It would, and I certainly don't want to see it happen. It's just not quite the instant doomsday scenario some (including me TBH) might have thought.

Certainly not instant but if city get in the premiership then we will be a potential thorn in the side of their owner. It would be relatively easy for the owners to make things difficult for us. the only real thing stopping them is the fact that a chunk of their fan base is shared with Hull FC.

Would you have trusted duffen if he and bartlett had owned the stadium?

It's not about trust, it's about the legal protections granted to commercial leaseholders. They are greater than I had thought and so [ireduce[/i the risks. I still don't want Allam as our landlord and think it would cause us problems in the medium or long term.

To be honest though a private landlord is going to happen sometime wether its Allam or someone else.

Totally agree this is my main worry medium term.

At what point do you think the Red and Whites who have suddenly fallen in love with AA wake up from their dream and realise that his only interest in RL is to merge the 2 clubs ?

According to their unofficial board Allam has NEVER said anything about a merger.

I think you're being naive about the value of a lease.

And I think you're being overly pessimistic. I guess we'll find out who's nearer the truth in due course.

Aren't terms of a lease and protective covenants subtly different things, though?

I'm not being pessimistic at all. allam won't shaft us as soon as he gets his hands on the KC, it could be years or maybe never that we encounter problems but there is potential for problems which is what I am saying and you're claiming that a lease will give us good protection.

I once had a watertight lease on a unit which was owned by a company with assets greater than £100m. They told me they wanted me out, I said no and they laughed and said they'd see me in court then. Needless to say I was out within a month. Believe me, you can't win against a landlord with near unlimited financial resources

Not subtly different, totally different. Covenants are likely to stop the sale of the stadium or development. the lease is just an agreement between the landlord and tenant.

So it's the quality and content of the covenants that are the defining issues as far as FC are concerned? I asked for the right thing in my FOI request, then.