Will the Tigers be relegated before they even start?
With the Tigers clinching promotion, having a Premiership side will be fantastic news for the City, adding to the already long list of sporting entertainment that locals can relish – derbies between Hull FC and Hull KR, Ice Hockey at Hull Arena, even the Darts Winmau World Masters at Bridlington, to name but a few.
Yet despite the dedicated fan base, I can’t help the slight nagging feeling that the Tigers’ rocketing rise in the football world might be too much, too soon. Will Hull have finally met their match now they have secured another promotion?
Life in the Premiership looks pretty brutal – ask any Derby fan. Could our fans cope with a season like Derby have had last year? With packed out games in the KC Stadium , the Club is pretty confident of wooing the fans throughout all of next season. Even with huge investment though, or loans from bigger clubs, many are reluctant to believe that a dedicated and solid fan base, or a fantastic KC Stadium, will be enough to see them through. Having made the year-on-year progress, consolidation may have been the name of the game rather than challenging the record for the worst number of points in the Premiership.
Then again, I remember when Wigan came up a few years back – most people were writing them off before they could say “Transfer Fee” and then predicting they would go straight back down. After three years in the Premiership, they may be battling hard but they have certainly proved their worth.
Can Hull follow in their footsteps? The general consensus is not, but wouldn’t it be great if they were all wrong. Here’s hoping the Tigers get straight on the warpath and have a roaring season ahead of them next year.
Tags: Hull FC, Hull Tigers
June 20th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
History shows us that most teams coming into the Premiership struggle. It also shows us that the team qualifying through the play offs suffers more than most – Derby being the latest to highlight the problem.
The issue facing teams coming up is that they have to spend money to stay up and if they overspend and ultimately fail then they face financial ruin. The best they can hope for is either to hang on by the skin of their teeth or to come back down again but with a stronger more experienced squad, which will have a better chance second time round. i.e. Sunderland. Having said that, Birmingham proved that even coming straight back up doesn’t guarantee a better result.
Clubs are more aware of the risks these days and I’m sure Hull won’t over stretch themselves, but I’m equally sure they wont survive. The fans though will love it – it will be a roller coaster ride and there will be some surprise results no doubt, but they will love watching the best teams in the country.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
[...] I guess all the cynics have been proved wrong when they suggested the Tigers might be the next “Derby” this season. Even I was accused of being so after this post here. [...]