Same old ****e...
You must have enjoyed the Preston game?
Oh yes, I think it was one of the best football games I have watched. We were flying, our squad was flying on the pitch.
That must been pleasing to see?
Very, very. The local community deserve good entertainment and nothing is better than football and rugby.
Why have you decided to return to matches?
After four and a half years absence, I made a point. ‘Allam out,’ I respect that, I am out, with my chequebook, that is all.
Now, you are back?
I am back now. Last night was the second home game I attended, not only me. I used to attend every game with the whole family and my wife, my children, my grandchildren, always. When we were out, it was all of us and it was a sad story really because our parking slots remained unused, our chairman’s balcony to watch the game remained unused. Out doesn’t mean to be used by others.
So why come back then, what was behind that decision?
We found that four and a half years is long enough to make your point and if you say ‘Allam out,’ yes, but after four and a half years, time heals.
Did you miss it?
No. I missed my support to the club, my interest to support the club, but when I went back with the family, my wife, all my grandchildren and my children, we started to go and started to enjoy after a long absence. It was necessary to do what we did because you know why I did that when we had people outside the gate, outside the house chanting against me, so I said that’s it. The problem is, I am not a football man, I have never been and I don't think I will ever be a football man. I bought it to save the club for the community, so, with no interest at all, financial or commercial, if you look at the stadium, you go to the stadium, you don’t see our name, you don’t see even my initials. It is not for publicity, it is not for commercial, none of this and therefore, I am less patient. My ability to cope with nonsense is very limited, so I have no reason to cope with nonsense. I bought it for the community and we would have lost it. There was a winding up order by the court in London, so it would have gone, so I am less patient to put up with nonsense. That’s all.
It seems that you are making an active effort to build some bridges with maybe some of the fans, was than an effort to turn things around and maybe, for you and the fans to see eye to eye once again?
Yes, because in the Championship the demand to fill the stadium is not as what we are used to in the Premier League and the stadium was 99 percent full. When you move, you get used to five years of Premier League, you move to the Championship, your interest gets less and less, so you need something and to show the fans that we are back to normal. The other thing is, you need to support the team. Our manager Grant said “we need to be seen to be supporting our squad, they are doing very well but they need support,” so our presence is good support for them and it is good support for my manager and his backroom. If we have to be seen, really, four and a half years is long enough and to be seen to be supporting my squad and my manager and my backroom and my fans.
Do you think things are starting to turn around?
Yes, I think so, I hope so, yes.
Because what was disappointing I imagine from your perspective against Preston was that the attendance, below 10,000 thousand for the first time at the KCOM Stadium?
Some factors affect this, being an evening game and very, very cold and wet.
That must have been disappointment, but can you see that turning?
Yes, I hope it does, especially at a time when we are selling the club. We need to show potential buyers that we have fans who are loyal and who attend.
So the club is still for sale?
Yes, I never go back on my word, never.
What stage are we at? Is there any interest in the club at present?
The problem is, the interest is there, but there are some restrictions, some factors affecting the interest. One of them is, and I can say this now, people say you have now home, it is a rented stadium. In people’s mind, the experience of Coventry, you remember Coventry, when there is dispute and still is. To some extent, there was some dispute many years ago with Leeds regarding the stadium. People are cautious with this and they want a home. When you are renting the stadium, it is not what they think is a good home, so we are talking to the council to see we can do. The other thing is, people come and agree terms and everything, then they go out to find the funders, the consortium and that takes time. I will take it seriously only and if I receive a deposit from someone. When we have made a deal and have received a deposit from the Chinese people, the FA refused one of the consortium and they gave them the deposit back. There was another very interested buyer, but they couldn’t wait while we were talking to the first Chinese buyers, so they bought Barnsley. At this time, we are still talking to two parties and I hope something will materialise.
Do you have a realistic value of the club?
I didn’t buy the club to make money and I didn’t buy it to lose money because I spent a lot of time and effort. Ehab, my son, do you know that in nine years, neither Ehab nor myself had £1, be it fees or salary or directors dividend, nothing whatsoever. All we have is our jobs in the group and that space we live in. We never had £1 from the club, nine years. Look at how much chairmen receive normally and vice-chairmen. Nine years. We didn’t buy it to make money or commercial benefit whatsoever. What we are saying is, our standing loan was £88 million and that explains why my selling price to the Chinese was £88 million; I don’t want to make money, I don’t want to lose money. I don’t want to lose money more than we time we spent and the risk I have taken, when I put in £88 million that was a massive risk, it could have finished me off, but I did it for the community.
Is it still valued at £88 million?
No, because part of the Premier League money was used to set it down to £50 million. It is down to £50 million and therefore, the selling price is £50 million, it is known on the market so I can say it. That is only to pay for the balance of the debt.
You mentioned two interested parties, are we close to any deal being struck?
Having experience in the past, close means someone paying a deposit and none of the two parties have paid a deposit.
So we will keep an eye on that?
Yes.
Do you regret any decisions, anything you might have said in the past at this football club? There has been animosity with some supporters, you have said things like “they can die if they want to.” Do you regret any of those comments?
No. There is no reason to have regrets but it is a free country. I don’t rush to say things or regret things, but it is a free country. If they say ‘City til I die,” okay, have it but it does not mean I wish them to die, no. If you are asking me, do I regret having bought the club and saved the club, the answer is no. I regret that I was not given the chance to do what I wanted to do when I bought the club. I wanted within a few years to be in the Premier League’s top six and I thought and I did say I wanted to be promoted within a year. We have broken the record in English football in under two and a half years from winding up, we were in the Premier League, FA Cup final and going to Europe. That is a record in English football in two years, five months exactly. What I regret is that I had the ambitions to gradually, after two and a half years, carry on improving in the Premier League, spend more money, get better players all the time. I gave it five years, I was hoping five years we would be there permanently. I located the money, the funds to achieve that. The only thing I regret was that I was not given the chance by the fans, really, by the minority of the fans to do what I had in mind to do.
How did the fans have such an influence? How did they prevent you from doing that?
Watch the reaction from the fans. ‘Allam out’ and this and that. Going against shortening the name, for example. When you are in the Championship or less, you are a local club and you should act locally, local club. When you are in the Premier League, you are a global club and you should act globally. To act globally, coming from nowhere, Hull City coming from nowhere, you want to very quickly establish herself as a big name in the Premier League. How to do that, you want a short name like Apple. Brand names, short brand names, they spread.
So by changing the name, you would have had more success?
Shortening the name, from Hull City Tigers, Tigers is our name since 1904, I am not introducing a name. Arsenal changed their name, from Woolwich Arsenal to Arsenal, Manchester United changed their name many years ago, so we are not the first one. Is saying Arsenal now the same as saying Woolwich Arsenal?
Do you think Arsenal, Manchester United became more successful after changing their name, on the pitch?
No, it has impact on commercial income through the brand. I said I don’t want the club to survive because I am alive, I want the club to survive with me being alive or dead.
To be self-sustainable?
Exactly, and to do that you want the global scenario. Luckily for us, the Tiger is a very beautiful animal number one and number two, very popular in the Far East and that is where the money is for football. To say no to this, you have Hull City Tigers, to shorten it, you remove Hull, you remove City, yes, you remove Tigers, no. Hull Tigers limited. It is as simple as that. But the minority of the fans, because we had a referendum and only two and a half thousand said no, out of sixteen thousand. The minority normally shout louder and okay, I respected that. It must be taken as a credit for me that I respected the minority’s wishes. Okay, name change or name shortening, forget it, okay and I am out, okay. Out with my chequebook unless someone can assume that I will be out and leave me chequebook in.
Grant McCann, you must be impressed with the job he has done since he arrived?
Yes, very impressed, we are very lucky to have him.
You have had some good managers, how does he rank?
He is one of the best we have had. He is very good.
Will it be tricky to keep hold of Jarrod Bowen in January?
I am hopeful. We resisted a transfer six months ago, we will hope that we will be successful in keeping Jarrod again because my advice to Jarrod or a good player is don’t move from the Championship to be on the bench in the Premier League. That is a killer, don’t do that. Take your time, there is no rush. Take your time, make you sure you move from here to the first team, not to be on the bench.
Is there a price tag?
The money is not in my mind, it is principles rather than money. We need to keep him and the desire to keep Jarrod and players like Jarrod is a point of principle and not related to the money.
If a big bid came in, it must be hard to resist?
Depends on what the definition of big is.
£20 million?
No, I would not sell him for £20 million.
£30 million?
I don’t know, I don’t want to put labels on the price tag of players. He is more important than £20 million for us.
Because you have a chance this season?
Yes, his presence is very good. As a person, he is very good, not only as a player. He is good for the team, good for the squad, a very well-mannered person, so he has very good characteristics and he has scored 13 goals. Do you know we are the third highest scorers in the Championship? With two above us. We have 29 goals and the two above us have 31 and 35. We are one of three top scorers of the 24.
How would you describe your nine years at the club?
It is a good experience for me because my experience before was in the commercial world and the thing I don’t feel comfortable with is before I bought the club to save it from being closed down, I said to the fans and to the FA, ‘we are not a football family, so we will buy the club to save it and to make the club go further’. I said clearly, ‘I am a businessman, that is all I know and I will run the club as business.’ I said this clearly and frankly to the fans, they didn’t say no, we want a football man. I said it to the FA, they didn’t say no. I didn’t cheat anybody. My position was clearly and repeatedly that I am a businessman and we will run the club as a business and we did run it as a business and that is why. How many clubs have cash in the bank, we have cash in the bank as I am talking to you now. Every year, we had cash. The most stable club financially I can think of.
If you could go back to December 2010, would you buy the club again?
If I had known what the minority would do, no, I would not. But, I bought the club not as status quo, I bought the club to be promoted as high as possible, including to be a regular name in the top six and I am regretting that I am selling without achieving my full ambition about the club. I was not given the chance to achieve what I had in mind. It was no fault of mine, I was just not given the chance.
