Hull FC face potential stadium clash with Hull City

Hull FC face a potential clash with Hull City surrounding the MKM Stadium.

The Black and Whites will host Hull KR on September 3 which will kick off at 3pm – the same time and date that Hull City have been pencilled in to play Sheffield United in the Championship.

It is set to test the relationship between the Stadium Management Company (SMC) and the Hull club after the former was taken over by City earlier in the year when Turkish businessman Acun Ilicali took it over.

When Hull FC moved to the MKM Stadium back in 2003, there was incredible excitement.

The Boulevard, as much it provided an incredible atmosphere, was run down and needed a big spruce up.

However, the Black and Whites decided to move with football club Hull City to the MKM – originally named the KC Stadium.

Almost 20 years on and Ilicali now wants to develop the stadium and surrounding areas if they are able to come to a 50-year lease agreement owned by the council in a plan that would resemble what Manchester City owners have done around the Etihad Stadium.

Vice-chairman Tan Kesler previously told Hull Live: “That’s part of the discussion we’re having with the council.

“We have a significant amount of time left in terms of the lease agreement with the council, however, we have a rugby club struggling with their lease agreement.

“We have a stadium which is now 20 years old, there are some issues which need to be dealt with by the council which I’m sure they’ll support us one hundred per cent with, but in terms of the stadium, we want to develop around the stadium. The crime around the stadium I think, is increasing based on what the council have told us. This city needs a living sports environment. When they built that stadium that was the idea and the ambition so why not with our ownership we can take that flag and take it to the next level.

“This is not a short-term, in the next year or perhaps two years, we will touch upon that one with the council, and if we get the security of the stadium’s leasehold for a longer period, the chairman is willing to invest in the stadium and around it for a sports complex.”

“What we need is our own model. We can be influenced and we can reflect on other models, for example, the City model is a good starting point but it can’t be applied to us. If we did apply it to us, it would be a failure because that’s unique and their ownership has a different vision to our.”