FA ready to rule on Hull ‘Tigers’ rebrand

FA ready to rule on Hull owner Assem Allam’s controversial ‘Tigers’ rebrand

• FA will vote on Hull’s proposed name change on Saturday
• Club reveals new shirt sponsor: theme park Flamingo Land


Assem Allam’s controversial proposed ‘Tigers’ rebrand for Hull City will again be put to the vote by the FA. 

Hull City’s controversial proposed “Tigers” rebrand will again be put to the vote by the Football Association on Saturday.

The plan to ditch the traditional Hull City AFC name in favour of Hull Tigers has been a divisive and distracting one ever since owner Assem Allam floated it in the summer of 2013.

It was rejected by the FA Council last April, though that verdict was later set aside after the club an appeal via an independent arbitration tribunal. The upshot is that the same proposal will now be put before the same decision-making body, with Allam having met an April deadline to resubmit the case.

A three-man panel formed from the FA’s membership committee has already considered the application and it would be a surprise if they had not reiterated their previous recommendation to reject the name change.

There is no guarantee that the council will follow suit and vote the same way again when it convenes at the FA’s summer conference at St George’s Park, but the Allam family are thought to be braced for bad news.

They remain convinced that rebranding the club is the only way to bring new investment in from untapped overseas markets – though quite how lucrative any such deals would be following relegation from the Premier League is unclear.

Allam remains insistent that he will sell the club if he cannot push through the Tigers switch.

Meanwhile, Hull have announced a new shirt sponsor, the theme park Flamingo Land. The club’s commercial manager, Simon King, said: “It’s an honour to welcome Flamingo Land as our new shirt sponsor and we look forward to building a successful relationship with the resort.”