Hull City owners Assem and Ehab Allam talk to Yorkshire Post chief football writer Richard Sutcliffe about life in the Premier League and the pride felt at reaching an FA Cup final. RICHARD SUTCLIFFE: It is a little over three-and-a-half years since your family bought Hull City. Could you have imagined in your wildest dreams 2014 bringing not only Premier League survival but also an FA Cup final? Assem Allam: Yes, I could â though it has happened maybe a year or so earlier than when we expected. We bought the club in December, 2010, and our thinking was that within three to four years we would be promoted to the Premier League. Then, the next step would be going to Europe. So, yes, it was always in my mind to try and achieve big things. From day one, we believed we could do this. Ehab Allam: If you donât set your sights high, how can you achieve them? You have to aim high. AA: It is similar to what happened in our business here (Allam Marine, where the interview takes place). Many years ago, we were one of 100 to 200 companies doing what we are doing. But now we are the biggest independent company in this field in the country. RS: How have you managed to turn the club round so quickly? Hull seemed certain to go into administration before you came in. AA: The key has been to run the club on business policies. And also put in a lot of money. We had to spend in the first two years to spring-clean the club. And then we went out and got the best manager, put more money in and here we are today. EA: I think one of the main differences between Hull and other clubs is we werenât football fans when we came in. Our reason for buying the club was for the sake of the community. We had been successful locally as a company and it was a case of wanting to save the club, rather than because we were passionate about football or anything like that. RS: I presume that has changed after three-and-a-half years in charge? EA: I canât speak for anyone else but I am still not a football fan. I am a fan of the Tigers but not a football fan. I will watch games on television but only to see what difference it makes to us, in terms of the league position. AA: Personally, I am not a football fan, either. But I am a fan of the community. I do it for the community and feel happy that the community is happy with it. Promotion, the FA Cup and Europe next season â these are all things that make the community happy. People may find that strange but it is no different (to Allam Marine). I am not a fan of generators but I am a fan of the business. RS: Most chairmen say that football is like no other business in the world. Doesnât that make it hard to apply ânormalâ business rules and practices to a club like Hull City? EA: Not at all, though I understand what you are saying about how other clubs can be run. We get told examples all the time of what can happen at clubs where fans are in charge. They are very passionate and want to get involved, which can often mean them being up at the training ground all the time and trying to assist with team selection. Or giving their opinion, at least, just like a frustrated football manager. They get sucked in and tend to micro-manage. We donât do any of that. We leave Steve Bruce to manage. We do have a monthly meeting, which this season has been every four or five games. But the meeting is not to discuss things like, âWhy did you make that substitution?â Or, âWhy play him and not him?â We want our role to be to assist Steve to do the job to the best of his ability. And without Steve having to look over his shoulder at people pointing the finger at him. That is not our style. To us, that is how a business should be run. This is a proper business environment. RS: What do you discuss at these monthly meetings with the manager? And do they take place here or at the training ground? AA: We discuss everything at those meetings. Money for new players, the clubâs strategy. EA: Strengths and weaknesses, what we need to improve on. We donât get involved in the fine detail of the football side. We give him a certain autonomy that I canât imagine too many managers have. Things are working well for us. AA: The meetings always take place here at our business. The training ground at Cottingham, to me, is Steveâs Kingdom. And I only go there when Steve Bruce invites me. I have never been to the training ground without an invite. But I would like to go more often, especially as the lunches are very good. That is why I look forward to my invite (laughs). EA: The main point is that we donât turn up unannounced. We donât go down there and ask why they are doing this and why they are doing that. Most owners are fans and very passionate. So they run the club with their passionate head on. RS: The club recently announced plans to relocate the Academy to Bishop Burton College and an upgrade of first team facilities at Cottingham.Youth development has long been an area in which the Tigers have seemed to lag behind others.How aware of this have you been? EA: Totally. We are a Level 3 academy at the moment and were in danger of slipping down to Level 4. Most Premier League clubs are Level 1 so, clearly, the matter needed addressing. One of the most galling things when we first came into the club was the total lack of investment in that side of the club. Hull had been in the Premier League for two years, banked around £100m and yet the facilities were poor. There had been zero investment, from what we could see. RS: I recall writing a story in the Yorkshire Post with then chairman Paul Duffen about relocating the Academy further down the A63 to improve the clubâs catchment area but it got lost amid the financial problems that hit City. EA: Yes, it was going to be built on that field over there (points to a vacant piece of land on the Melton business park that also houses Allam Marine). But nothing happened and the result is we are losing our best young players through a lack of infrastructure. Barnsley took one recently because their Academy is a good one, while another signed for Swansea City. It is really unfortunate that we have lost players to clubs that are no bigger than ourselves. That is not a good position to be in as a Premier League club, which is why we spent 12 to 18 months developing a new strategy. That strategy has culminated in tie up with Bishop Burton College. They have fantastic facilities and we should be able to get up to Level 2 status next year. The Academy will open (next season) but the partnership with Bishop Burton has already saved us from losing Level 3 status because the authorities know we are moving. Had we stayed where we are then that would have been Level 4. It isnât just the football facilities that will benefit the lads but also the educational opportunities it will bring. Plus, the 16s and above will have on-site accommodation. I do think it is important for them to be part of a normal school environment and not live isolated in a bubble. RS: What plans do you have for Cottingham? EA: Indoor facilities, which is a requirement for Level 2 status for an Academy, are something we are looking at. Our exciting plans also include knocking down the existing buildings and re-building. But not for another year. We want to leave a legacy, and part of that will be the move to Bishop Burton and the new training facility at Cottingham. RS: Back to the football, how have you found the Premier League? AA: I have been to the home games and nothing pleases me more than seeing the stadium full â and people enjoying themselves. EA: It is a different world and a much tougher league than what we had been used to in the Championship, where you tend to win a higher percentage of games. In the Premier League, we had a target of 10 games and reached that target. It was just a shame that we slipped a few places in the last couple of weeks. RS: Finally, what has reaching the FA Cup final done for Hull as a city? AA: In the past when I was travelling abroad for business, people would ask where I was from. When I said Hull, I always then told them in relation to the nearest football club. Iâd say, âHull is to the east of Leedsâ. Because, back then, Leeds United was huge. Then, later, I would say, âHull is east of Manchesterâ. Nowadays I say where I am from and they immediately say, âAh, Hull, they are in the Premier Leagueâ. To illustrate this, a few days ago I met someone from Australia. I asked if they had heard of Hull and they said, âMy local pub at home was packed for the semi-final against Sheffield United so, yes, we all know about Hullâ. I thought that was wonderful. http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...alk-fa-cup-final-and-premier-league-1-6620688
It's such a shame the way they deal with fans and marketing/promotion of the club (especially the name change stuff), because even though they admit they're not footballing people, they seem to be getting the football side of the club spot on and messing up the 'business' side of it.
The Yorkshire Post are doing loads on us today. FA Cup: Decade of progress has put Tigers on level terms(interview with Ash)... http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...gress-has-put-tigers-on-level-terms-1-6620984 FA Cup: Wishing you were here Nan, is Meyler’s message... http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...u-were-here-nan-is-meyler-s-message-1-6620975 FA Cup: Hull have lessons to heed for Wembley showdown... http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...essons-to-heed-for-wembley-showdown-1-6620968 FA Cup: Davies is relishing crossing over new borders... http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...relishing-crossing-over-new-borders-1-6620941 FA Cup: Ideal chance for Hull to restore Yorkshire pride... http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...for-hull-to-restore-yorkshire-pride-1-6620932 FA Cup: Arrival of Allams prompts backing for club to return to the heights... http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...g-for-club-to-return-to-the-heights-1-6620978 Record in previous meetings will do little to inspire confidence among City’s fans... http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...nspire-confidence-among-city-s-fans-1-6620973 FA Cup: How a rallying call and a few home truths helped spur the Tigers through to final... http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spor...ed-spur-the-tigers-through-to-final-1-6620985
Good interview overall. I'm not sure about this idea that most other clubs are run by fans. The hands-off approach to football and leaving it to Bruce is the right way of doing it, that should be the case at every club and there's far more than just us who have a manager allowed to manage. Isn't it only the likes of Tottenham, Man U and Chelsea where people other than the manager get involved with team affairs? We seem to go on about it all the time as if we're this pioneering club.
Great interview. How come all your links are not606.com though OLM? Is Mick fooking about with stuff?
They're working fine for me, but there's quite a few people having an issue with links at the moment, so there's obviously a site fault(it seems to be worse on phones).
Oh. Im on a laptop. Forgot the swearing filter was on, turned it off and voila, links appeared. Must be linked to that 3dots thing.
It's probably worse on phones because most've got the swear filter turned on. Even if you've turned it off on your laptop/tablet, it'll still be on when you use another device. If you use the app I don't think you can turn the filter off.
One glaring big question I was waiting for which never came.... Are there any plans to move up to a cat 1 academy and will the site at Bishop Burton facilitate this? I can't have been the only one waiting to get to that question. Good interview though. Reading that soothes me but a lot of his tripe just has my hair our and wondering 'why?'.
Good interview. Great to see the importance they are putting on upgrading the Academy. Its been a major sore spot for a lot of us over the years. We have great young players in the Hull area and its been disappointing to see the top ones signing for other clubs. Well done YP for staying away from the name change controversy.
Most of that interview sounds fine, except the bit where he says his reason for involvement is just out of the goodness of his heart as he has no interest in football. He obviously wants something out of being involved in football and I don't think it's simply about a charitable donation.
