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After EPL club Hull City applied last December to change their name, the Football Association voted to deny owner Assem Allam’s request that would make the club the Hull Tigers.
The FA Membership Committee unanimously recommended to reject the name change – and, in suit, 63.5% of the FA Council voted April 9th against changing the name.
Owner Assem Allam is credited with saving Hull from administration, and has had plans to rebrand the club. He said the business that runs the club has already changed the name to Hull Tigers. He previously threatened to leave the club if the name is not officially changed and it seems we’ll find out shortly if that was an idle threat.
Allam wanted to change the club’s name to increase commercial appeal to potential sponsors and has publicly stated how he thinks the term “City” is “common” and “lousy.”
We think maybe it’s a more savvy brand play. There are six teams currently in the Premier League with “City” in their name, and Allam clearly wants to stand out from the crowd.
Hull City supporters have mostly met the idea with negativity, forming a group City Till We Die. This group had criticized Allam after he said in an interview that his critics “can die as soon as they want." Hull Manager Steve Bruce said Allam was misunderstood.
The decision came at an interesting time for Allam. Hull City beat Sheffield United, securing them a spot in the FA Cup Final on May 17th versus Arsenal. The club hasn’t released a statement on the matter since the decision was made, and at that point they said they were not making a comment on the matter due to focusing on the teams FA Cup run.
A recent survey of the season ticket holders showed 2,565 on the side of Allam while 2,517 were against the name change. 9,159 fans did not vote. Allem said he would “appeal” against the decision – however, there is no right of appeal to the FA. Allem will have to resubmit the application next season or legally challenge the FA ruling.
Either way this looks like it is a lost cause for Assem Allem, but it will be interesting to see how he handles the denial from the FA Council.
