Hull City fans have pledged to keep protesting against the decision to change the club's name from Hull City AFC to Hull City Tigers by Egyptian owner Assem Allam. Allam, who helped the club win promotion last season after taking over in 2010, had incurred the fans' wrath by declaring that he intends to rename Hull City for business reasons. The Tigers' supporters responded by staging protests ahead of the team's 1-0 win over Norwich at KC Stadium last Saturday, as they seem not ready to remain silent over the proposed change to their club's identity. "We just want the owners to sit down and speak to us about this," Rich Fussy, an ultras fan who organized the protests, told Hull Daily Mail. "This isn't just going to blow over and that is evident by the number of fans who have turned up, even though we only organized this 36 hours ago. "We can understand they want to change the commercial element but you can't go messing around with the footballing side. "We just want the Allams to know we aren't happy with the name change. "At the end of the day we are a football club, not a brand."
Allam saved Hull from administration a few years ago "We aren't an American football club and we have been called Hull City AFC for 109 years." A club Another fan, called Chris Cooper, seemed equally dogged with the decision, as he stressed fans will be always holding a banner reading "Hull City AFC: a club not a brand" at every home and away game. "This banner is going to be at every game, both home and away," Cooper said. "This will be a constant visual reminder that we remain unhappy about this. "When you mess around with an institution like Hull City, it isn't straight forward. "The worst thing is dropping the AFC as that's the essence of the club. "The owners need to realize the club is bigger than them and the fans have to demonstrate their power. "We have great respect for the Allams and what they have done, but they aren't football men and they have to understand what this means."
