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Mail and football club settle their differences

Journalists at the Hull Daily Mail will once again be able to interview Hull City AFC players after the two sides agreed to settle their differences.

The newspaper and football club had been locked in a war of words after club chairman Adam Pearson became angry that Mail reporter Jon Reed had interviewed a player without permission from club manager Peter Taylor.

Following the interview, the chairman banned Mail staff from the press box at Hull’s Kingston Communication Stadium, forcing sports reporter John Fieldhouse to cover a match from the stands.

The chairman later agreed to allow John to use the press facilities at the club’s games, but continued to deny the paper access to players.

He said the Mail had breached the relationship of trust with the club – a claim denied by editor John Meehan, who said he was astonished the club had reacted so strongly.

However Adam and John have now agreed to end the dispute, and have issued a joint statement, which said the issue had now been resolved.

The full statement read:

Over recent days there has been a disagreement between Hull City AFC and the Mail.

Both the football club and the newspaper accept that it is not in their interests for this to continue.

We have therefore agreed to resolve our differences and once more to have a positive and constructive relationship, which acknowledges the Mail’s editorial independence and Hull City’s wish to protect the club’s interests.

As a result, access to team manager Peter Taylor and the players has been restored, enabling fans of the club to once more read their views in the Mail.

The Mail acknowledges that, under normal circumstances, the manager will be informed about interviews with players and that these will not be conducted 24 hours before a game.

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