Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has spoken for the first time since opting to call time on his year-long spell as vice-president at Fenerbahce, and says his passion for the Tigers remains as strong as it was on the first day he arrived.
Ilicali opted to walk away from the Turkish giants last week and says being involved with a football superpower like Fenerbahce was a huge commitment, both in terms of time, focus and energy, revealing the past 12 months have been the toughest of his career.
Now, as he heads into his fourth full season at the MKM Stadium, he says he has exactly the same passion and feeling for the Tigers as he did on the day he bought the club from the Allams back in January 2022, ahead of what is arguably the biggest and most important season yet under his stewardship.
City went from play-off challengers under Liam Rosenior to relegation candidates last season. On the final day of what was a hugely difficult campaign for a host of reasons, City avoided relegation to League One on goal difference. That path, for now, has been well-trodden.
The man who guided City to safety, Ruben Selles, has made his exit, and in his place is Bosnian Sergej Jakirovic. The former Dinamo Zagreb and Kayserispor head coach has arrived with a bullish, confident belief he can win promotion with some fine-tuning over the course of the summer transfer window. It may sound mad to repeat those words after the campaign just gone, but you have to admire Jakirovic’s inner belief.
“I had the responsibility inside Fenerbahce for one year, which I’m extremely proud of, of course,” Ilicali said. “As a businessman, with businesses in the Dominican Republic and Istanbul, after I bought Hull City, I could still organise everything, though it was not easy. When I became vice-president of Fenerbahce, it was a big responsibility and one I loved. I could handle it, but it was heavy for me.
“Having the busiest life anyone can imagine, when I became vice president of Fernerbahce, I started spending extremely long amounts of time with the club, the workload was really heavy, and I saw that I’m not Superman.”
Ilicali is keen not to speak too much about his departure from the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, but has revealed how this past year has been a challenging one for him on a personal level.
“I want to keep everything confidential at the moment because I think what happened has happened inside the club, and any comment I make can hurt people, which I don’t want,” he said when asked about his exit. “I don’t want to make any comments at the moment about my departure.
“I decided to quit, so I asked permission from Ali Koc, the president – he’s a very good friend of mine – and he gave me permission (to leave). He (Koc) wrote a club statement to say that he really appreciated my efforts, and that means so much to me. I remain a big fan as I have always been and will still be a regular at Saracoglu.”
Though Ilicali admits the pressure and intense scrutiny involved with having a big job at Turkey’s most-supported club was, at times, tough, he says his departure is good news for the Tigers amid what is a pivotal summer for the East Yorkshire outfit as they look to recover from last season’s near-catastrophe.
“I can say that I have had some really, really tough times. I was at every single Fenerbahce game, both home and abroad, representing the club, an honour I enjoyed, but Hull City was also hugely important for me, too. They were very, very tough times for me. It was the toughest year of my career.”
The Turkish media mogul is now on his fifth permanent manager at the MKM Stadium, but in Jakirovic, he believes he has one capable of returning City to the top flight, even if that may appear a distant dream given what happened last season.
He says bringing in the Bosnian is a result of his growing experience of owning a club in England, having gone through Shota Arveladze, Rosenior, Tim Walter and then Selles, as well as having Jared Dublin, Martin Hodge and Mustapha Yokes around him to help him.
“The Sergej Jakirovic transfer for me is a combination of my experience in English football. I believe that with this coach, he fills every blank in my mind,” Ilicali explained.
“He’s not inexperienced. He has experience, but his experience so far is built on the success of winning football matches at different clubs. I believe that in life, if you have the winning experience, then you know how to win.
“Our new coach, Sergej, has been successful everywhere he has been. His winning percentage is very good, but his success percentage is 100 per cent. We now have the best team at the club with Jared (Dublin, sporting director), Martin (Hodge, head of recruitment), Mustapha (Yokes, vice-chairman) and me. We have good experience in our decision-making team.”
Key to City’s success this season will be recruiting well, especially in the top third of the pitch, having finished the campaign as the Championship’s lowest scorers with just 44 in 46 games. João Pedro was the club’s leading scorer with just six goals, and he’s set to leave the MKM Stadium after he was granted permission to seal a move to Atlético de San Luis in Mexico.
As many as eight new faces could arrive in the coming weeks, with Ilicali acutely aware of the need to get players in quickly, after leaving it late 12 months ago. And like in previous years, when he would often get involved in some deals to help get them over the line, he says he will do what he can now to help Dublin and his manager bring in the quality they believe will turn City from strugglers into challengers.
“At the moment, I don’t want to give too many details, but I can say that we are fully focused and we are having meetings every day,” he said when quizzed on progress in the market. What we have to do is make the coach happy, so we are working completely on how to make him happy with the squad. He’s here because he wants to go to the Premier League. He believes that this club can go to the Premier League.
“I am working hard on the transfers and with the targets that we have with our coach. Sometimes, I have to deal with transfers personally because so many players want the guarantee of the owners to be convinced about the offers. In previous years, I was involved with some deals like Jaden Philogene, Ozan Tufan and then Louie Barry, among others, and now I will be again when the time is right.
“Now it’s time to build the team. I think we have a very good coach, and now it’s time to make our fans happy. I’m going to come to Hull with our new coach in the coming days, and I will hold a Q&A with our fans.
“Everybody should understand something that I’m completely focused on our beautiful club, and now I have more time, I hope they will see our improvement in management style and our passion for the club.”
While some supporters have questioned Ilicali’s drive to be successful at the MKM Stadium in recent months, given how things have played out, the Tigers’ chief says his suffering is now over and he can focus on driving the club forward.
“I have to confess to you something. I have exactly the same passion that I did in my first year. I was suffering so much that I did not have enough time for this beautiful club.
“Now that I have the time, it’s time for me to show our fans my experience as the club’s owner in the last three years. The excitement is like my first day when I arrived. I’m so excited for the new season, and I have the full passion.”
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