Hull City didn’t need a Wembley win to rubber stamp this new era, but it was a nice bonus
Hull City promotion winners
A case of wine in one hand, his mobile phone pinging in the other as the incessant messages kept coming in, Sergej Jakirovic paused at the end of the media mixed zone before boarding the team bus at Wembley.
Placing his box on the floor, what followed was a big puff of the cheeks, seemingly in part at the realisation his media duties were over, but also clearly an exhale of emotions after a whirlwind afternoon of no doubt high anxiety on the touchline as his charges set about trying to achieve what nobody expected was possible.
An imposing figure, his soon to become trademark smile and cheeky sense of humour quickly defuses the physical stature to put you at ease. And as he stands for one last quick conversation with us before boarding the bus, it’s clear the enormity of his achievement, of his team’s achievement and the impact it will have on our fair city is nowhere near close to resonating with him.
There had been a belief in the Hull City camp since the early days of the season that this collection of players, brought together in some instances through the necessity of a transfer embargo, could achieve the club’s goals. Those goals were not a Wembley win in May to set up Premier League football.
The club may have asked supporters in recent weeks to Dare to Dream, but the reality in August as the embargo hit and the squad was being pulled together was something quite different.
A top 10 finish for a team having to overcome so many obstacles to make the start line would have been greeted with enthusiasm and optimism. That was surely the same position for the majority of supporters who no doubt held plenty of trepidation at the arrival of a little known former Bosnian international as their latest manager after a brief revolving door of head coaches.
Across the game the Tigers were being written off as relegation fodder. It was only for the fact Sheffield Wednesday were a total clown show (to put it very politely), that City were regarded as the second worst team in the Championship by many pundits.
Yet, against the odds, against overwhelming belief and against the judgement of the XG generation who still keep saying.. “But, but they should have gone down”. Against what all those thought, Hull City are back at the big dance. What they need now is a suitable pair of dance shoes, with the summer transfer window key to making sure the Tigers look the part when their big moment arrives.
Changes will need to be made, and significant ones at that. The squad, the training ground, the MKM Stadium, it all requires an overhaul and there’s not as much time as you’d imagine to do it. But let’s park that for now and focus on the achievement.
City supporters weren’t walking out of Wembley with a case of wine under their arm like the Tigers boss, but there was a similar feeling of disbelief for many and no doubt a similar puff of the cheeks.
Relief and rejoycing went hand in hand, the magnitude of what had happened had barely registered for any of the 33,500 City fans leaving Wembley, but it mattered little. The impact and what follows is for the future, in the present, another Wembley win was all that mattered. For a third time at the place Pele called, the cathedral of football, Hull City celebrated a 1-0 play-off final win.
A familiar scoreline, but there was no escaping this one felt different.
In 2008 Phil Brown’s history makers had momentum on their side as they chased automatic promotion, finishing third and completing a record of nine wins from the final 12 games of that campaign.
Likewise in 2016, Steve Bruce’s team were arguably the best in terms of quality to be promoted and should possibly have gone up automatically. Still, they finished nine points ahead of Sheffield Wednesday and fancied their chances.
The class of 2026 couldn’t be more different. Fancying their chances, certainly, but this was a team with no momentum, who ended a six-match winless streak on the final day to get into the play-offs by the finest margins.
Written off all campaign, nobody expected to be at Wembley and that’s why, heading to the stadium on that Saturday afternoon the air was filled on the whole with excitement, not nerves.
The achievement was not in whether City won, it was just being there. This was that £10 note you find down the back of the sofa you forgot about, or more fittingly a lottery ticket, which you just so happen to win to the tune of £200m.
It was a day for celebration regardless. Hope had returned to the football club, a way forward could be seen and even if that was to be back in the Championship, City fans would still have rejoiced at a brilliant season that brought winning football back to the MKM Stadium. Fans were engaged again through the team, through a charismatic manager and through an entire club that just seemed to be getting it right. You don’t need a Wembley win for justification of that feeling of success when you have all that going for you. Still, it feels pretty good when you get it.
And so after Spygate, where justice was eventually served by the correct team going up, Hull City can prepare for being a Premier League team once again.
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The excitement for many young fans will be new, for older fans it will be familiar but by no means less exciting, as the Tigers ready themselves for a campaign against the biggest and best England has to offer.
Hull City are back dining at the top table of English football and that’s amazing for the city and everyone who holds the football club dear. But less highlighted, but more important, Hull City were already back in the hearts and minds of this city. Reaching Wembley, not winning there, was already the only confirmation we needed of that. UTT!
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