Owner set on Hull name change

Hull owner Assem Allam wants to press ahead with his plans to rename the club despite recent talks with supporters who are against the idea.

Allam changed the club's name from Hull City AFC to Hull City Tigers earlier this year and has a longer-term view of making it Hull Tigers, having previously described 'City' as a "lousy" and "common" word.

Allam believes this will give Hull a greater chance of generating revenue - especially as the council own their ground - but many supporters are against the proposed switch.

The 'City Til We Die Group' met with Allam 10 days ago and held what it described as "essentially positive" exchanges.

In a statement released through the club on Monday, though, Allam said: "Having been deprived of opportunities to acquire the stadium freehold, which would have enabled us to create the infrastructure in the surrounding area, we will now need to focus on generating commercial income from elsewhere.

"A shorter club name will hopefully enable us to do so, with a stronger, quicker marketing impact all over the world."

The statement went on to say that while Allam's preference remains 'Hull Tigers', he will first ensure the financial benefits of making such a switch stack up.

Allam also added he felt fans understood his need to generate new income streams, saying: "I believe the representatives at the meeting accepted that there is a wider issue at hand, in that we need to ensure the club can sustain itself through commercial income."

A final decision is expected to be made early in 2014.

The current name of Hull City Tigers only refers to the company and not the team.