Acun Ilicali owns Hull City, and on Saturday his club will try to reach the Premier League for the first time since he bought it in January 2022 for £20m from the Allam family. Hull face Middlesbrough in the playoff final after finishing sixth on the final day of the season and beating third-placed Millwall over two legs.
Ilicali has been at Hull’s helm for almost four-and-a-half years, a period marked by relentless change in the dugout and enough volatility to leave supporters wondering whether stability would ever arrive. He removed Grant McCann and appointed Shota Arveladze in 2022, only for Hull to finish 19th under Arveladze. His first full season brought a 15th-place finish. A year later, Liam Rosenior took Hull to seventh, three points off the playoffs, before he was relieved of his duties. Last season, Hull survived on goal difference, and Rubén Sellés lost his job after another flirtation with League One. Sergej Jakirovic was then appointed after a brief spell at Kayserispor.
Now Hull have one more match to decide whether the owner’s gamble turns into the kind of reward he has been chasing. Every player who started the 2-0 win at Millwall belongs to Hull, a sign of the squad depth Ilicali has tried to build through heavy spending. He said he had spent more than £100m and believed there was “a big value in this team,” while also arguing that mistakes have to be corrected quickly. “If you think you are not the cleverest or the most intelligent person in the world, then you have to accept that you make some mistakes,” he said. “This is a mistake, let’s change it.”
That willingness to change has defined his ownership as much as the money. “People thought I was changing the coaches because of my ego, but I was changing my coaches because of my lack of ego,” Ilicali said. He also described his attachment to the club and city in personal terms, saying he loves Hull and that it is “therapy” for him. He has even pointed to Leicester’s Premier League title as the greatest glory in British football. For now, the only judgment that matters is whether Hull can finish the job on Saturday and turn a turbulent project into a place in the Premier League.
