The results of the Hull City Official Supporters Club’s ballot of its members on the name change were published today.
A quick reminder of the context of this poll first. On Tuesday 14 January, Sky Sports reported that Dr Allam had promised to “walk away” from the club within 24 hours if the FA did not approve the name change. The very next day, Wednesday 15 January, the club announced the record signing of Nikica Jelavic, and ballot papers began to arrive with OSC members.
Despite the threat of financial uncertainty, and significant investment in the playing squad, a clear majority of OSC members still chose to vote against the name change.
The question asked was:
Do you agree to the Club’s request to change its playing name from Hull City AFC to Hull Tigers? YES or NO.
The results were as follows:
Members who voted YES: 377 (40.5%)
Members who voted NO: 555 (59.5%)
Ballot form sent to 1477 members
Total number of votes received: 932
Turnout: 63%
You can read an OSC statement on the poll here: http://www.hullcityosc.com/news/members-name-change-poll-results/
City Till We Die would like to thank the OSC once again for providing the resources required to conduct this poll, the results of which will be included in their submission to the FA. Now that a clear majority of their membership have voted against the name change, we trust that this will be reflected in future OSC statements and policy.
The fact that so many OSC members voted in favour of keeping our historic name despite Dr Allam’s threat to “walk away” clearly demonstrates the strength of feeling on this subject. It also further weakens claims that a so-called “silent majority” are in favour of Dr Allam’s plans, or that the No To Hull Tigers campaign only reflects the views of a small minority of City supporters. It should now be clear to any impartial observer that neither of these claims is true.
This is just the latest in a series of poll results that demonstrate majority opposition to the name change proposal (see www.citytillwedie.com/stats for further details), including a Hull Daily Mail poll in December, in which 69% of 3,450 respondents voted against any change to the club’s name. In a previous OSC poll (with a significantly smaller turnout) conducted in October, 58% voted against the name change, with just 29% in favour and 13% “indifferent”.
The results of the new OSC poll complete the jigsaw: all Hull City supporter groups who have voted on the issue have now come out unequivocally in opposition to the name change. They are joined by the Football Supporters Federation, Supporters Direct, supporters’ trusts around the country, leading football journalists, pundits and former players, experts in business and marketing, and numerous members of Hull City Council. All are now speaking with one voice to say, “No To Hull Tigers”.
No further discussion is required on the subject of whether or not the No To Hull Tigers view is a majority view. It clearly is.
The question that remains unanswered is why Dr Allam is continuing to attempt to force through this change, against the wishes of the majority of his existing customer base, when there is no real evidence that it will benefit our football club. No surveys have been done. No hard data has been presented. No serious case has been made to support the argument that it will bring in additional revenue.
We await his answer.
CITY TILL WE DIE
City Till We Die represents Amber Nectar, City Independent, Hull City Southern Supporters, the Tigers Co-op, members of the Not 606 forum, Tiger-Chat, Tigerlink and the ‘Ulltras.