HULL City chairman Adam Pearson is to follow up his appointment of Iain Dowie as manager by burning the stadium to the ground and salting the pitch.
As part of a staged programme to wipe the club from the face of the earth, Pearson will ask the local authority to institute a by-law making the wearing of the black and amber shirts a burning offence.
Fans will be encouraged to throw seats onto the pitch before, during and after games, while the dressing rooms will be stocked with a free bar, an unco-operative
and some hand grenades.
Pearson said: "Phil Brown unexpectedly backfired on me, what with the promotion and everything, but Iain's just the man to turn Hull City into the footballing equivalent of the forgotten city .
"Assistant manager. To Alan Shearer. At Newcastle. Just let that sink in for a second."
It has emerged that Mark Hughes turned down the Hull job when he learned the available transfer budget was £149.95m less than his requested £150m, while Avram Grant said no after a free trial at a local massage parlour ended in ignominious failure.
Hull fan Charlie Reeves said: "While I'd like to think that we still don't know how the season will end, hiring Dowie is like Bruce Willis turning to the camera an hour into The Sixth Sense and saying 'I'm a ghost, you know'. We're totally f**king Portsmouthed."
Pearson paid tribute to his former manager, adding: "Phil left a big impression on this club, especially on the beige sofa covers. And while some will memorialise him as the sexbearded saviour of Hull, he always reminded me of the kind of bloke who would try to slip one to the babysitter when he's giving her a lift home.
Author