City’s hometown hero will have the honour of leading out the Tigers in the richest game in world football
Hull City skipper Lewie Coyle will get to lead out his hometown club at Wembley(Image: Anna Gowthorpe/Shutterstock)
Hull-born Lewie Coyle says winning promotion at Wembley would mean everything for him and his family, if the Tigers can overcome Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final.
The Hull City skipper will lead out his hometown club into the heat of battle at the national stadium with a place in the Premier League the prize for Sergej Jakirovic’s heroes.
Coyle, who will make his 232nd appearance for City, will be backed by his close family and friends as he looks to continue the family dynasty and honour the legacy of his late father, Chris.
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“It’s a tough one to put into words, but the obvious word is absolutely everything,” Coyle said. “I know what it would mean to the family to be able to do that for the city where I’m from, it would be incredible, it would mean everything.
“The proudest thing for me is that I get to share it with them. Everyone will be there from my family, barring my brother Joe, he’s away on a golfing trip, a bucket list trip, which I can’t be angry at him for. If I wasn’t at Wembley, I’d be there with him.
“Everyone will be there; all my loved ones, and that’s the really nice thing for me to be able to share it with the ones that are there for you no matter what. Football or sport in general can be a very up-and-down industry, so the ones that are there for you day in and day out, no matter what, that’s what it’s about for me.
“He’d be proud,” Coyle confessed before pausing, full of emotion when speaking about a man who had the biggest impact on his life. “It’s hard, it’s one of them I wanna share this with him wherever he is, if he is looking down, I’m sure he is. That’s what I cling on to. You can probably see how uncomfortable I maybe get thinking about it, but it’s my way of honouring him. I have absolutely everything to thank him for, and I owe him absolutely everything. I think this will probably be the closest chance I have of finally saying thank you and honouring him.”
City’s squad is littered with experience, players that have played in play-off finals, European finals, but Coyle has never played at Wembley, and it’s one he’s relishing.
“No, never, first time,” he said when asked if he’d played under the arch previously. “It’s not a given that you go through your career and get that chance to play at Wembley. Some people have had some fantastic careers and never had the chance for whatever reason. At 30 years of age, to be playing there for the first time is also a really cool moment for me.”
After City’s final daw riproaring win over Norwich City that secured their place in the play-offs, Oli McBurnie revealed how a meeting held by Coyle nad John Egan before that game, had left himn so fired up he wanted to headbutt a wall. For the skipper, it was an important moment.
“There’s been a couple of occasions where we had to have honest words with each other, and I just felt the timing of that meeting, we had before Norwich (was crucial). We’d had a team meeting, and Eags (John Egan) just pulled me and said, ‘I think it’s a really good idea that we speak to the lads, me and you, they need to hear it from you, and I’d like to say a few words.’
“We just had an honest discussion. I won’t go into what was said, but just a few home truths in a really positive manner, that we have a chance to make the play-offs, and I genuinely believe this was the conversation we had.
“Genuinely, if we get in the play-offs, we will come through the semi-final over the two legs and book our place in the final. Then, it’s down to us to step up. I’m really lucky that I share the load this year with a lot of fantastic characters. Of course, my role as captain is to lead the lads, make sure they’ve got everything they need on and off the pitch, but there’s certainly a lot of lads this year that helped me with that load, and again, that’s only a good thing for this group,” he explained before revealing the nature of what his message might be prior to kick-off on Saturday.
“It just comes to me naturally,” he added. “I’ll always not overthink it, but certainly the Norwich game and the two legs against Millwall, I had a good, hard think about what I wanted to say and what my message was. That’s something that’ll be between the lads and me. It’ll certainly be very, very meaningful when I speak in that huddle before Wembley, and hopefully it gives those lads the little edge that we need going into that game.”
Coyle’s final message was for the supporters, who will fill the east end of Wembley Stadium, just as they did in 2008 and 2016, when the Tigers won promotion to the Premier League under Phil Brown and Steve Bruce.
“We need them in full voices, as they have been all season, but we need them a little bit more. It’s going to be an incredible occasion; of course, it’s going to be a tough game.
“Middlesbrough are a fantastic side, and they (the fans) might just be that extra little one per cent that we need. No matter what’s going on in the game, just make sure we can hear you. We lean on you at times when it gets tough in games, and again, don’t ever take for granted how much we appreciate the support, especially when they’re in full voice.”
LISTEN: The essential Wembley preview with Ilicali, Jakirovic, Coyle, Pandur and Millar
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