Премьер лигийн шинэ улирлын нээлтийн тоглолтод Халл Сити өөрийн талбайдаа Манчестер Юнайтедыг 2-0-ийн харьцаатай буулган авч, гайхалтай ялалт байгууллаа.
Тоглолтын эхний хагаст Семи Аджай болон Нобел Менди нар стандарт нөхцөл байдлаас гоол оруулснаар Халл Сити 1974 оноос хойш анх удаа Манчестер Юнайтедыг лигийн хүрээнд хожлоо. Багийн эзэн Акун Илижали тоглогчдынхоо ялах чин хүсэл эрмэлзэл болон сэтгэл зүтгэл нь энэхүү ялалтын гол түлхүүр болсныг онцлов. Тэрээр Манчестер Юнайтедын хувьд тухайн өдөр хангалттай бэлтгэлгүй байсныг ажигласнаа дурдсан юм.
Халл Сити энэ зун 11 шинэ тоглогч бүрэлдэхүүндээ нэмж, бүрэлдэхүүнээ өргөжүүлсэн бөгөөд багийн менежер Сергей Жакировичтай гурван жилийн гэрээ байгуулахаар тохиролцжээ. Илижали багийнхныхаа үзүүлсэн тоглолт, ялангуяа хамгаалалтын сахилга бат нь улирлын туршид үргэлжлэх эсэхийг харах үлдлээ гэв.
Премьер лигт эргэн ирсэн анхны тоглолтоо ийнхүү амжилттай эхлүүлсэн Халл Сити дараагийн тоглолтоо есдүгээр сарын 5-нд Астон Виллатай хийх хуваарьтай байна. Багийн удирдлагын зүгээс энэхүү ялалт нь тоглогчдынхоо чадавхид итгэх итгэлийг нэмэгдүүлж, цаашдын бүрэлдэхүүнээ бүрдүүлэхэд нөлөөлөхүйц үйл явдал болсныг онцолжээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
It is an hour after the full-time whistle and Acun Ilicali has retreated to a quiet corner of the chairman’s lounge inside the MKM Stadium. Hull City have produced an opening day for the ages in East Yorkshire after overcoming Manchester United and Ilicali believes he can point to the root of the upset.
“The secret today was that our boys were dying to win,” Hull’s owner tells The Athletic. “I didn’t see Manchester United in this mood. That was the separation of these two teams. You look at the tackles in the game and you could understand which team was wanting more.”
A team widely written off after winning promotion through the Championship play-offs had found too much for an opponent that will return to the Champions League under Michael Carrick this season. Two first-half goals from set pieces were behind a 2-0 victory, Hull’s first in the league against United since 1974, but the three points owed nothing to fortune.
Ilicali saw a blueprint for survival captured within those opening 90 minutes of the campaign.
“We have three advantages this season,” he adds. “First we are the underdog, second everyone thinks we are weak and the third advantage is that we play with heart.
“I see in many teams that they don’t have that. It doesn’t matter how rich you are, you can go to a comfort zone and sometimes your priorities can change. For our players, our success is the only priority.”
And so it appeared on Hull’s return to the Premier League. A first top-flight fixture since 2017 revealed no nerves or anxiety, only a momentum carried over from their dramatic promotion in May. Three points, up and running in style.
Hull City fans celebrate their side’s second goal against Manchester United (Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA Images via Getty Images)
The Athletic joined Ilicali to watch one of the MKM Stadium’s greatest days play out. “It’s too early to celebrate,” he said in his post-match assessment. “But I can guarantee that all day we will talk about the game. Again and again.”
Ilicali will not be alone.
The fixture list could have been kinder to Hull in an opening month that will see them face Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle United but the first weekend handed them a special reintroduction to the Premier League.
Eighty family members and friends had joined Ilicali in travelling to watch Manchester United’s visit from his native Turkey, where he has created a media empire and the funds needed to purchase Hull in 2021. “At Wembley it was 300,” he explains. “I had to bring a plane. A Boeing.”
Acun Ilicali, at the back, with some of the friends and family who travelled for the opening game (The Athletic)
That was to witness the moment that brought Hull back to the top table of English football. A 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final in May added a full stop to the Spygate saga written by Southampton and completed the club’s fourth promotion to the Premier League since 2008.
Perhaps the most improbable, too. Sixteen months ago Hull were avoiding relegation to League One on the final day of the season, a disastrous campaign that saw Ilicali fire two managers, Tim Walter and Ruben Selles. The following summer brought an EFL transfer embargo that halted spending and concerns for the direction of travel but also Sergej Jakirovic, the imposing architect of last season’s promotion.
Ilicali expects to see a new three-year deal signed off by his manager, a title winner in Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb, next week. “We are agreed in all terms and we are renewing the contract,” he says. “For us, this conversation was not more than five minutes. Really, I am not joking. In five minutes we did this.”
Ilicali often has the feel of a man in a hurry. A first game as a Premier League club owner saw him arrive 50 minutes before kick-off and head straight to pitchside, where he reserved a hug for Oli McBurnie, Hull’s Wembley matchwinner, and completed media duties with the host broadcaster TNT Sports. There were also introductions to be made with Alison Brittain, the Premier League’s chair, and counterparts from Manchester United, a group that includes chief executive Omar Berrada.
Only with 15 minutes remaining before kick-off did Ilicali reach the more familiar faces that populate his lounge. A new addition to the wall art this summer has been a giant picture of Ilicali cradling the Championship play-off final trophy at Wembley positioned behind the coffee, cheese and biscuits.
Acun Ilicali’s picture with the Championship play-off trophy (The Athletic)
“I’m very excited, of course, but not like Wembley,” he says ahead of kick-off. “That’s impossible. There’s nothing to compare with Wembley. There will only be one of those in my whole life. Today is a league game against a big team but it’s a different type of joy. For a league game I will never go to that moon again. Every league game is repairable. We can lose to Manchester United and recover next week. The only thing I want to see from my boys is a team we’re proud of.”
He would see that wish granted soon enough but there was also a point made of addressing those that doubt his team this season. Former England internationals Joe Cole and Carlton Cole were among the most vociferous in the days leading up to the Premier League’s opening weekend, dismissing any notion of survival. “Hull are gone, man,” Joe Cole said on the Dressing Room Podcast to prompt laughter from his co-host. “They’ve come in through the back door, they’ve slipped in.”
The comments irritated Ilicali, who took to social media in response. A follow-up video posted by Carlton Cole, suggesting the comments were “a bit of back and forth and banter”, also failed to bring appeasement.
“They are football players, they are not advanced television personalities,” said Ilicali, whose rushed pre-match meal consisted of a solitary chicken goujon and half a dozen chips. “Because of that they can make mistakes. I can accept that. It was a big mistake, yes, it hurt a city. But it should be a good experience for them to not make the same mistakes again.
“I didn’t like the explanation. He made a mistake and he was still trying to give lessons. ‘Take it easy, it’s not serious’, but my friend, you are hurting people. Just apologise. Be more intelligent. You can do something stupid but have the intelligence afterwards. That was the biggest problem.”
Semi Ajayi smashes in Hull’s first Premier League goal of the season (Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)n
Hull’s performance against Manchester United indicated their fate was anything but a foregone conclusion. There was bite in tackles and danger from set-pieces. A defence that had been the team’s weak point in the regular Championship season, leaking 66 goals from 46 games, barely looked troubled such was its discipline.
Hull’s two first-half goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy, meanwhile, were both celebrated wildly by Ilicali, flanked by his wife, daughter, brother and nephew. Another daughter, one of four for Ilicali, opted against venturing outside and chose instead to watch her iPad.
“I like to be the underdog,” he said before the game. “I have achieved things in my life that nobody could dream and now everyone thinks we cannot do this. I am OK with it.”
Only at the end of each half did Ilicali appear to enjoy the moment, responding to the supporters’ call to spare them a wave. He drew an imaginary heart in the air during stoppage time and beat his chest. Wife, Ayca, even joined in with supporters clawing to the chant of “Mauled by the Tigers”. Throughout she was the more animated figure.
Ayca Ilicali watches alongside her husband (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
“I am too focused on the game,” he said afterwards. “This is not something I am proud of. I wish I could enjoy it more but having the responsibility of so many people on my shoulders is not always enjoyable during the games.
“I used to enjoy watching games more when I was watching Fenerbahce (his boyhood club growing up in Istanbul). I was more of a supporter but now I’m the father of the family.”
The full-time whistle brought a group photo, wide smiles and a trip to the dressing rooms, where Ilicali addressed the players and coaching staff for the second time in 48 hours.
“I made a general speech to the players yesterday (Friday), just to show my belief in them,” he said. “I believe 100 per cent. Again in the dressing room now I thanked them all. Our dressing room is no different to the salon (living room) of my house. It’s like a real family.”
There was also a meeting with club staff to assess how Hull’s first Premier League home game had unfolded in front of a capacity crowd. By the time the MKM Stadium hosts its next fixture, against Aston Villa on the evening of September 5, the transfer deadline will also have passed. Now there is food for thought.
A summer that has already brought 11 new signings, including two club records in the shape of goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis and Saturday’s goalscorer Mendy, needs to bring more in the next week or so. Overcoming Manchester United with a starting XI that included eight promotion-winners, though, has told Ilicali to take stock.
“Maybe we have to believe in our players more and think twice about recruitment,” he said. “We still need new players but so many of our players have shown they can play in the Premier League. This should not be missed from our side. Maybe today has changed our minds.”
That was a dilemma for another day. Another whistle-stop visit to England ended with Ilicali’s plane departing Humberside airport at 7pm, four or so hours after the full-time whistle concluded one of Hull’s greatest wins in the Premier League.
His plans for the flight on board Tiger Force One? “A flight means sleeping time no matter how long the flight is,” he says. “I will sleep like a baby today. Then when we get home we will talk about the game for hours and hours.”
