Everything You Need to Know About Their Premier League Return
The Tigers Are Roaring. Hull City is back.
In the fifth minute of stoppage time at Wembley Stadium, Yu Hirakawa’s cross flew into the penalty area.
Middlesbrough goalkeeper Solomon Brynn came to claim it — but only got his fingertips to it. The ball spilled loose. And there was Oli McBurnie, reaching out a leg, snapping the ball over the line from close range.
Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough. Championship playoff final. May 23, 2026.
The Wembley end, packed with Hull supporters, erupted. Sergej Jakirovic sprinted onto the pitch. McBurnie vanished beneath a pile of amber and black.
Hull City are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2017.
And it came in the most dramatic, most controversial, most extraordinary playoff campaign English football has produced in years.
Here is everything you need to know.
The Final — One Goal, One Moment, One Late Winner
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Date | Saturday, May 23, 2026 |
| Venue | Wembley Stadium |
| Attendance | 84,506 |
| Result | Hull City 1-0 Middlesbrough |
| Goal | Oli McBurnie (90+5′) |
| Referee | Jarred Gillett |
For 93 minutes, the 2026 Championship playoff final looked destined for extra time.
Hull defended with organisation and discipline. Middlesbrough had the better of the play without creating the clear chances needed to break the deadlock. Both sides were tiring in the scorching Wembley heat.
Then McBurnie happened.
A cross from Yu Hirakawa. A spill from Boro keeper Solomon Brynn. McBurnie in the right place at the right time — reaching out a leg, poking home, and sparking scenes that will be replayed at MKM Stadium for decades.
Hull became the first team since Blackpool in 2010 to finish sixth in the Championship before winning the playoffs. They battled through both legs of the semifinals and the final without conceding a single goal.
Goalless across three knockout matches. One goal scored at Wembley. Premier League football secured.
That is Hull City 2026.
McBurnie’s Words — Right After the Whistle
McBurnie’s post-match interview captured the moment perfectly.
“This game sums us up. We knew we wouldn’t have all of the ball. We knew we were going to be right up against it. We knew that we’d have one chance.”
He paused.
“It was written that I’d get it.”
On the goal itself, he said: “Just try and get good contact on it. It popped up to me. It’s a blur.”
Sergej Jakirovic, the Hull manager, was equally emotional:
“It is an amazing feeling, I can’t believe it. We did it because we suffered a lot with the game. They are really tough. I’m proud of the players because they fight — they fight to the end.”
But First — The Spygate Scandal That Overshadowed Everything
Before Hull’s triumph can be fully appreciated, the story that almost derailed the entire playoff must be told.
What Happened
Southampton originally beat Middlesbrough in the playoff semi-finals to reach the Wembley final.
They were then expelled.
The EFL found that Southampton had admitted to multiple breaches of regulations relating to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training — spying on opponents in preparation for matches, including in the period leading up to their semi-final against Middlesbrough.
An independent disciplinary commission ruled that Southampton’s conduct was so serious that they forfeited their place in the final entirely.
Middlesbrough — who had been eliminated — were reinstated to the playoff final with just days’ notice.
The Reaction
The reaction was immediate and fierce.
Southampton supporters argued the punishment was disproportionate and that expulsion from the playoffs was too severe. Middlesbrough supporters argued they had been wronged in the semi-final and deserved their chance. Hull City supporters — who had been preparing for one opponent and suddenly had another — were left trying to process an entirely new scenario in the days before the biggest match of their season.
Hull weren’t delighted about finding out their eventual final opponents days before the showpiece match — but the game went ahead after incredible drama both on and off the pitch.
It was described as the most controversial promotion campaign in the history of English football’s second tier. Whatever side of the Spygate debate you fall on, that verdict is difficult to argue with.
Hull City are not responsible for the chaos that surrounded them. They played the teams they were drawn against, won the games they needed to win, and earned their place in the Premier League fairly.
The controversy is part of the story. But it does not diminish what Hull achieved.
How Hull Got Here — The Season’s Journey
Hull’s 2025-26 Championship season was not supposed to end at Wembley. At various points, it barely looked like it would end in the playoffs at all.
Starting From the Bottom
Sergej Jakirovic took over the Hull reins last summer and worked wonders to turn them from relegation contenders into a promoted side — a transformation that should not be underestimated.
The Tigers entered the season with modest ambitions. Staying up was the realistic target. Playoffs felt like a ceiling too distant to consider.
The Turning Point
A 1-0 win over Sheffield United in early October really got Hull’s playoff push up and running.
From that result, the Tigers saw out 2025 with 10 wins from 16 — a run that transformed their season entirely. From relegation candidates to genuine playoff contenders inside three months.
A Difficult Finish
The form from February until the end of the regular season did not make for comfortable reading. Jakirovic oversaw just five wins in the final stretch.
But the key results came at the key moments. Victories over playoff rivals Derby County, Wrexham, and Norwich City demonstrated that Hull had the quality to win the matches that mattered most.
Hull actually entered the final day of the Championship season outside the top six — but came from behind to beat Norwich City and clinch sixth place on the last afternoon of the regular season.
They did not stumble into the playoffs. They fought their way in.
The Playoffs — A Masterclass in Defensive Football
Hull’s playoff campaign was defined by one remarkable fact.
They did not concede a single goal across both legs of the semi-finals and the playoff final.
A 0-0 draw in the first leg at home against Millwall. A 2-0 win in the second leg at The Den — goals from Mohamed Belloumi and Joe Gelhardt. Then a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at Wembley.
Three matches. Three clean sheets. One goal scored. Premier League promotion.
It is the kind of defensive resilience that playoff football rewards above almost anything else.
The Key Players
🏆 Oli McBurnie — 17 Goals and a Place in Hull History
McBurnie was Hull’s top scorer with 17 Championship goals throughout the regular season — and then delivered the single most important goal in the club’s recent history in the playoff final.
His record of 17 league goals made him one of the Championship’s most productive strikers. His stoppage-time winner at Wembley made him a Hull City legend.
The Scotland international has spent much of his career searching for consistency at the highest level. This season, he found it spectacularly.
⭐ Mohamed Belloumi — The Danger Man
Belloumi was Hull’s most creative force throughout the season and was described as their danger man during the playoff run.
He scored in the semi-final second leg against Millwall and was the player most likely to unlock opposition defences on any given day. Expect him to attract significant Premier League attention this summer.
⚡ Joe Gelhardt — The Midfielder Who Delivers
Gelhardt’s goal in the semi-final second leg completed Hull’s 2-0 win over Millwall and booked their place at Wembley. A combative, energetic presence whose work rate and technical ability made him central to Jakirovic’s system.
🌟 Yu Hirakawa — The Wembley Assist
Hirakawa’s cross in the fifth minute of stoppage time created the moment McBurnie capitalised on. It was not the most glamorous contribution — but it was the most important one at the most important time.
The Numbers That Tell the Story
One statistic above all others captures what Hull City achieved in 2025-26.
Hull’s Expected Goals data had them finishing 23rd in the Championship table on just 53 expected points. They actually finished sixth. Their overperformance of +19.93 points was the biggest in the entire Championship.
In plain English: by every underlying statistical measure, Hull were one of the weakest teams in the division. By results and effort, they finished sixth and won the playoffs.
That is not a fluke. That is character, organisation, and a manager who maximised every ounce of what his squad had.
| Stat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Final league position | 6th |
| Playoff route | Semi-final vs Millwall (won 2-0 agg), Final vs Middlesbrough (1-0) |
| Goals conceded in playoffs | 0 |
| Top scorer | Oli McBurnie — 17 goals |
| xG expected finish | 23rd (53 points) |
| Actual points overperformance | +19.93 — biggest in the Championship |
| Winning goal | McBurnie (90+5′) |
| Wembley attendance | 84,506 |
Hull City’s History — The Story Behind the Club
Hull City is not a club with a glamorous national profile. But they are a club with genuine history — and genuine heart.
The Basics
- Founded: 1904
- Nickname: The Tigers
- Colours: Amber and Black
- Stadium: MKM Stadium, Kingston-upon-Hull
- Capacity: Approximately 25,400
A Club That Has Been Here Before
This is not Hull’s first Premier League experience. And crucially, it is not their first playoff triumph either.
Hull have now won the Championship playoffs three times in their history:
| Year | Playoff Final | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-08 | Wembley | Bristol City | 1-0 |
| 2015-16 | Wembley | Sheffield Wednesday | 1-0 |
| 2025-26 | Wembley | Middlesbrough | 1-0 |
Three playoff finals. Three 1-0 wins. All at Wembley.
It is one of the most extraordinary statistical quirks in English football.
Hull also gained automatic promotion from the Championship in 2012-13 — meaning this is their fourth promotion to the Premier League in total.
Their highest-ever Premier League finish is 16th, achieved in the 2013-14 season. That is the benchmark their supporters will be hoping Jakirovic’s side can at least match.
Nearly a Decade Away
Hull were last in the Premier League in 2016-17 — their fourth and final season in the top flight before relegation. That departure began a long journey back through the Football League.
A League One title in 2020-21. The Championship. The promotion attempt. The one-season stay. And now — via sixth place, a Spygate controversy, and a stoppage-time winner — they are back.
Nearly nine years. One moment at Wembley. Back where they belong.
What to Expect in 2026-27
Hull City arrives in the Premier League as the ultimate underdog story.
Their xG data said they should not have been in the top half of the Championship, let alone promoted. Their defensive record in the playoffs suggests a team that is hard to beat, well-organised, and capable of grinding out results.
Jakirovic will know that survival is the target. The Premier League’s quality gap is real, and a Hull squad built for Championship football will need reinforcement before August 22.
But Hull have surprised people all season. They have beaten better teams than them repeatedly. They have a manager who gets the maximum from his squad. And they have McBurnie — a striker who, on his best days, can cause problems for any defence in England.
The goal is simple: stay up. Enjoy every single minute of it. And prove the underlying statistics wrong one more time.
A Final Word for the Hull City Supporters
This one is for the supporters who have watched their club spend nearly a decade working its way back to the Premier League.
Who were at Wembley on May 23 in the scorching heat? Who held their breath for 93 minutes. Who watched McBurnie snap that ball over the line in stoppage time and could not quite believe what they were seeing.
Hull City is in the Premier League.
After everything — the controversy, the drama, the late nights and the nervous afternoons — the Tigers are back in English football’s top flight.
Roar loud. This one was earned.
