We are light years ahead of them in terms of marketing and merchandising. They have nothing to offer us in that department.

Not that neutral,most rugby fans over here are F.C.

So Neil,tell me again how you manage to deflect any duff signings.

Interesting. How long ago did you send the request? Worth sending again, it can't take that long to update?

I got a response to most of my initial requests, the members interests will be followed up in September, there is a bit of a plan behind all of this, which has changed since AP took control, it's more "evidence gathering" now, but believe me, it's not been forgotten.

I still think Pearson is Tom Briscoe's dad.

The writings on the wall I'm afraid.

Hull and KR will merge in 3 years time for the next round of SL franchises, as will Wakey/Cas.

Allam is behind Pearson, Hudge is close to Allam and Pearson.....

I just can't see this not happening anymore.

Really?

God I'm so glad that you're here !!

And why would they or want to do that?

What would be gained from a merger? Nothing at all.
If anything, I can only see a merger making a loss.

feck its george!!!

There's definitely a big possibility of that. I can't see why some fans seem to assume that people running the clubs will see it as a sound idea, it's a huge risk. There seems to be an implied belief that the fans of both clubs will simply transfer over to the new entity because it will be the only way to watch live RL. I'd say there's at least as much chance that what you'd end up with is a team that nobody classes as their own, so people instead stick with local amateurs and take out Sky Sports with the saved ticket and merchandise money (if they don't have it already).

A merger would need a generation gap before it would truly be accepted, and it's a gamble as to whether it would survive that long to do so.

As it is, the 2 Hull clubs are pretty well supported in RL terms. I don't see why they would want to jeopardise that by potentially alienating both of their fanbases.

Fully agree with that.

Also, for all his faults Hudgell loves Rovers as much as we love FC. As long as he's in charge at CP, there will be no merger.

Can only ever see a merger happening if both clubs were on their s and facing extinction as thats the only way fans would accept it. Both clubs are very well attended by fans and although jointly we get between 20-25K between us that would drop to around 3 to 5K immediately i would say should a merger happen. It would be business and financial suicide as there wouldnt be enough money coming in to pay for all the changes let alone a team of any description.

Doubt I'll ever see a merger happen in my lifetime and I've got a good 30 to 40 years to go yet.

Funny how no one ever mentions that Wigan, St's & Warrington should merge considering they are all within spitting distance of each other too.

Absolutely no chance.This would receive the same reception as M.K. Dons, i.e.fans deserting in droves.
I know it may be tribal,but I cannot see myself watching a merged team.(Who are we going to take the P out of for a start?)

Hudds,L**ds and Bradford

Wakey and Cas

The latter one is mooted on a semi-regular basis too, though.

Chris is right IMO, mergers only really stand a chance if it is a last option to save both clubs and the fans are aware of that fact.

There will never ever be a Merger lets move on!

Agreed Wilf, don't understand why people are even discussing it. It's never going to happen ever.

I've worked on a number of "mergers" in business in my time, whilst both business names may disappear you always find it ends up as a takeover is all but name.

Anyway, it's not needed in Hull, FC are on the way to better things, I don't give a to$$ about KR.

I was meaning specific to sport. General business mergers/acquisitions have little bearing on the sporting world.

Don't know why everyone is ignoring the real reason they met as stated in the article. If Pearson and Hudgell back each other at RFL level then that will help us have a greater influence.

The next time the RFL award licences they may decide to only award one in the humberside area forcing one of us out (or both of us into a merger). If we have more influence at RFL headquarters we can nip daft ideas like this in the bud.

So it's more about preventing a merger than creating one as far as I can see.

Once again I will say it won`t happen,both clubs have a decent support,despite neither setting the league alight.If I remember correctly Saints had 6000 at the last televised match despite being at the top.As someone pointed out,does this mean they will have to merge with Wigan, Widnes with Wire, Leeds with Bradford,Cas with Wakey.For the R.F.L. to justify both Hull clubs merging,then the others must too therefore.

The only time to worry about a forced merger is when the Edinburgh Smackheads, the Cardiff Sheepshaggers, the Bristol Bollockys and the London Rioters are all pulling in 15,000+ gates

A merger would not benefit Hull FC in the slightest, so it's a non-issue. We don't need to merge. We are a Grade-A club. There is NO WAY IN HELL that the RFL would ever consider dropping us whilst we have a state-of-the-art stadium, 12-14k average crowds, etc. They wouldn't bother threatening us because it would be an empty threat. If they said "merge or we'll drop you", do you really think if we said "no" they'd drop us? Not a chance.

They might threaten to drop Rovers at some point as they aren't a Grade-A club and are in an area with a Grade-A club. But not us.

The only time a merger would be beneficial is if both teams are at the bottom of the pile and in threat of being dropped. It's why Cas and Wakey gets mentioned a lot as they're both Grade-C clubs and both threatened with being replaced.

No-one talks about Wigan and Saints because all they have in common is that they're fairly close to each other. They're not from the same place. They're not even in the same county.

12-14k average crowds? Where? Nearer to 9,500 in reality this season.

Not a chance of a merger at all. Whilst I can see that Neil Hudgell might potentially look to recoup some of the money that's been sunk into HKR, why would AP want a merger? He's just spent a chunk of cash on buying FC and where's the return on that money by merging?