The Tigers’ playmaker has amassed 37 appearances and six goals since joining a year ago
Matt Crooks says the decision to join Hull City was the best he has made so far in his career, a year on from his arrival at the MKM Stadium.
Crooks was City‘s first arrival of the winter window 12 months ago, when he swapped Real Salt Lake in the MLS for a return to Yorkshire with the Tigers, who were mired in a relegation battle at the time.
The experienced midfielder proved a vital performer for Ruben Selles, scoring the goal at Portsmouth on the final day of a difficult season, which effectively kept City in the Championship, one of three big goals he netted.
This term, the 31-year-old has scored twice in 18 appearances for City, and remains an influential performer in Sergej Jakirovic’s resurgent Tigers squad that are firmly in the hunt for promotion to the Premier League.
“Coming in, it was a much different situation than what it is now, but when I signed and when I spoke to Jared (Dublin, sporting director), he always said that the club had ambition, the chairman (Acun Ilicali) had an ambition to take the club to the next level,” Crooks told Hull Live.
“Obviously, it was gonna be a testing period from January until the end of the season, and it was, but we managed to get over the line, and now we’re aiming in the right direction, going to the right end of the table.
“It’s what you play football for, for these moments. Last year, we had moments that we’ll remember for, not so well, positive, I guess, but you know what I mean and this year we’re trying to create more moments by trying to get to that next league up.
“Best decision I’ve ever made,” he added when asked if he was glad about returning to England from the US.
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