The last time I saw Hull City in the flesh, so to speak, was the rather drab and lacklustre affair against Blackburn back in December 2009. I'd go more often if I could get my mitts on tickets. And, as much as I'd like to reveal that expert planning, foresight and membership to various ticket purchasing schemes had gone into me gaining access to yesterday's game against Arsenal, I have a mate's illness, which rendered him stuck in Sheffield, to thank for being able to park my derriere in the North Stand at the KC. I still owe him the 28 sheets he forked out. Must remember to pay him when I see him which, of course, I would have conveniently forgotten about had the game been the proverbial one-sided trousers it promised to be.
This is not a match review. But the effort on show from the Tigers once they'd gone down to 10 men - after Arshavin put Arsenal in front on 14 mins and Bullard had equalised from a pen around the half-hour mark - made this a most memorable and gripping encounter. It was a tense affair. Hull City fully deserved a draw. As it was, they conceded a Bendtner goal in the 94th minute, with the oft-lauded Myhill gaining an horrific assist on the play (he pushed a Denilson shot out to the goalscorer's feet). Felt gutted. Which is, no doubt, connected to the well-hidden, supressed tribal belonging that I can trace back to Boothferry Park, 1969, when father made me invest in his club by sitting me on the two foot tall perimeter fence, passing me some sweets that slightly resembled, in shape, taste and texture, Love Hearts but contained the names of Football League clubs and telling me to "watch" before walking off and standing with his mates.
I don't want to feel anything towards the Tigers, other than a dislike for the way that they are ruining a perfectly good rugby pitch every time they take to the field of play. But I do. I really do. Mostly, I want them to get what is rightly theirs (which is to play against the best and get the results they deserve) and to make up for the five decades of mostly wilderness that the old man willingly, against all common sense and my attempts to lure him to the Boulevard, had to endure. They was robbed. Deepest sympathy, with full understanding, to the loyal supporters that stick with The Tigers every year, every week, every day, every game. One day, it will be ok.
Update: Phil Brown was relieved of his managerial duties on Monday, March 15 2010.
