Spot on. At lower ages I can see the benefits, at full-blown academy level it just seems like a disaster about to unfold.

Just need to get Washbrook and Yeaman signed for next year to top off a great week.

From a red and white perspective, I can't honestly see how it will all work. I know there is a planned draft system, but if all the players are pooled, there will be 50% less to choose from and although they will be the 'elite', will either club be any better off and will any late developers get totally missed by both teams? The fact that FC 19's in particular have had a cracking season just makes the decision the more strange.

Well that's made me feel a whole lot better after last night hasn't it you? Sorry to go on but this is bad news indeed.

If they were announcing that A teams were back then perhaps we could have handled it a bit better and tried to understand it but the thought, after almost 60 years, of not being able to see our kids pull on the famous black and white and the fact at junior level we are now to be deprived of the chance to go and see and be proud of our youngsters as they wear the most famous strip in the game and pit their wits against the other Clubs juniors is sad. However what's worse is that instead to stand with Rovers fans and cheer the same side who are in fact playing in Leeds colours is hard to take. Where will they be playing Craven Park?

The trouble is some people at our Club simply don't get it. They don't realise how it feels to be humiliated on the terraces as we were last night, how it feels to go from a Club playing in one of the most famous stadiums in the world to being second class citizens and tenants of a football Club who want to close half the Stadium when we play and then to loosing completely our identity below first team level and having to cheer on a team that is 50% Rovers so that we are in effect getting into bed with the mortal enemy. It is certainly the thin edge of the wedge and will be a deal breaker for a lot of the older end of the fan base.

Its hard to love your Club sometimes and where it a marriage it would be said that the whole thing is getting now to a position of irretrievable break down we have no proper home, no A team anymore and now we have no juniors playing in our famous strip on which we can pin our hopes because they may never be ours and we will have we have to wait for a draft!!!!! We were the best academy in all this we were the shining lights in the RL world, and an example of good practise Rovers were trailing behind, couldn't afford to catch up so instead they merge with us. We've been had again and it looks to me as if we are blinded by the prospect of saving money. Sorry about the rant!

Twitter is on fire, former and current players speaking out against it. Apparently staff still not been told how they'll be "restructured". It all just smack of Pearson trimming down the expenses before he sells up.

and 5 year new contract for Radford.......

Excellent summary Wilf. The club is starting to really off people like me and that is a danger for them as I have a balanced view on all matters and contribute a huge amount of time and money (as do many, many others). I'm really starting to wonder why I bother.

The only draft (sic) Pearson will be experiencing soon is the one caused by all the exit doors closing as we all leave the building for good.

There are loads of questions.

Another one is what happens if a young player moves to another club (Leeds as example) and compensation is due, exactly who gets it?
What happens if a player signs for Rovers and then lets his deal finish and goes to Hull before he reaches 21 (Or vice-versa) does compensation still apply and/or is there agreements in place to stop this happening?

It's just going to be a mess.

Words fail me. How either owner can even contemplate this monstrosity is beyond me.

A sad, sad day.

Good grief, cannot believe what I'm reading/hearing today. What on earth is going on.

I think it's increasingly clear that Pearson is not the owner we all desperately hoped he would be. He, and we, seem to be absolutely skint. The club seems to be operating a skeleton staff, it's selling its best players, the constant comments about falling ticket revenues and attendances, Adam scrambling around for football jobs and now this from which we gain absolutely nothing at all other than slashing costs. London seem to run an academy side just fine, travelling vastly further than we have to, on gates sub-1000.

What I am not looking forward to is the mealy mouthed spin, which I see has already begun in the Mail today. What about this "Club Hull" BS that he cited as the reason for getting rid of Gentle and half the squad when I actually, Huddersfield play off game apart, felt like we were getting somewhere. Crooks, Lineham, Cunningham bombed out, Shaul, Abdull, Lineham, Crooks publicly slagged off by the coach and dropped out of the side, no marks like Howarth signed, Lancaster and others under used and now stuffing the academy together with (emotionally) that lot down the road and (practically) a vastly inferior operation.

It's clear that a miracle buyer is our only hope now. Never wanted my Euro Millions numbers to come up quite as much as I do this Friday.

Awful decision and will not work.......reasons;

1.Who will want to sign for an academy with no identity, Leeds, Cas and Wakey will possibly seem a better option

2. It will need totally un-biased staff and coaches, impossible in this city!

3. Logan, Fash, Downes, Turget, Abdull, HTW, Dean and Lancaster are currently contracted first teamer's, with the latter 3 still eligible for 19's in 2016, all these regularly play under 19's. Would any future combined academy have those guys playing. Where would they play their rugby?

4. If at the draft a kid says i aint playing for X because i support Y. UK Employment lay alone says he cannot be forced to play (therefore be employed by) for someone he doesn't want to be. Therefore allowing him to become a free agent and eligible to sign for whoever he wants.

5. Academy is a 3 year program. At the moment it is difficult (especially for forwards) who are in their 1st year to get a game because there are bigger and older kids in front of them. A bigger playing pool will make this even more difficult them to get a game.

6. When does a draft take place? After 1st year, 2nd or 3rd? If kids can be drafted after 1st year then, as above, where will they play their rugby? or if draft only after 3rd year then this allows kids to be poached before hand by other clubs.

7. If there is a 15 or 16 year old superstar in the city he can still be signed by either Hull or Rovers first team at 16, where will this kid the play his rugby.

Just heard a rumour that Stanley Gene has been approached to head up the new academy

BBC Humberside Sport ‏@HumbersideSport 19m19 minutes ago
#HullFC chairman Adam Pearson has agreed to talk to us live on #Sportstalk tonight from 6pm in light of the 'Super Academy' announcement.
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I hope he takes calls!!

Players aren't happy. Tweets have been made and then deleted. Lockdown in force..