In Any Kind Of Weather?

Quote: UllFC "I will be renewing next season, but I can't deny that my interest has significantly waned in recent seasons.

I'm prepared to put up with the 'lows' I sat/stood through the late 90s for example, but back then there was a reason we were rubbish, we coulden't afford it. Playing in a clapped out ground, to average gates with few other revenue streams. The move to the KC changed all that, and after a slightly jittery start in 2003...until the end of 2007 we delivered. HullFC were back at the top end of the game.

the board controversially sacked Kear, but despite a few complaints from fans, at the time most trusted and had faith in their decision. Their decision paid off and Sharp improved the side and took us to our first Grand Final.

then the wheels came off.

the Cooke saga shattered the boards reputation IMO and further scandals such as Thackray playing in the cup further damaged the reputation. Aside from a few good moments (the end to 2007 was good, as was the run to the 2008 CC final and gutsy performance in the final) its been a gradual decline back to being also-rans.

We are now in a position where the board are happy to just let the club 'tick-over' so long as it makes the top8 and the tills keep ringing then that's it for the season and the hype starts again for the next season. The rugby is boring, and we seldom win the 'big' games of importance anymore.

after decades of financial incompetence at HullFC, I am of course delighted that the club turns in a profit, and is ran well in a business manner. But sadly that does not excite the fans on the terraces, and with no relegation in SL...a season plodding around in mid-table is very dull.

the optimists would say 'ah, but we nearly made the top4 last year' but ultimately we didn't

1st class post

I've supported the club for many many years (1st game 196icon_cool.gif and have seen some dreadful lows, specifically the mid 70's and late 90's when the club very nearly went out of existence. As you point out there was mitigating circumstances which accounted for the team's poor performance in those eras, namely the appalling financial strait which the club found itself in.

At least the current board have removed that fear from supporters hearts. But,as you rightly say, when watching the team today, it's difficult to get away from the feeling that we are selling ourselves badly short. We are a heavyweight who punch like a welterweight. The worst part of this is the fact that we manoeuvered ourselves into a position of challenging for the game's major honours on a consistent and regular basis (2004-06) only to throw that advantage away in a welter of bad decision making (both on and off the field).

I will still be there next season, "In any kind of weather" as, like most on here, Hull Fc is in my blood (thank you Daddy). I will support the club until the day I die because I still love the game and everything that surrounds it. The banter around the ground, meeting up with my mates, the communal feeling that we only really get these days at sporting events. But that enjoyment has during the last few years been counterbalanced by an increasing sense of frustration at our inability to transfer our undoubted off field success into a tangible equivilent on the field.

We need a leap of vision and imagination to lift the team from mid-table mediocrity and into the game's true elite which is where a club of our size and standing should be. A top four finish should be the minimum of our ambition, not some holy grail merely to be dreamt of. I hate to keep banging on about this (as I have done in various other threads) but in order to achieve the lofty goals which our superb supporters should witness, we need some major surgery on the playing side of the club. The squad, as it currently stands, simply isn't up to the task in hand. As for the coach, I'm baffled as to how anyone can believe he is the one to take us to the summit. He's a decent guy no doubt, but he lacks that X-factor quality that raises players & teams to play at a level previously beyond them. And until someone at the club realises this and changes the whole culture within the team then we will continue to walk straight into a dead end marked nowhere.

I have no expectations for 2011. I have a nagging feeling it's going to be more of the same. The odd game where we look capable to be followed immediately by a performance of shocking ineptitude. I've decided to take next season week by week. If we win (hooray and I'll enjoy the week ahead). If we lose. I'll merely shrug my shoulders and move on to the next game. But. long term, I feel we are going round in ever decreasing circles.

Whatever next year may bring, I will be there, supporting my team "In any kind of weather" because it is in my lifeblood. Passed down from Grandfather to Father to me. There is no escaping it, no running away from it, no matter how much you would like to. It's a part of all our lives and I'm sure all our lives would be considerably duller without it (the highs and the lows).