An emotional Dean Holden says the past few months will live long in the memory, after Hull City‘s sensational, historic promotion to the Premier League, and it was one he got to share with his close-knit family.
Holden was brought to City by Sergej Jakirovic following his appointment by Acun Ilicali last summer, and has been a pivotal part of the Croatian’s management team.
Things have been far from easy for the club over the course of the campaign, with a host of injuries coupled with the transfer restrictions that were placed on them by the EFL back in July.
Despite the odds being stacked against them, Jakirovic’s heroes galvanised themselves to go down in history as one of the club’s greatest ever teams.
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“It’s surreal,” he told Hull Live. “I believe in the group that we’ve got, but you never know what a season’s going to throw your way. We’ve had a lot of injuries; there’s been a lot of well-documented problems with the embargo all the way through.
“What we have got is a really strong group of people, and the players deserve all the credit. It’s been one of the most incredible 10 or 11 months of my life. More importantly for my family, on the pitch (at Wembley), looking all around the stadium got family behind a goal, got family with Danielle (Holden’s wife) and the kids in the prawn sandwiches, as Roy Keane once said, behind the dugouts.
“Got family in the top tier (at Wembley). I’ve got some in the Boro end that we had to nick a couple of tickets at the last minute, so to see their faces, it will live with me forever.”
Holden and his family went through something no parent should ever have to deal with when they lost their daughter Cici at the age of just 17 months to meningococcal septicaemia in 2012, but 14 years on, the moment the final whistle went was a moment that will stay with him for a multitude of reasons.
Remembering loved ones was a key part of the discussion around the final, with skipper Lewie Coyle talking with significant emotion about the death of his father, Chris. Inside the dressing room, those heartbreaking stories amongst the players and staff have created an extra layer of pride and desperation to be successful, but also enjoy the moment with a tight-knit group.
“It’s life-changing in terms of when I see my kids. All four, unfortunately, not five, but all four of them and Danielle in floods of tears,” he said. “As soon as the whistle went, I turned around, and it’s a moment I will never ever forget. My dad was right behind them as well. I lost my mum a couple of years ago.
“A lot of people experience (loss and grief), skip (Lewie Coyle) was probably the most prominent in terms of the why we’ve all got our own story.”
Key to City’s success this season, Holden says, has been Jakirovic for the way in which he’s galvanised a club after last season’s struggles prior to his arrival.
“Sergej and his staff deserve all the credit because they came over last summer into a league they wasn’t aware of and between us all, the recruitment department, ownership, players, fans, we’ve put it together, we’ve gone to Preston in the middle of the season on a poor pitch and we’ve we’ve gone to all these different stadiums and we’ve managed to pull enough results together that gave us a chance and once we got in the play-offs I knew we were going to come stronger.
“We only needed one (moment). We knew the game was going to end up like it did. We knew stylistically it would end up like that. Middlesbrough would have all the ball, and we just need a chance. We took a chance, and who else better than Oli (McBurnie)? Just look at their faces, the joy (in the fans). This is what football can do.”
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