Seems Norwich, who have invested heavily in their training set up, are going to adopt the same approach. Only spent £1.1 million net this summer. Sensible approach. They also have the advantage that due to owners that connect with the fans and sensible pricing if they do come down they will sell out their home tickets as they have done since 2004 including a season in League 1. Things like this help fans feel connected. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/03/28/norwich-city-sane-crazy-league-likely-win-promotion/
Burnley didn't chuck their Premier League money around on players the first season they were promoted. They invested in the club. The academy under Bartlett also produced players who played for us. Yes cheap rents are an old Labour trick, one that allowed us to progress from Division 4 to the Premier League. Having spent millions building a stadium and arena I would think it reasonable that the people of Hull and surrounding area get subsidised rent in return for the SMC paying £1 a year to rent the facilities. Yes I screwed up. The Council has no backbone, I shouldn't have believed what Brady and Johnson told us when we met them. Lesson learned.
Hull City was going into administration/liquidation, shortly to be followed by the SMC with the Council being left with the stadium to run and no football club. Along comes Allam with a plan to save the club and Brady said yes. Its easy to believe. Brady faced a challenge for his leadership and needed Geraghty's vote so he changed his mind on giving Allam the freehold. Its all in the minutes of the supporters meeting. Its too close to how Council groups work for Allam to have made it up, in my opinion.
'Brady was in opposition at this time. The Liberals were in Guildhall'. As I just said Brady was the leader of the Council at the time, what he said was quite obviously not correct.
By the time they did meet 'officially' Steve Brady was the leader of the council because Labour had regained control after Carl Minns and the Liberals ****ed it up. How do you know they hadn't been introduced before the Allams bought the club ? It was only a matter of time before Labour got re-elected in Hull.
Sorry Obi, but I find it impossible to believe and I know very well how the Council works. I do believe that the Club might have claimed that they were promised something and it appear in minutes of a meeting they were Chairing, but that is a different thing entirely.
I've met Brady twice since that meeting to discuss the stadium situation and he says he gave Assem absolutely no indication that he'd be given the freehold and I believed him.
Assem wasn't at all convincing in that meeting, he refused to be pressed on any details of what was actually said, I'm sure he was making it up.
Are you sober today? ****ing leg.. end you, son. The gobshites are the ones who own the club, but I'm sure you'll qualify for shares. Simply put, I can't see any reason not to attend other than you simply can't, or you just don't want to. I certainly didn't intend to offend an hardcase like you. Hmmm.
Wasn't sure myself at the time, but his subsequent actions have more than demonstrated that he didn't have clue!
As none of us were present at 'that' meeting, which was with Geraghty, not Brady, another huge mistake, we will never know the truth of what was and wasn't said. But we do know it was such a car crash of a meeting, and one called, I believe to push to club forward and build on our Premiership status, the facts are clear that it seriously damaged the relationship between club and the ruling council and it has festered ever since.. When both parties should have been working together for the good of the club and the city, they were obviously at odds and the golden opportunity was lost. I said it months, even years ago, on here, the fault was on both sides, and the Allams came out of it looking like the bad guys. Perhaps they were ? Perhaps the council should have been more professional, even respectful and realising what a golden opportunity they had in front of them ? The stadium and surrounding area should gave been developed on the back of the cities only professional football being in the Premier League and cashing in on all the riches that brings. Football tourism and the fact that the city centre would have 25,000 plus people visiting and the media attention of the world here every home game was worth seriously considering alone. Yet Geraghty said quite recently that Premier League football brought nothing extra to the city, which is good insight to how he saw us, football and possibly the Allams at the time. He was not the man to send into such an important meeting at that time, huge, huge mistake. So none of us truly know why it all went pear shaped. We do know however that not a brick had been laid, not a penny has been invested, not a job has been created, not an extra seat fitted, no legacy left and plenty of lost opportunities were the result of that one fateful meeting. It still takes two to tango.
Do I believe that the Allams are responsible for the really attendances ? Yes I have no doubt ! Do I believe if they were not owners the stadium would be packed to the rafters ? No not a chance ! But I can't for the life of me understand why this situation has been like this for so long !