Hull City have returned to the Premier League after a nine-year absence, and on Saturday 22nd August, the dream becomes a reality when the Tigers host Manchester United in their top-flight opener.
It sounds fantastic, but as fans of every newly promoted club know full well, the excitement is tempered by trepidation, and Hull Fans will be poring over the fixture list and trying to work out who their heroes can beat. This SBOTOP writer has a year (at least) away from the worry, after watching his beloved Burnley relegated in May.
But this story is truly remarkable. Hull City finished sixth in the 2025-26 Championship table, seven points behind 5th-placed Middlesbrough and 10 behind Millwall in third. But much as they had done through the campaign, the Tigers upset the odds to beat Boro in the play-off final, thanks to a late Oli McBurnie goal, and that after promotion favourites Southampton had been banned for spying on their opponents’ training sessions!
The fact that Hull made the play-offs was miraculous in itself, as they started the season as relegation favourites having survived the drop on the final day of the 2024-25 Championship campaign thanks to a nervy 1-1 draw away to Portsmouth, and during the close season, the club seemed to be unravelling further. Manager Ruben Selles, a seemingly stable appointment after steering the club to safety, was axed in mid-May and his replacement, Bosnian Sergej Jakirović, despite Champions League pedigree with Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, was an entirely unknown entity in English football.
Then in July, an accumulation of late loan repayments landed the club a four-window transfer embargo. This train of events ultimately made the Tigers hot favourites to fall through the Championship trapdoor, but they confounded their critics in devastating style.
Underdogs to be taken seriously
There is no question that Premier League 2026 results will be hard to come by for the Tigers this season, but all last year, Jakirovic pulled rabbits out of the hat with surprise results, often 1-0.
Veteran defenders Semi Ajayi and John Egan, with EFL and Premiership experience for West Brom and Sheffield United, were drafted in. With these free signings, the Tigers gained an unshakeable grit and a tough streak. Egan and Ajayi, alongside England U21 centre-half Charlie Hughes, helped City complete the most tackles out of any side in the Championship (819) whilst also having the most yellow cards of any side or player, with 115 total and 13 personally for midfielder Matt Crooks.
McBurnie, after leaving La Liga side Las Palmas, hit 17 league goals, and the Tigers had the highest shot conversion rate in the entire division with only the 10th most shots taken. This ruthlessness in front of goal mixed with the league’s fifth-lowest average possession saw the Tigers deploy potent counterattacking football away from home.
Jakirović’s style yielded formidable results against other top six sides, notably a 1-0 away win against Middlesbrough with 29-per cent possession, and four total shots in total compared to Boro’s 23. And the Tigers recorded an impressive league double over Southampton.
The climax in the play-off final was another case in point, as Boro missed chance after chance before McBurnie pounced.
Will the owners speculate?
While the Premier League big guns have already splashed out in the transfer market, Manchester City spending a cool £116 million to bring midfielder Elliot Anderson to the Etihad Stadium, the Tigers are shopping in a different market.
Pessimists would say that the squad which was promoted last May would struggle to follow that incredible achievement with another top-half finish in the second tier. Optimists will point to the success of the surprise 2025 play-off winners Sunderland, but the Black Cats spent eye-watering amounts of money and still started the campaign as relegation favourites.
Club owner Acun Ilcali has been vocal in his attempts to attract players to Hull. But he is up against it geographically, as the city sits on the North East Coast, whereas players often like to be near Manchester or London.
So far, the Tigers have brought in full-back Matt Targett on loan, and ex-England goalkeeper Jack Butland for £3 million, with the former Aston Villa star on loan at Middlesbrough last season. Hull are also linked with Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey and Burnley midfielder Florentino Luis, but with no solid news as yet. The Premier League 2026 betting odds say the Tigers will drop back into the Championship, but they’ll enjoy the ride and the players will never leave anything on the pitch, and who knows where that will take them?
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