Hull City won promotion to the Premier League by defeating Middlesbrough with Oli McBurnie’s late winner at Wembley. The club finished 21st in the Championship the previous season and overcame expectations, a transfer embargo, and off-field drama linked to Southampton’s expulsion from the play-offs. Hull had to change plans shortly before the final after being forced to pivot from preparing for Southampton to facing Middlesbrough four days later. Players were promised a trip to Las Vegas by club owner Acun Ilicali, while head coach Sergej Jakirovic will stay in Croatia with family. Jakirovic said the trip is for players and that he will not attend.
"Even the most devoted Hull City fan could not have envisaged their season ending like this. Oli McBurnie’s late, late winner against Middlesbrough means the Tigers, who finished 21st in the Championship last season, will play Premier League football next term. The East Yorkshire side have confounded expectations, a transfer embargo, and the off-field drama surrounding Southampton and Spygate, to secure a remarkable promotion."
"Jakirovic said before Saturday's game that his side had become "collateral damage" from Southampton's expulsion from the play-offs, which left Hull having to pivot from preparing for a game against Saints to plotting for Middlesbrough four days before the final. Despite the pre-match difficulties and being the underdogs, as they had been in the semi-final against third-placed Millwall, Hull got the job done on a boiling hot day at Wembley."
""This is a trip for the players. I will be with my family in Croatia. We have a beautiful coast there," Jakirovic said. "They go to Vegas. You know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. This is not for me.""
"Promotion capped off a tremendous first season in English football for Hull's boss, a former Bosnia international. Jakirovic had won titles in Bosnia and Croatia before a brief spell in Turkey at the end of last season, but he was perhaps only really known in the UK for being the Dinamo Zagreb boss when they were hammered 9-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League in 2024-25. He was sacked days later."
Read at www.bbc.com
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