There are promotion stories, and then there is Hull City's. Twelve months ago the Tigers were scrambling around on goal difference to avoid dropping into League One. This Saturday lunchtime, they welcome Manchester United to the MKM Stadium for their first Premier League fixture in years. If you had suggested that sequence of events at any point during a miserable 2024–25 campaign, you would have been laughed out of the South Stand.

The man who made it happen, Bosnian head coach Sergej Jakirovic, addressed roughly 40,000 supporters from the balcony of Hull City Hall in the spring sunshine after Oli McBurnie's late goal beat Middlesbrough 1-0 in the Championship playoff final. His line for the occasion was perfectly pitched: "I only had one task before the season — to stay in the Championship. I failed. We're going to the Premier League!" The crowd, understandably, went berserk.

Three months on from those scenes, Hull are back in training, back in pre-season friendlies — they faced Nice last weekend — and back at a level of football that their most optimistic supporter might have dismissed as fantasy not long ago. The miracle, as Jakirovic happily calls it, has already happened. The next job is to make sure it does not turn into a one-season footnote.

The Coles' jibes and why they landed badly

Not everyone has been generous in their assessment of what Hull have achieved. Former England forwards Carlton Cole and Joe Cole used their podcast this week to write the club off in fairly blunt terms. "Hull are gone, man," said one of them. "They have spent £70m and I'd be stunned if they stay up. They have come in through the back door, they've slipped in."

Tigers supporters reacted with fury, and their manager did not hold back either, though characteristically he delivered his response with a grin rather than a growl. "It was stupid and disrespectful towards the club and players because we earned everything on the pitch — nobody gave us anything for free," said Jakirovic. "It's not fair, especially when it's coming from ex-players who know how hard players work to reach the Premier League. We're not here by accident."

He is right that Hull did not simply stumble into promotion. The squad was rebuilt with genuine purpose under chairman Acun Ilicali, who has publicly committed to standing by Jakirovic regardless of what this season brings. The club have broken their transfer record twice during the summer, made eleven new signings in total, and Jakirovic confirmed more business is expected before the window closes. "We're expecting three or four more players," he said, acknowledging that several current arrivals are still working their way back from injury and will need time to find their feet in the team.

Forty points and no excuses

Jakirovic is under no illusions about the scale of the task. He speaks about it openly and without any trace of the bluster that can accompany a newly promoted manager's first press conference. "Of course there's a very big gap between the Championship and the Premier League. We're up against the best teams, players and managers," he said. "But it's a great motivation to prove people wrong because we don't have anything to lose. We need 40 points, so everything is very clear."

That clarity of thinking is part of what made Hull so effective last season. Jakirovic keeps the message simple: work hard, stay together, earn everything on the pitch. A city that has taken more than its fair share of knocks over the years has embraced his directness. He has, in his own modest way, made Hull walk a little taller — and not just in football terms.

The market has already made its verdict, placing Hull among the favourites for an immediate return to the second tier. That is the realistic assessment, and Jakirovic would not dispute it. But he has been on the wrong end of realistic assessments before. Manchester United at home on a Saturday lunchtime, under the lights of a ground buzzing with Premier League football for the first time in a while — whatever happens next, Hull City have earned this moment.

Frequently asked

When do Hull City play their first Premier League game of the 2026-27 season?
Hull City's opening Premier League fixture is at home to Manchester United at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, 22 August 2026, kicking off at lunchtime.
How did Hull City get promoted to the Premier League?
Hull won promotion through the Championship playoffs, beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in the final thanks to a late goal from Oli McBurnie. It was a remarkable turnaround — the club had only avoided relegation to League One on goal difference the previous season.
Who is Hull City's head coach and what has he said about their Premier League chances?
Sergej Jakirovic, a 49-year-old Bosnian coach, is in charge at Hull. He has been refreshingly honest about the challenge, saying Hull need 40 points to survive and that staying up would be an even bigger achievement than winning promotion.