Our friends from over the Bridge have hit the headlines recently with their owner flexing his muscles over a prospective name change to Hull Tigers. Many of their fans are up in arms, 'Citytillidie' they cry, citing history and tradition others think that their owner, Dr Allam, has every right to do what he likes having put around £70m into a club heading towards administration.
Both sides of the argument have supporters. What is YOUR view?
My view* is this: football clubs across the world exist for one reason only. Their supporters. Without the people who attend games, buy merchandise and frequent message boards there would be no Premiership. No TV deals. No millionaire players.
It is the fans that the sponsors chase not the clubs in isolation. It is the fans (armchair or otherwise) that fund the TV deals.
If the above is accepted then why would an owner want to ride roughshod over the supporters opinions?
Could it be that wealthy owners have reached that status because of their singleminded ness, because they have been successful by backing their hunches and believing they are right and having the drive and courage of their own convictions?
In this particular case it has been suggested that, in part at least, Dr Allam has been angered by Hull City Council refusal to sell him the KC stadium and it is for this reason he wants to drop the City from the football clubs title. It is thought that this branding exercise is to boost income in far eastern markets. Is there any evidence to support this train of thought?
Some fans of GTFC have stated that if John Fenty or some other wealthy individual wanted to invest £70m in the club they could rename the club whatever they liked. This wouldn't sit well with a traditionalist like me. I value too highly the history of our club, the downs we experience make the highs all the more special, however rare they are.
I don't look at the Premiership enviously. I see show business, gamesmanship and a world ruled totally by money. Maybe that is the world we live in but for me I would just like to see more fan involvement and consultation. More recognition for supporters and their views and not success at all cost. This is not forgetting that we all crave success for our clubs it is how that success is achieved that is important.
I believe that this is a case whereby the fans have to be consulted. Whether the fans decide to go with a name change or not is irrelevant. What is vital is that they are given the choice!
look on twitter; @Notohulltigers and http://www.citytillwedie.com
Feel free to join the debate on GTFC-related messageboards such as thefishy.
Up The Mariners!
(*The Trust board isn't meeting again this year, so this blog is a place for Board members and Trust members to express opinions and communicate events/news etc.... A Board member has written this, feel free to comment via the usual email/twitter channels ;-) )