Down to appalling marketing. The best time for outdoor arena concerts is right in the middle of the RL season. So they would have to be timed just before a pitch refurb.. Not to mention a decent line-up,well hyped and publicised.

Tbf, I would assume your tenancy agreement is watertight. It might be a bit politically awkward if the council couldn't find somebody to take on stadium management, if the losses the Allams report are a fair reflection of the situation. End of the day, your agreement will be underwritten by the council, I imagine.
If the Allams do sell City, it'll be interesting to see if the new owners want the SMC too.
If one tenant was lost (unlikely, of course) then SMC costs would fall significantly too - there'd be less events to steward and what have you.

Steady on!
As an aside I started following F.C. for the glory.

I wish people like Simon Clark would stop calling him Dr Allam.I hope any features about Johnny Whiteley on Look North in the future will address him as Dr Whiteley in the interests of fairness

What we need to worry more about is the fact he may sell the football club, but keep the SMC to try and get one over the new owners, ourselves and the Council.

It seems Mr Allam is unhappy because the FA had the audacity to speak to others groups opposed to the idea...


Very OT...

He can't. The agreement with the council provides that whoever owns Hull City also owns the SMC.

I've not heard that one before - strange if true.

As regards to the SMC, didnt Adam Pearson say that it never made a loss when he was in charge of it.

Allam wants it to make a loss, he uses it to avoid paying tax on his other businesses plus he scores cheap political points - a win-win for him.

Good to see Peter Levy and all the other speakers on Look North tonight referring to "Mr" Allam, with one sad exception - that pathetic brown-noser Simon Clark still using "Dr".

Just hope Clark remembers that Johnny Whiteley is as much as a Dr as allam is for future reference

thats true it made a profit every year under Pearson's stewardship. In Allam's defence (rare for me to stick up for him) a lot of the SMC's revenue used to be from corporate events and trade fairs etc which has really dropped off during the recession. But the other poster is most likely right when he suggests its a tax scam.

The tax implications of Allam's ownership of the SMC and City have been covered in Private Eye - there has been no hint of any retraction or apology to the great philanthropist in subsequent editions.

will mr allam recoup his £75 million, after all there is no stadium with the team and even selling all the players would probably only fetch £30 million.
or was he serious when he said the £40 million was a gift to the people of hull

Who the hell would buy them if he put them on the market anyway? He's in it up to his eyeballs with little chance of getting his cash back

He isn't going anywhere until he gets his money back which he needs premier league football to do. In the mean time he receives interest on his loans and tax breaks for his other companies through the losses

but with no more money to bankroll them in the PL. I think this is a case of pursuing the stadium using the club as the route in, only thing is, he has the thing he didn't want and it is costing him dearly. He needs an exit route for his money and has no money for plan B at Melton/Ferriby (ground share plans??)

The man could retain the SMC in the hope of screwing the new owners of the football club out of more money by renegotiating City's agreement prior to the sale; ie make them responsible for maintenance of the stadium - it just becomes free cash for him - apart from our presence.

Today's budget is taking steps to stop this, perhaps.



Could make life a little more difficult if Mr Allam is unable to get round this, assuming it affects him of course.

that simply isn't true.

I love these threads where the totally uninformed make stuff up, they're fun!

Dont you worry, there will be a long line of people to buy city.

They are "only" worth what their inome is. Providing they stay up this year, that means, £60mill next year from the EPL, if they get relegated next season then they are nailed on £60 mill parachute payments over 4 years (£120m income over 5 years.....)

Go down this year, they are still worth £60mill Para over next 4 years...

Please dont believe this anyone

I don't think anyone does (apart from one misguided / misinformed soul).

Wage bill and debts are heavy though, and they have barely any assets (training ground in Cott only)

a prospective buyer would wait till they went in administration, cleared the debts then put a bid in.

wouldn't be surprised to see a bid from Pearson & his consortium if they did go in to administration, they've tried and failed to get Leeds repeatedly, and it'd be a perfect opportunity to get control of City, FC, The SMC, and the council would sell him the stadium for the right money. Depends what funds his backers have of course, he can't do it alone.

Lost track of this a bit. Looking at the City Independent site they seem to think the vote will be next week, midweek, with people having to go to the KC to cast their vote in person. Not sure how this will capture the "silent majority." They also point out that the closing date for voting will be past the deadline for final submissions to the FA in advance of the hearing, and therefore inadmissible as evidence/argumentation. With this level of buffoonery I suggest the Allams apply to run the RFL.

That would be good for the likes of us if it involved FC. 60+ miles to vote. Although if it was for something as ludicrous as this it might be worthwhile.

Sounds like one of Rules ballots.