from The Web Factory
In 1999 Sheffield declared themselves the worst sporting city in Britain as Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield Utd filled the bottom positions of The Premier League and Division 1 respectively. The other sporting clubs were also doing badly by their existing standards. These teams were the Sheffield Steelers who are one of the best Ice Hockey teams in Britain, Sheffield Eagles who played rugby at Wembley a few years ago and a basketball who regularly win the British championship. Now by Sheffield standards they may be having a poor time of it but, GOD!!! Compare this to Hull!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have a football team never to grace Wembley or the highest division. Two rugby clubs who were good 15-20 years ago, a ice hockey team in a low level competition and Speedway poised to go bust yet again. Added to all of this glorious under achievement is the ongoing crisis surrounding all clubs.
Hull City are in Division 4, have been here around four years now and have almost been wound up 4-5 times over the past five years. Campaigns against the owners have only ended up with worse than that before and the current owners are now under as much suspicion as two previous regimes.
Hull KR still exist by virtue of council funds being used to help pay off creditors whilst other funds for this same purpose have come from a property deal. This is the story of Hull sport over the past five years. Clubs have been taken over to exploit as part of property deals linked to superstadiums or to use their sites for retail in associated property deals. This was the reason for Lloyds interest in City, Rovers and Hull. Create a super stadium and get as many clients paying you to have retail/sports complexes on your site plus sell off the other sites to Tesco’s etc.
Hull KR have survived but remain in the second division with little guarantee of ever reaching the Super League. Hull Sharks or Hull FC now no longer exist. Gateshead have moved their club to Hull. The previous club no longer exists in anything but name. The Boulevard is now the lodgings of a club artificially created by Super League and filled full of Australians who have absolutely no ties to the city.
Super league rugby remains in the city but only through a merger which everyone had previously opposed.The Hull club no longer exists.
The way forward may have been a merger between the two Hull Clubs but everyone opposed this even though it sounded much more reasonable than merging Hull and Gateshead. The traditionalists would never allow this and Hull FC have nearly disappeared completely and Rovers survive on thin ice.
Hull City are in shit again and the fans are dissapointed once again. Yet more broken promises and another false dawn
The only hope for the future is that the clubs get their act together, fans remain loyal and local firms begin to support our teams. The big hope has got to be the £30Million Super stadium at West Park and that City are at least 1 if not 2 divisions higher at completion. The longer we remain in the lower end of the lowest division the less the justification to spend Council funds on this breathtaking project.
Mr Ed the Sports Fan
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Illustration by Mike Farmer '00
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