Emotional Hull celebrate ‘incredible’ promotion to Premier League

LONDON: Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic and his players cried tears of joy after their “incredible journey” culminated in a lucrative promotion to the Premier League on Saturday as the Championship’s ‘spygate’ drama finally came to an end.

Oli McBurnie clinched Hull’s 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the play-off final at Wembley, scoring the £205 million (US$275 million) tap-in with just seconds left in world football’s richest match.

The Tigers are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2017 after a remarkable renaissance over the last 12 months.

Hull only avoided relegation to the third tier on the final day of last season, with goal difference saving them from the drop, before the club was hit with a damaging transfer embargo.

Jakirovic’s sixth-placed team sneaked into the Championship play-offs on the last day this season before beating third-placed Millwall in the semi-finals.

For nearly two weeks, Hull’s final opponent was shrouded in mystery after Southampton – who had beaten Middlesbrough to reach Wembley – were charged with sending a member of staff to spy on their semi-final opponents by filming a training session prior to the first leg.

Southampton were kicked out of the play-off final on Tuesday, leaving Jakirovic with just days to prepare his players to face Middlesbrough instead of the Saints.

Jakirovic had claimed Hull were “collateral damage” from the Southampton scandal, while the club’s owner Acun Ilicali threatened to take legal action if his team were beaten by Middlesbrough.

The prospect of an ugly battle in the courts was the last thing Football League chiefs wanted.

In the circumstances, the burly McBurnie’s close-range finish after an error from Middlesbrough keeper Sol Brynn was the ideal conclusion for both the Tigers and the sport’s authorities.

For Hull’s Bosnian manager and his squad, it was just reward for their refusal to be distracted by the Southampton controversy.

“A lot of players were crying with happiness at the final whistle. It’s incredible,” Jakirovic said.

“An unbelievable journey, so many problems, so to achieve the Premier League is incredible.”

– ‘IT WAS WRITTEN FOR ME’ –

Ilicali no longer needed to think about calling in the lawyers as he celebrated at Wembley.

Instead, he was planning to send his players on a trip to Las Vegas to mark their triumph.

Scotland striker McBurnie, in his first season at the club after arriving from Las Palmas, said: “I’m speechless for the first time ever.

“That game summed us up, we knew we weren’t going to have all the ball. It was tough out there with the heat.

“Middlesbrough are a top team, we knew we’d be up against it but we felt we’d have one chance and I felt like it was written for me to get it.”

Having been reinstated to the play-offs after Southampton’s punishment, Middlesbrough blew their third chance for promotion this season.

Kim Hellberg’s team were unable to secure automatic promotion despite holding a top-two place for much of the campaign.

They eventually finished fifth and lost to Southampton 2-1 on aggregate before their reprieve ended in heartache at Wembley, where the club is still to win a single match in their history.

“It was the toughest two weeks I’ve been through. Back and forth, back and forth. A very weird situation,” Hellberg said.

“It’s been a roller coaster, a lot of emotions, for everyone at the club.

“Today is disappointing, of course. I think in general the performance was quite good. You know these games will be tight.

“We stopped them creating almost anything. It felt like we were going into extra-time but they scored from a cross. That’s football.”–AFP

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المصدر: New Straits Times