Hull City celebrated promotion with a victory parade and a massive party in the city centre
Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic (centre right) and Oliver McBurnie celebrate during a victory parade (Image: Bruce Rollinson/PA Wire)
One family, one dream, is the four words Hull City owner Acun Ilicali coined to describe his vision for the club. If the scenes at Wembley before and after the most unexpected of promotions reaffirmed this is a club unified, the party at Queen Victoria Square hammered it home like an Oli McBurnie rocket.
Where once there was division, now when ‘City ‘till I die’ is sung, it is in celebration, not defiance. And no moment summed that up better than seeing thousands packed into Hull city centre, together as one.
If this is one family, then this was the biggest family get-together Hull may have ever seen.
On one of the hottest May days Hull has ever witnessed, they came from near and far to rejoice with the new generation of City heroes.
Basking not just in the hot sun but the glow of the Premier League, City supporters young and old headed into town on a sweltering Bank Holiday in their thousands. While the party took place in Victoria Square, on the main roads of Hull thousands more had lined the streets to greet their Promotion winners.
Having spent Sunday afternoon, evening and for some, a large part of the early morning partying with fans down the likes of Humber Street, City’s players had boarded one of two buses at the MKM Stadium for a tour of the city. What should have taken an hour took almost two as the bus snaked its way around the parade route before finally pulling up to the City Hall for a raucous greeting befitting Tigers.
Starting with Regan Slater carrying the EFL Play-off Final trophy aloft, each member of the city squad was announced onto the balcony, ending with the captain Lewie Coyle, who, like many of his team-mates, looked like he hadn’t been to bed since the Wembley win.
And yet, the captain still managed to leave the crowd with a message that landed perfectly. “Grab your friends and family and hold them close to you and enjoy this,” said an emotional Coyle. “Make sure you enjoy tonight, and the next couple of weeks because I know we all will. And one more thing. Up the Tigers!”
We may have left out an expletive there, but you get the sentiment. If Coyle brought the emotion, his manager Sergej Jakirovic brought the laughter in his own unique style. A huge hit obviously for what he has done on the pith, the manager’s personality has shone through this season and his character is starting to break out beyond the Hull boundary because of Wembley.
Entering the party the Croatian silenced the crowd, admitting he had an apology to make to everyone. “I have to say sorry,” said Jakirovic from the balcony. “I was brought here with one job to do, keep Hull City in the Championship. I failed.”
It’s that sort of delivery that is going to make the City boss popular with the national media next season.
Matt Crooks was keen to make sure his manager didn’t get all the laughs, leading a song about his captain being caught in the pub, while McBurnie started the Joe Gelhardt chant, only for Gelhardt to get the Regan Slater “50 grand” song going. The togetherness of the group that had pulled them through the season was evident with each moment.
Finally came the owner, who after lapping up the adoration of the crowd, delivered his own message. “I came to this beautiful city from a beautiful country in Turkey. My dream was to have a big family.
“There were six or seven clubs I could buy, but I landed at Humberside Airport and came here and straight away I felt the energy and said to myself, ‘this will be my club’.
“We became a family with one dream and all the problems we had made us stronger. Despite all the problems you showed us nobody can stand in front of us when we are together. I love you.
“Are we the richest club? No. Are we the most expensive squad? No. But we have the best fans and we did it.
“We will remember these memories. They will last forever. Our dream came true.”
One family, united. One dream, realised. One big party, completed!