Hull City supporters had been told to dream big. Few imagined the dream would finish under the Wembley arch with promotion to the Premier League sealed, a celebration trip to Las Vegas booked, and chairman Acun Ilicali draped in an amber-and-black scarf telling anyone who would listen that the Tigers belonged among English football’s elite again. Liam Rosenior’s side beat Sunderland 2-1 in Saturday’s Championship play-off final, Jaden Philogene’s 78th-minute winner ending a seven-year exile from the top flight and igniting scenes the MKM Stadium faithful will not forget.
For a club that finished the regular season seventh, sneaked into the play-offs on goal difference, and trailed 2-0 on aggregate in the semi-final at West Brom before recovering, the manner of the achievement matters as much as the prize itself. Hull have not been promoted to the Premier League since 2016 under Steve Bruce. They return with a younger squad, a Turkish owner unafraid of bold spending, and a head coach whose stock has risen further with every away win of a remarkable spring.
The Wembley story
Sunderland struck first through Jobe Bellingham on 23 minutes, the 19-year-old finishing from Patrick Roberts’ pull-back in front of 38,000 travelling Black Cats. Hull were second-best for an hour. Rosenior’s half-time switch — Liam Delap pushed onto Dan Ballard’s shoulder, Philogene moved inside off the right — changed the game. Delap equalised on 64 minutes with a header from Regan Slater’s whipped cross, the striker’s 21st goal of a breakout season.
Philogene’s winner was the moment. Collecting Jean Michael Seri’s pass 30 yards out, the 23-year-old winger cut inside Trai Hume, shifted the ball onto his right foot and curled a finish beyond Anthony Patterson’s outstretched glove. Goalkeeper Ryan Allsop saved Bellingham’s stoppage-time header to preserve the lead. Allsop was named man of the match.
- Hull’s first Wembley win since the 2014 Championship play-off final
- Philogene scored or assisted in seven of Hull’s final ten Championship matches
- Delap finished as the Tigers’ top scorer with 21 goals in all competitions
- Rosenior, 39, becomes the youngest manager to win promotion to the Premier League since Eddie Howe with Bournemouth in 2015
From relegation fight to the bright lights
Eighteen months ago this was a club in disarray. Acun Ilicali completed his takeover from the Allam family in January 2022 with Hull 19th in the Championship and supporters boycotting fixtures. The Turkish media mogul promised investment, a return to fan engagement, and — improbably — Premier League football within five years. He delivered in three.
The Las Vegas trip, confirmed by Ilicali on the Wembley pitch, is more than a perk. Twenty-eight players and staff will fly out on Tuesday for a five-day celebration that the chairman insists is both reward and statement. “We want the world to know Hull City is back,” he told Sky Sports, scarf above his head. “This club deserved to be famous again.” Rosenior, asked whether he would join the trip, smiled: “Try and stop me.”
The football transformation has been equally bold. Seri, the former Fulham and Nice midfielder, was a January coup. Philogene was prised from Aston Villa for £5m last summer. Delap arrived on loan from Manchester City and is expected to return there with his £30m release clause activated by promotion — a financial mechanism Hull will gladly accept given the broadcast revenue now coming their way.
What promotion means
The Premier League’s central distribution will bring Hull an estimated £170m across the next three seasons even in the event of immediate relegation, courtesy of parachute payments. Rosenior has indicated he wants to retain the spine of the promoted squad and supplement it with two or three signings in each defensive line. Targets reportedly include Norwich’s Borja Sainz and Crystal Palace centre-back Chris Richards.
The fixture list will be daunting. Hull begin life back in the top flight against the Premier League newcomers from Ipswich and Southampton in their first three games, but face Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal before October. Survival is the immediate target — the bookmakers make them favourites for relegation at 4/6 — but Ilicali rarely deals in modest ambitions. He spoke at Wembley of building Hull into “a top-half club within five years” and pointed to Brighton and Brentford as the template.
For now, the celebrations continue. The open-top bus parade through Hull city centre takes place on Monday, the Vegas flight follows on Tuesday, and pre-season begins in the second week of July. After seven years away, the Tigers have plenty to roar about.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
56 articles published
