Black and Amber rebound to England's top table.

Let's take a moment to compare and contrast what was occurring here. Down in South Yorkshire, the sleeping giant was stirring from it's 23 year slumber and notable absence from Wembley. Starved of any significant notoriety, this was a big day for Sheffield Wednesday. Tickets were snapped up at lightning pace. The thirst for success was unquenchable as tickets flew out an astounding rate to postcodes in the S6 region and way beyond.

An initial 39,000 were gobbled up with haste - and after some late fudging and procrastination had been dealt with, further tickets were made available to swell the Owls descending on Wembley Way to nigh on 41,000. Impressive indeed. Finishing 6th in the Championship and being the underdog in this tussle was doing nothing to abate the passage of rite Wednesday fans felt was theirs to the Premier League.

Naturally, it's understandable what was happening in Sheffield. Being a dormant club for so many years - which was now running into decades actually - Sheffield Wednesday's recent era had been tempered with an unhealthy amount of time bumbling around in the English Third Division and failing to claim a place at Wembley in the lesser and lower league tournament that is currently known as the Johnstone Paints Trophy. This isn't really a dig at the Owls, more an attempt at perspective. The first sniff of major success for over two decades had now arrived. Nobody wanted to miss this one.

Without question, the numbers proved it too. The Owls were flying once again. Albeit, very much under the radar for the bulk of the Championship season. Let the record state; it was all coming together rather nicely over at Hillsborough. The mood in the blue half of Sheffield Wednesday was buoyant, confident, near expectant. Come game day, that had morphed into deliverance now. Sheffield Wednesday were on their way...

Meanwhile, over in the nether regions of East Yorkshire, this quarter of the county couldn't be more at odds with their Sheffield Wednesday counterparts. While Wembley fever gripped Sheffield Wednesday's support, there was no whistles and bells going off in Hull. Even the passage to the great arch was a damp squib in the end for Hull City fans.

City had mullered Derby County in their own backyard to triumph 0-3 in the first play-off leg and left the Tigers (this is becoming a tainted word now - and it really shouldn't be) a mere shoo-in for the final. Yet, as uttered more frequently than anyone really cares to admit round these parts 'Typical City' almost contrived to mess up their golden ticket to Wembley by stumbling into a 0-2 home leg half time deficit and clung on by our fingernails to make the final.

What followed was one of the most surreal scenes that has ever unfolded at the KC Stadium. A pitch invasion ensued at the final whistle, but it was strangely muted. Half-hearted almost. Sure the 0-2 loss on the night contributed to that, but it wasn't the salient reason why. The smoke bombs filtering into the night sky from the pitch couldn't mask the intransigent divide between the fans and the owner. A thick, ubiquitous atmosphere, synonymous and disharmony had been cultivated under the Allams. Rest assured, no play-off final was going to fix the exponential damage here.

And so it proved with the ticket sales. Despite the club authorising three Play-Off Final tickets per pass to a paltry 11,000 or so season ticket holders, the demand died a death. Just 14,000 tickets were sold despite this desperate rule in a vain attempt to stimulate sales, before the doors were flung open to general ticket sales, the bandwagon jumpers and the day-trippers. Compare this to the aforementioned Play-Off Final in 2008. The full 36,000 allocation sold out in 2 days flat. Says it all. The polar opposite to what was happening 60 miles away in Sheffield.

Nobody in Hull was surprised by the pathetic numbers posted of our initial ticket sales. But you wouldn't read about that in the local paper, or see it on regional TV, or hear about it on local radio. Gagged? Perhaps not. A bad news story that's probably best left alone, rather than poking a stick at a wasps nest? We're getting warmer. Threatened with privileged access to the club while under Allam leadership? Very likely, given the nature of how they 'conduct business'. And there is never, ever, any road to reconciliation, or a route back into the club once relations break down. So, not a squeak to be seen or heard anywhere in East Yorkshire, then. Well, not in the media, anyway.

Meanwhile, the fans forums and leading supporter organisations were thick with debate and rage. To the point were in-house fighting among fans, is so commonplace, nobody bats an eyelid these days. Under the Allam's divisive reign, the civil war raging is nothing but an annoying din that festers in the backdrop of our Hull City supporting lives. Some fans cry out their frustrations from within the Allam borders, namely by attending matches. Others have told the owners to poke it and deserted the club out of protest at the way the regime conducts the stewarding of our club. Yes, our club.

Arguably, above all of this, many have simply been priced out of going to a game altogether. Worse still, should you make the effort (and it is an effort, such is the deflation felt) you can't help but feel severely under valued and unappreciated. And then you end up questioning yourself; what is the point? There is - and never was - any enticement to stick with the club. There's a stark realisation now among the majority of fans, that there is never, ever likely to be again under an Allam led Hull City. Quote Ehab Allam on this; who openly branded the fans 'irrelevant'.

So there we have it. Not even a Wembley final appearance - our fourth in eight years no less - could repair the impasse between fans and the owner. But to understand the discord, you need to delve deep. And when we mean deep, we mean really deep. This is a layered, sophisticated argument. Indeed, no one factor in isolation can do the story of Hull City justice. No one infliction has drained the enthusiasm and love for the club on it's own. Instead, it feels like a sinister indoctrination - an accumulation of tiny grievances that combine to suffocate the love you had for Hull City.

Astonishingly, few could've predicted where the pathway of Allam's ownership of the club would take us, from such auspicious beginnings. This gradual (key word there) downturn of events is unwavering. Those early pleasant memories of Allam being in charge of the club are long gone. Many, can't even remember them. The Allam Family were good for the club? When was this? Incredibly, this initial act of alleged philanthropy is still the thread of credibility that the dwindling number of appeasers cling to. And even that has been shown up for what it really was. All will become clear in time...

City had tumbled out of the Premier League in 2010 and were bowing under the hangover and financial pressures of suffering the infamous 'second season blues' in the Premier League. Inevitable relegation followed and the true picture of City's unhealthy fiscal affairs began to emerge. It was not pretty reading. No stranger to money problems in the past, Hull City were once again on the doorstep of financial meltdown.

It appeared to be a glorious opportunity totally wasted. The club was incurring all the wrong headlines at exactly the worst time, still raw from relegation too. The Premier League money should've been the club's foundation for better. Instead, it appeared to be squandered on inappropriate signings not fit for purpose, frittered on grandiose gestures of extravagance and some was allegedly squirreled away in offshore funding accounts of dubious nature.

The fiduciary mess was inexcusable. The club was on the brink. Again. And then... from literally nowhere, an Egyptian businessman who had been quietly amassing wealth over 40 years in East Yorkshire by selling marine generators across the globe, emerged like the Archangel Gabriel. Already included in The Times rich list, Assem Allam - the multi-millionaire of Allam Marine - was about to sink £20m into the club as a 'gift' to repair the financial damage.

Due diligence came and went and the club was bought in December 2010 by Assem Allam and his son Ehab. The initial promises of the debts now wiped - to the tune of what actually turned out be £33m - begs the question in hindsight; what happened with the due diligence? With it, the promise of Premier League football returning for £5 and £10 ticket prices, or better, 'like air and free for all' were lapped up by a grateful and appreciative support. Just like the spider said to the fly...

At first, barring the odd fan, huge masses of Hull City's support were in gratitude for the Allam's contribution. The legacy that Assem Allam craved in this region was now an open goal given his generosity to the football club, surely? Debt free, the promise of cheap tickets and now the idealism of purchasing the KC Stadium from the council and developing the land with sports arenas, train stations, hotels and casinos. This was visionary landscaping at it's peak. West Park was going to be quite literally the all new 'green' city centre of Hull. The Allam's popularity was sky high.

But there in waiting, was a spoke in the works. Negotiations with the council barely got off the ground. Allam would later brand the local authority 'liars and cheats' as communications broke down at an chastening rate. It turns out just one man could bring the downfall of what was - on paper at least - an exciting project. Just one man? Really? Yes, apparently so. Assem Allam vowed he would never speak to the council again. And to this day, he still hasn't, not on this issue anyway.

Later still, long after this failed venture began gathering dust, Assem would blame the fans for not turning up at the council halls with pitch forks and burning torches to support him. Given we only had half a story - and even that emerged long after the horse had bolted - who knew? As usual, it was nothing to do with us mere mortals coming through the turnstiles every week, but here we were copping the blame.

The talks never got off the ground to buy the stadium in truth. The money apparently set aside for any subsequent development - and the council's refusal to do business with the Allams - was now supposedly hampering the club's ability to earn extra revenue. And matters weren't helped, as the spat with then manager Nigel Pearson leaving to go to Leicester City, saw home town hero Nick Barmby quickly ushered in as the bright new managerial 'future' of the club, just as a decent foundation on the pitch was being constructed.

Incredibly though, it lasted a matter of months. Barmby apparently fell out with Allam Jnr and was shown the door just a couple of days after the season ended with City finishing 8th in the Championship. Privately, the owners thought the club was good enough to make the play-offs. Fans maybe less so, but the owners had seemingly demanded such. So just months into his managerial career, Barmby was sacked, cutting his teeth in his first management job, lest we forget. This angered City fans. Barmby was a hero round these parts and here he was, dumped from a great height. This is not how we should be treating our own, surely?

In the background, the minor rumblings of discontentment were making their first audible and visible appearances now. Very much in the minority still, but nonetheless, it was emerging the philanthropic owner from 2010 wasn't quite all he was cracked up to be - and some fans knew it. Then the accounts appeared. In simplistic terms, the gift of paying £33m to pay the debts off, keep the club out of administration and avoid a points deduction, wasn't a gift at all. In fact, it was now clearly a loan - with interest on top.

Rebuffed by the council, Allam unveiled Steve Bruce who was 'very expensive' as the manager to take City back to the Premier League. Later it emerged that money set aside for the now doomed KC Stadium development was ploughed into team restructuring to achieve a return to the English top flight. Credit were credit is due, it worked. And those dissenting voices? Still there - but not appeased. So why was this, then?

Without word or warning, subtle little nuances began to appear that at first were irritating, but slowly induced anger. It was the sinister nature of change abound at the club that was perhaps the most annoying factor. The Allams at this point, were never owners to really engage with fans. In fact, the last public meeting was... hold on, never? And come to think of it; Fans Liaison meetings, became FLAG, before latterly becoming the FWG, before ultimately, everyone realised after just one or two meetings of which ever incarnation we were at, very little - if anything of substance - was actually achieved.

It transpired, for all those heads of supporter groups and organisations, that the owners would show minimal interest in what the fans of the club actually thought. In fact, who cares what the fans think? Not the Allams it seems. Engagement was at a premium, marketing was a yawning flaw in the fabric of the club and customer relations were sketchy to put it politely. But all of that was of zero concern for the owners. Merely underlining the point that Ehab Allam outrageously called us all 'irrelevant' anyway - just to rub salt into an increasingly gaping wound.

At this time, broken promises of consultation with the fans over a new badge design disappeared into the ether. Even more worryingly, the name of the club was changing too, without any forewarning of such seismic change, either. Official website, social media channels and correspondence from the club all began to systematically change. No input from the fans was needed, this is the way it will be. Hull City Tigers? What the...? And what on earth is that? A shield for a badge with a floating Tigers head on it, with... what's this... '1 904' underneath, missing, err... our name?

If there were rumblings of discontent before among sections of support, the shock manifested into bemusement at first, before quickly ascending to ire. This wasn't right, surely? Wasn't the club promising to consult with fans about such changes about the badge as discussed during one of the ill-fated and sparse fan meetings? Before being rudely and crudely foisted upon us? Well, according to whatever 'official' (term used loosely) body of club/fan consultation was currently incumbent at that time. But in all probability, you just knew the minutes from any such a meeting was collecting dust in a waste paper basket somewhere deep in the bowels of the KC Stadium.

This act induced the first and decisive instance of open dissent being displayed by the fans. When rival fanzines are saying the same thing, you know something is severely wrong. He's changing our name? But it was being done in an underhand, sneaky way. It was being drip fed to the unconscious fan, the more savvy and outspoken supporters were having none of it, however. A gathering of the clans took place and the 'No To Hull Tigers' campaign was born.

When a meeting was practically arm-wrestled between the campaigners and owner Assem Allam, hopes were initially high. Indeed, we were told categorically 'I give you my word, no change of name without consultation with the fans' was a promising start... that was ultimately a false dawn. City fans learned exceptionally quickly, precisely when we were being fed horse manure. Consequently, relations went south rather rapidly post meeting and the Harvard business report we were supposed to swallow as the hard and fast evidence for changing the name, actually had precisely zero to do with sports marketing and branding.

City fans and the Allams - to this day - have never met since. They're not going to either at this rate. It got nasty during the name change debacle. The fans? No, no, no, not us! Well, apart from attempting to parade a banner in our own ground that had the offensive words 'WE ARE HULL CITY' on it. Assem Allam called us 'hooligans' for such brazen insubordination. And in response to the chant of 'City Til We Die' sung on 19:04 (the year we were formed as Hull City) Assem told us all we could 'die when we want'. To this day, those ill-chosen words still induce a reverberating feeling of shock. It was sickening to be on the end of - and hardly a statement of class befitting a Premier League chairman.

After intense campaigning to the FA - with support from the national media proving to be a useful ally - the same could not be said of the local media, taking an obvious back seat in fear of dislodging their Premier League privileges. Better to lay conspicuously low throughout this torturous period of Hull City's history, rather than take a stance. Hell, any stance would do. It's nothing major, only the integrity of football heritage at stake here, after all. The local media cannot escape criticism throughout this period, watching on, cowered into saying nothing, or perhaps too cowardly to put their head above the parapet. City fans never forgot this, whatever was the driving factor for their continual 'laissez faire' status.

Thankfully, the FA saw common sense despite Assem Allam telling them just days before the appeal hearing he would sell the club and 'walk away within 24 hours' if he couldn't call us 'Hull City Tigers'. Indeed, he told us if nobody would buy us, he would 'give the club away'. And this was from a man of his word 'if I say I will do something, I will do it'. Guess what? Two years on - and a failed appeal later - he's still here.

Quite why the club bothered to appeal their doomed name change application was beyond comprehension. It was totally nonsensical given the huge wedge driven down the centre of our core support. At no point was there any justification for it, nor had there been a shred of credible financial argument for it. And the promised consultation with the fans? You're kidding, right?

No, instead, when pressed and cornered on the subject, Ehab Allam talked of an extra £1m in revenue rising to £4m over 10 years. If - and it's a big if - the club remained in the Premier League. It would be laughable if it wasn't so serious. £4m over 10 years, while receiving boundless millions from the Premier League week in-week out? This was a drop in the ocean by contrast. Was it really, worth it? Honestly? But wait, the goalposts were shifting. It's not about money or the fans wishes any more, it was about 'what's morally right for me'. Yes, Ehab genuinely proclaimed that. Astounding arrogance.

After scrutinising the FA's decision before the appeal hearing, it dawned on the club that a severe lack of consultation with the fans - and holding a clear and decisive majority for change - were like the ball and chain around Assem and Ehab's devious scheming. In a last ditch attempt to put this right, a hastily arranged poll was organised by the club. Bear in mind, every single opinion poll ever conducted displayed a massive rejection to the name change. Even the club's official supporters club with 'strings attached' voted 60-40 against.

When the poll came about, not all season ticket holders could vote. Yes, you read that right. Thousands didn't even get a ballot paper. Worse still, technical glitches befell the referendum and meant hundreds sent in blank ballots when voting online. Then, came the unwritten stuff that sponsors were block voting. One vote for change counted for all 10 people enjoying privileges in the box. Oh yes, you read that right too, interchangeable guests, many with no affiliation with Hull City whatsoever, helping to decide our fate on over a century of club heritage. Quite incredible. And so much for one man, one vote.

Those fortunate to even receive a ballot paper couldn't fail to be shocked by the contents of it. Simply put, it read like a ransom note, opposed to a ballot paper. The options (predictably) were divisive yet again:

- Yes to Hull Tigers and keep the Allams in charge
- I'm not bothered
- No to Hull Tigers

Unsurprisingly, the Allam's went against every other poll ever taken and won by a landslide 48 votes from the 5,000 odd that actually bothered (or more accurately, were given the opportunity) to vote. It was pathetic to see the owners stooping to such lowly levels to claim what could only ever be a pyrrhic victory.

It didn't matter. The FA saw through this nonsense and the appeal fell flat. The Allams chose to take the pain of relegation from the Premier League out on the fans. Back to the Championship went City - and to all the remaining fans who hadn't been fatigued out of the club by the Allam Family, yet another rude awakening lay in waiting. City were already failing to sell out games - and were some 5,000 pass sales down on our first excursion in the top flight - so here you are, have a hefty 35% price rise. Yes, that's right, lower quality football, freshly relegated - and hey, now you can pay more for the privilege. The boot firmly went into the fans.

The bitterness the Allams showed towards it's core support was boundless. Just 11,000 takers for this season's offering and thousands had become disillusioned, disenfranchised - and in painful truth, in 'Allam World' at least - dispensable. It was despicable treatment really. And where were the Allams to face the disgruntled fans? That's right, giving themselves a self imposed exile from the club. Allegedly, attacks on their home had taken place, but strangely, there was no prosecutions, or even a police log that anything of the sort had even taken place. Draw your own conclusions.

This tempestuous behaviour was now commonplace and City fans were becoming increasingly weary with it all. There goes another few hundred fans leaving the club. But perhaps most disturbing of all, these weren't casual fans departing, these were supporters who had put in the miles and dedicated decades to the club. Emotions ranging from annoyance to anger and every negative feeling in between was cited. And there, once again, go a few hundred more. The mood of despondency circulating the club was palpable.

The fans may have won the war on the name change and defended the club's honour, history and heritage - but you wouldn't know it. The Allams refused to accept the FA's ruling with good grace. In fact, they've gone on to just plain outright ignore it. To the outside world, we're Hull City. On the inside? You're kidding, right? 'Hull' and 'City' are two dirty words around this club. The Allams will tell you softly, it links too closely to the council - who they now totally despise - but behind the eyes, it's nothing to do with this. It's business.

Proof, if this was ever needed, arrived on social media when the club's Twitter account congratulated Hull City Council on becoming 'the UK's Capital of Culture for 2017'. The word 'City' couldn't possibly be used, could it? And anyway, there was a logic to all of this. A shorter name for the club - 'Hull Tigers' - is shorter than... 'Hull City'? It would be funny if it wasn't so serious.

And you know what? It's pretty simple stuff the fans are asking for. You know, like the name of the club on the badge, the matchday programme using our proper name, the scoreboard putting the team's name upon it, commentary actually daring to mention our proper name even. Not massive things beyond the realms of possibility here. People outside of Hull don't realise how serious this is. Here's yet another example, Sheffield Wednesday played Hull City as proudly claimed within the embroidery on their blue and white striped shirts at Wembley. Reciprocally, check out the Black and Amber equivalent; 'The Tigers v Sheffield Wednesday'. Do me a favour!

Pettiness rules supreme under the Allams. Absolutely anywhere the club's name can be 'cleansed', you can bet plans are already being hatched to systematically remove it, if it hasn't been already. Who cares what the FA ruled? The mentality of the owners is; call us what you want on the outside, but here on the inside, this is what we will be called. This is how we will introduce ourselves to sponsors, fans and visitors. The incessant gerrymandering of the name invokes revulsion among the support at this club. Drip, drip, drip. It's creepy in it's very nature.

An uncomfortable atmosphere has dogged the club throughout this year. Let's be frank, it's been like this for years now. You wouldn't think this was a promotion season, it feels anything but. Steve Bruce is visibly showing the strain of attempting to keep the peace between fans and owners. Oh and err... make sure you get us back up to the Premier League while you're at it Steve, during this gruelling 46 game season - plus play-offs as it turned out. Easy then, to see how heavy his burden has been on the manager this year - and clearly seen in the immediate aftermath of City's victory at Wembley. The toll on Bruce himself could well see him become the latest City exile from the club. He'll be joining thousands of others if he does depart.

He wouldn't be doing anything out of the ordinary either. Thousands had stopped going because of the owners - and now the owners next act was to choose boycotting the club during the 2015-16 season and stay away, all because of the fans. How ironic. Thousands aren't going because of you! You couldn't make it up.

After failing to get their wretched name change bulldozed through, the systemic attacks on the core support of Hull City have never dissipated. And remember, the Allams are not even here to watch the team now. Fan engagement is at an all time low, plus, trying to communicate with the club proves obstructive and tiresome. The ticket office is virtually closed, cash through the turnstiles seemingly isn't wanted and the merchandise in the club shop is a joke. It's like you're not welcome or wanted. It's crazy.

The ill wind around the club blew in a precursor to what would induce the largest unrest among fans early into the second half of this season. Dubbed 'Allam Tax' a £2.60 booking charge over and above the face value of tickets would occur for having the temerity of turning up at the club with cold, hard cash in your hand. Charging a card, maybe. A purchase over the phone, perhaps. But hard currency? In person? It just felt wrong and was another twist of the knife in the back of the ever diminishing support at the club. What was this all about? Why now? What for?

Then, out of the blue, the club surprisingly gathered heads of supporter groups to discuss a new way to become 'members' of Hull City. Under the guise of negotiations taking place (not with the Allams present, of course) fans were asked to pass opinion on the merits of the club introducing an annual membership scheme, opposed to a pass. On the condition you bound yourself to a Non-Disclosure Agreement, you understand. Yes, really. In principal, it wasn't the worst idea. But in practical terms - and the ham-fisted nature it was rolled out the fans in a characteristically charmless manner - none of the obvious flaws those selected fans pointed out, had been addressed. Such as the insignificance of seat moves, lack of concessions and a dramatic price rise for many.

Instead, all Hull City fans were asked in a notably patronising fashion was to 'Earn your stripes'. In 'Allam World', 2016 was Year Zero. Forget what had gone before, loyalty commences from 2016 onwards. Outrage poured out from the remaining few - and this was before the nuts and bolts of the scheme had been divulged. Like, when they were moving season ticket holders out of long held seats at the stadium for the second time in as many years - and not learning the lessons that the club had lost chunks of core support for doing this back then - here was further proof that the fans were indeed 'irrelevant' at Hull City.

Not to mention that there would be no concessions either. One price fits all apparently. Parents with kids as young as 5 years old were being asked to stump up £252 on top of their own membership fee. Feeling flush? Take your 5 year old into one of the decent seats at the stadium and expect them to become a member for the modest sum of £612. For a 5 year old? Really? And it was exactly the same for senior citizens. No concessions here. Not at Hull City. Get stumping up the cash Grandad, you're paying too.

Bear in mind, despite the club gunning for promotion to the Premier League, fans were so disillusioned, the crowds had tumbled to around the 15,000 mark. Vying for promotion? You would never have known. The anger manifested into a red card protest that was arranged for an end of season Tuesday night encounter against Brentford. To the surprise of nobody, the KC Stadium became a sea of red in protest at what the Allams were attempting to foist upon the fans. Another divisive scheme with dubious connotations.

As usual, it split right across the core support. A genuine legacy of the Allam regime. Fans were squabbling with each other once again, the plan hatched by the Allams was... working? It seems, our owners are incessant on persecuting it's core support, vilifying it and making you feel unwelcome in your own stadium. Nothing phases these owners, though. In-house fighting is probably seen as success. Besides, they're not there to see it anyway! And yet more fans drift away... It's almost like it's mission accomplished. Less 'troublemakers' to deal with when we return? You bet!

It seems the type of Hull City fans the Allams want are those who will comply and conform to party rule and wouldn't dream of upsetting the apple cart. Think North Korea, here. Yet, what the Allams fail to acknowledge is; the fans don't want to spend their entire relationship with the club at constant loggerheads with the owners. Most have worked hard all week and are seeking some solace from the daily stresses of work. None are actively seeking to arrive at the match, ready to run the gauntlet of yet another long and exhaustive drawn-out battle with the owners. The football has long been trampled underfoot. Near forgotten, in fact. At times, it feels joyless.

So the protests continued and the red cards stayed, until the play-offs commenced. Many already vowing, that not another penny would go in the Allam's pocket, given the injustice of the imposed membership scheme. If that meant missing the play-off games with Derby County, so be it. And it so it proved. Pointedly, we couldn't get near to selling out our home leg with the Rams. Heaven forfend City should actually make it to Wembley. Core supporters were adamant, regardless, they would not be going. Such was the travesty of this ill-judged scheme.

The proof was indeed in the pudding. Just under 5,000 membership sales occurred before the season ended. Despite the club going on to claim a place in the Premier League after the play-offs, the figure rose to a paltry 9,500. This is an astonishing 60% loss of season ticket support since the Allams took charge of the club back in 2010, against the backdrop of what has been our most successful period on the pitch. The Allam's have simply not 'got' this. They don't understand why this is happening. They're brazen about that fact too. Self assessed confession confirms as much; 'we're not football people' they tell us. You don't say?

It is an unedifying position to find ourselves in as fans. Come the play-off stroll down Wembley Way there was a hypnagogic atmosphere developing among Hull City supporters. A tiresome foreboding that whatever happens today, it could well be a lose-lose scenario for everyone connected with Hull City. For winning the game could well see the Allam Family have a change of heart to their previous bravado about selling the club. All that filthy Premier League lucre to play with...

Don't put it past them, either. It's a fact that Ehab has formerly hinted at, appearing to enjoy the kudos of being a Premier League chairman while his father couldn't possibly fulfil the role due to ill-health. Flip the coin - and had we lost the match at Wembley - and well... who wants to buy a Championship club, really? We don't even own our ground and are reportedly over £100m in hock to the Allam family to boot. It's not looking good on the sales prospectus, is it?

Back on Wembley Way, coursing through the veins of City fans as they ambled along to the great arch in a quiet fashion, was a further profound emotion. Perhaps this could best be described as a grieving feeling. It's complex to encapsulate, but let's try. Spiritually, you felt the loss of the principled Hull City supporter who had shown their disgust at what they believed was a wholly unfair membership scheme. For them, this was the last straw. Yet more core support had been driven away from the club. You could understand their reasoning, even if you struggled to accept it. They should be here... you felt forlorn without them, but ultimately, you knew why they weren't here - and in a way - you admired them for their stance.

Turns out, it was the best red card protest of all, though. 14,000 empty red Wembley seats on show in the City end proved to be a real thumbs down to what the Allams were busy steamrollering through club. Fan numbers have been on the wane for years now and this latest show of displeasure - in front of a global audience no less - of what was being imposed on Hull City fans, did at least attract some national media attention. Shamefully, the local media winced at the prospect of challenging the latest open sore inflicted on the supporters and hoped once again, it would all blow over in time. Far from it, let's be clear; the mood is hardening.

To summarise, it is inconceivable relations between the Allam Family and the fans can ever be repaired. There is simply no desire on the club's part to actively engage with us. All fair and reasonable correspondence has been rebuffed and at times completely left without a courteous acknowledgement. It's not the done thing under the Allams. Even more amazingly, this article scratches the surface of what is really going on. The shameful treatment of the amateur sports clubs at the nearby Airco Arena - who were kicked out at the behest of the Allams to get what they wanted - and the threats to move the club out of the City boundary haven't even been touched upon in detail. And there's more besides, but hey, you get the picture.

It is clear, the best outcome for all concerned that there is now a parting of the ways between the owners and the fans. For the good of the club, which is currently being torn to pieces. The sale speculation continues to grow now we're back in the Premier League - and one can only hope that on this pledge at least - the Allams do indeed honour their word to ensure a sale goes through at Hull City and the club can begin to heal itself. It's quite incredibly really. How on earth has promotion been achieved under such a heavy cloud, heaven only knows? Maximum credit for professionalism must go to the players and the management for that.

So there you have it. Instead of ridiculing the fans of Hull City for failing to sell out their allocation, you now have an appreciation and understanding to why it happened. No doubt those empty Wembley seats will invoke further embarrassment and torment during the impending Premier League campaign for the few remaining fans, but at least some substance is now available to temper that. As the unoccupied seat numbers continue to grow and leave gaping holes in our home support, even the most ardent supporter of a visiting team will hopefully stop to think when the banter ends and ask themselves; 'What is actually going on here?'.

Well, what can't speak, can't lie. The increasing array of black empty seats you'll be looking at when you visit the KC Stadium this season is the living embodiment of pernicious owners running football clubs. Please do try to enjoy what is shaping up to be a lugubrious visit to East Yorkshire to watch Hull City in the Premier League. But by the same token, please, don't mistakenly blame the fans as the cause of what you'll witness.

And for the record, the saddest promotion ever? Very probably. We didn't have a civil reception or an open bus tour when we returned from Wembley. Regrettably, there are no prizes for guessing why.

NATIONAL TIGER

http://www.hullcityindependent.net/?page=news&news_id=1864