Hull City Fan View: Hull's owners must leave or we face going into oblivion

Yesterday, Hull City’s fate was sealed in a depressingly emphatic manor as the Tigers were battered 4-0 at Selhurst Park. However, in what must be one of the strangest atmospheres after a Premier League relegation since the league’s inception, the 2000 City fans who travelled to the capital, along with thousands watching around the country, remained fiercely proud and loyal towards Marco Silva and our squad of ragtags and misfits. After all, the responsibility for this inevitable, but fully avoidable, relegation must fall at the feet of the club’s wretched ownership.

Enough damage has been caused – for the good of the club the Allams must sell-up and leave.

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When I started this blog last August, Hull City were in turmoil on and off the pitch. Steve Bruce had just resigned, no replacement manager had yet been appointed, no new signings had been made, and an ongoing civil war between the fans and the owners over ticketing was still raging. Infamously, the squad travelled to their warm-weather pre-season training camp with just 13 senior professionals and no manager – an embarrassing situation which saw the club branded ‘The worst prepared club in Premier League history’ by the tabloids. When this PL season is analysed in the future, last week’s defeat to Sunderland will be pin-pointed as the moment Hull City were relegated. However, in reality, Hull were as good as relegated last summer.

As I have mentioned in recent weeks, it is always the hope that kills Hull City fans. At the time of Mike Phelan’s sacking in January, Hull City were rock bottom of the Premier League and in many ways supporters had accepted our inevitable relegation. The arrival of Marco Silva, along with a barrage of January signings, injected life into the club. So much so in fact, that the team actually managed to get into a situation where Premier League survival was in our own hands just two weeks ago. However, this was merely the illusion of Premier League life. While I am sure Silva’s spell in charge will always be fondly remembered, through no fault of his own this relegation is fully deserved for the way Hull has been so horribly mismanaged over the past few years. As always, it just seems painfully unfair that it is the supporters who suffer the most.

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While it cannot be ignored that the current ownership did indeed save the club from financial ruin in 2010. It is bizarre to think that it is likely the family’s place in the history books will always be looked back on in a negative light, since the Allams oversaw the most successful spell in the club’s 113-year history.

The family had the opportunity to be heroes in the City of Hull, but for some inexplicable reason decided to become the villains. The sacking of fans’ favourite Nick Barmby, two unsuccessful name change attempts, and the complete abolition of concession ticketing at the KCOM Stadium (to name just a few unpopular decisions) are to thank for this. The relationship between the ownership and the fans is at rock bottom. However, this does not seem to affect the leadership duo of Assem and Ehab Allam. The fear now for the Hull City faithful is that this stubborn, almost arrogant attitude which oozes from the Allams will lead the club down the well-trodden ‘free-fall’ path following Premier League relegation and gross mismanagement. Just ask supporters of Blackburn, Bolton, Charlton, Coventry, Leeds and Blackpool.

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For this reason, the Allams must look to sell the club as soon as possible. In many ways the end of this season represents the end of an era, and would act as the perfect opportunity to start a new chapter at all levels of the club. The Tigers will be back playing in the Championship, and it is highly likely this will need to be paired with a new manager and the vast majority of a completely new squad. A new set of owners, to boot, would surely give the club the best opportunity of rebuilding and bouncing back to the Premier League as soon as possible.

Simply put, the club needs a breath of fresh air. While vitally important in the history of Hull City, both for the right and wrong reasons, the Allams’ ownership of the club has run its course and is clearly starting to stagnate. Their relationship with the fans is surely beyond repair, and the love, passion and excitement they once appeared to have for the club seems to have died. Hull City are currently at a crossroads in their history, and I believe new ownership is the only positive step forward at this point. For the good of the club, please sell-up and leave, Dr Allam.