Hull owner Acun Ilicali has made no secret of his desire for his team to be the great entertainers of the Championship. And while there is no Hollywood stardust on Humberside, Ilicali certainly got bang for his buck with this final-day thriller.
It was a 90 minutes of football that had more ups and downs than a barge bobbing on the Humber Estuary. It’s never dull in Hull, they say around these parts after all.
And there are few more illuminating characters in the game than Oli McBurnie. Fitting then that it was the Tigers’ number nine who played the lead role with a brilliant brace in a comeback win over Norwich to secure the sixth and final playoff spot.
‘We’re not there by luck or by chance, we’ve worked hard all season to get to where we’ve wanted to be,’ said McBurnie after taking his tally for the season to 18 goals.
‘The skipper (Lewie Coyle) and Eags (John Egan) called a meeting on Friday, just the boys. Just putting everything flat out, no minced words.
‘I wanted to headbutt a wall when I walked out of that meeting, I was raging I had to wait 24 hours to play the game.’
Oli McBurnie celebrates as Hull snatch the final play-off spot – they will face Millwall for a place at Wembley
Only 12 months ago, the Tigers survived on the final day of the season on goal difference. New manager Sergej Jakirovic, untested in English football, then spent the summer operating under a transfer embargo. Yesterday, remarkably, they found themselves in playoff contention.
It was never going to be a straightforward affair. Not when Norwich, the division’s second-best team in 2026, were in town. Philippe Clement’s side did not arrive with their factor 50 in one hand and bucket and spade in the other either.
In fact, it was the visitors who took a deserved lead through Mohamed Toure’s delightful cushioned volley in the first half.
The Tigers, though, rallied straight from kick-off when Joe Gelhardt was scythed down in the box. McBurnie made no mistake from the spot.
The game threatened to meander to an underwhelming conclusion for the hosts, who have spent the best part of the last five months in the playoffs before a dire winless run of six games at the end of the season opened the door to Wrexham and Derby. Jakirovic was adamant that he remained calm watching on from the stands as he served a touchline ban.
And it was McBurnie who delivered again, a clever swivel finish after Matt Crooks’ knockdown lifting the roof off the MKM Stadium. There was more than a suspicion of off-side about the winner – not that McBurnie cared one jot.
‘If it was, it was time we had a bit of luck,’ joked McBurnie. ‘I got a few raised eyebrows when I chose to come here after last season, but I was always quietly confident with my decision.’
A playoff clash with Millwall, another of the division’s unfancied sides, awaits on Friday night for the Tigers. And perhaps there might just be one more twist in the tale to come.
