I have a lot of time for Steve Bruce as a manager. First, I think that he is a genuine football person who is underrated as a manager. Indeed, he is being talked about as a possible future England manager. Second, he is a nice guy. When he was managing Birmingham City, a friend bumped into him in a Warwickshire pub and he was willing to chat to an ordinary football fan who was not a Blues supporter.
I have a lot of time for Steve Bruce as a manager. First, I think that he is a genuine football person who is underrated as a manager. Indeed, he is being talked about as a possible future England manager. Second, he is a nice guy. When he was managing Birmingham City, a friend bumped into him in a Warwickshire pub and he was willing to chat to an ordinary football fan who was not a Blues supporter.
I also have a lot of time for Hull City as a club. Because of its location and a number of economic upheavals, Hull hasn’t had the easiest of times as a city and the football club is a beacon of hope. I have visited Hull a number of times and there is a lot to see and do both in the city and nearby.
Aseem Allam has threatened to abandon the club which he has controlled since 2010. He has said that he has launched an appeal with the FA over its decision not to allow him to rename the club Hull Tigers. He has said he would sever his links with Hull if the appeal was not successful.
Steve Bruce has said that if Allam goes new owners will want their own man. He commented, ‘Of course, I don’t want him to leave and I don’t think the majority of the supporters do either. I think there’ll be a positive outcome. He’ll stay and win the case. I genuinely believe that he will.’
Allam believes that most supporters are on his side in rebranding the club Hull Tigers. He argues that ‘You want to shorten the name to go global.’ One of the issues here is how hard it will be to give Hull a global profile whatever they are called. Assam thinks the name will go down well in Asia, but a recent visit to China confirmed my view that only a few ‘top’ clubs have name recognition in that huge market.
Assam argues that the Football Association is right to protect English football from misuse. It would be wrong to rename the club as Red Bull Football Club or Coca-Cola Football Club or a ‘rude name’ like Red Bottom FC. I think, however, that the FA has been concerned about setting a precedent which might be followed by other clubs like Cardiff City. They have also given some attention to the concerns expressed by many Hull fans.
Assam has invested £72m in the club, but claims he would be prepared to give it away if his appeal failed. He did, of course, move the club from a winding up order to the Premier League in two years and five months.
It is the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne that will have to rule on the matter, although they do not appear to have received the documentation yet.