If You Tolerate This Maybe Your Club Will Be Next There is an old saying that goes something along the lines of, "without change there can be no nostalgia." There is also a school of thought, favoured by silver tongued, sharp suited business gurus, that all change - good, bad or indifferent, should be embraced. For football supporters there have been plenty of progressive changes over the past few decades; safer and more comfortable stadiums, the gradual demise of hooliganism and a far more welcoming environment for families. Along with all of the good stuff, almost inevitably, there have been some less palatable alterations to the modern game. The proposed name change of Hull City AFC to Hull Tigers being one of them. The recent announcement by owner Assem Allam that it is his desire to rename the club Hull Tigers, is a fine example of a change that not only defies logical justification, it also shows scant regard for a cherished and fundamental part of the football clubs identity. Allam's proposal to rebrand the club comes hot on the heels of Cardiff City's controlling shareholder Vincent Tan's highly controversial decision last year to ditch the clubs historic blue home colours and instead adopt red as their principal colour, with a red dragon as their dominant emblem. If one is not steeped in English football culture it would be easy to dismiss such changes as simply cosmetic alterations. However, to football fans up and down the country, club colours, nicknames, badges and club names are pivotal parts of their clubs respective DNA's. Indeed, the afore mentioned elements that make up the clubs identities often have their roots going back many decades - frequently to the late Victorian era. In an age of crass and vacuous consumersim, together with a gradual decrease in community spirit, often a town or city's football club and its traditions are the most obvious link many people have to their local community. It does not seem unduly harsh to level accusations of cultural vandalism against those who seek to ride roughshod over such traditions. The good news for those opposed to the genetic modification of our football clubs is that Hull City fans are determined to do all that they can to fight the impending name change. A community organisation called 'City Till We Die' has been formed in order to campaign for the protection of the clubs historic identity. The group, made up of a broad range of Hull City supporters, are calling for consultation on any plans to alter the clubs identity. The fledgling body has already put together an extensive leafleting and badge campaign to mobilise support and awareness amongst the wider fanbase. They have also organised an on line petition against the proposed name change. Similarly, Cardiff City fans against the rebrand of their club have formed an organisation called 'Bluebirds Unite,' with the aim of persuading Vincent Tan to restore the club's traditional colour and badge. The organisation recently held a well attended 'celebration walk' to give fans the opportunity to proudly demonstrate the strength of feeling for the clubs traditional traditional blue home strip and long standing bluebird emblem. 'Bluebirds Unite' have a series of events planned and like 'City Till We Die' also have an online petition calling for the restoration of Cardiff City's historic identity. Whilst both supporters groups undoubtedly face lengthy battles to conserve what they believe to be core pillars of their clubs identities, it is heartening to see that fans are prepared to take on football's money men on matters of principle. Its also sends out the signal that in a game that, at the top level at least, has almost completely lost itself in the pursuit of money, dictatorial club owners may not get everything their own way. Maybe, this is something fans of all clubs should pay attention to, as it could be their club next... That's The Independent, The Guardian, the HDM and now The Huffington Post(86m unique visitors last month), the campaign's press division seem to be doing rather a good job.
Another one... Hull City fans unite in their opposition to 'Tigers' name change Published on Wednesday, 09 October 2013 09:20 No to Hull TigersOctober 9 - Hull City AFC fans have formed a new community group and are campaigning to protect the club's historic identity from a name change to Hull Tigers by owner Aseem Allam. City Till We Die, formed at the end of September, have been leafleting fans at home games and distributing badges with the message 'No to Hull Tigers', and already claims success locally in uniting supporter opposed to the name change. Over 6,000 badges and 15,000 leaflets have been distributed. At last weekend's Premier League home game against Aston Villa supporters held up the leaflet with the number '1904' printed on the reverse – the year that Hull City AFC was formed - at 19:04 minutes into the game. Fans sang 'City till I die' to acknowledge the club name's long history in the community. Further actions planned include the production of free postcards for supporters to sign and send to the FA and Premier League, outlining their opposition to the name change and urging them to consider our views. The group has also started an online petition against the name change (www.citytillwedie.com/petition) as well as taking to social media with fast-growing followings on Twitter (@NoToHullTigers) and Facebook (facebook.com/NoToHullTigers). The group are keen to emphasise that they are not an anti-Allam movement but are grateful to him for saving the club from liquidation and investing in their return to the Premier League, In fact, in one communication they say they "strongly support his ownership of the club". But as regards the name change "we just think they are wrong on this one", said one of the group's leaders, Les Motherby. "There was no consultation with supporters about a name change, and that's what we are trying to do, gauge opinion and see what opposition there is to it and then respectfully put our views to the club that the name of the club is important to supporters and the wider community," said Motherby. "In terms of engaging supporters and discussing the plurality of views on the subject, Saturday was very successful, and the owner has stated that he is prepared to meet with supporter groups that oppose the name change and that can only be a positive sign." Whether they can get Allam to change his mind seems unlikely. Allam has said he will change the name to Hull Tigers by next year and that he dislikes the word City because it is "common" and a "lousy identity". In March the club changed the name of the holding company from Hull City Association Football Club to Hull City Tigers Ltd. And what appears to be a gradual change of identity has been taking place across the club. 'Hull City Tigers' has appeared on the training ground gates, an amended club crest removing AFC and 'The' has started to be used, and the use of 'The Tigers' in reference to the club has appeared frequently on the club's official website. Club communications such as emails to season ticket holders used the name Hull Tigers and the club's commercial website listed fixtures as Hull City Tigers v. Norwich City, and had comments from sponsors saying they were proud to be associated with Hull Tigers. http://www.insideworldfootball.com/...on-to-tigers-name-change#.UlUeAB-iLG0.twitter
So what is your view on the name change when put in isolation from any other issue? Which name do you prefer Hull City Tigers, Hull Tigers or Hull City A.F.C?
