As Hull City’s players came together in the away dressing room at Millwall and belted out Adele’s Someone Like You, there was one notable absentee.
Captain Lewie Coyle, a veteran of 231 appearances since joining his hometown club from Fleetwood in 2020, was fulfilling modern football’s arduous media duties instead, conducting post-match interviews after Hull’s Championship play-off semi-final triumph.
‘It was probably a good thing because I’m not the best singer,’ Coyle jokes to Daily Mail Sport.
Coyle did get to join his team-mates on the pitch for some memorable moments with the travelling supporters after their 2-0 aggregate victory at The Den, where substitutes Mohamed Belloumi and Joe Gelhardt scored after a goalless first leg to send Hull to Wembley.
‘It was a very special night for the club,’ Coyle says. ‘Those are the moments you want to be involved in with the lads you’ve grafted alongside week in, week out.’
The result was all the more impressive given Millwall had narrowly missed out on automatic promotion, while Hull only snatched the final play-off place on the last day by overcoming an in-form Norwich side.
Hull City are one game away from returning to the Premier League after a nine-year absence
Sergej Jakirovic’s side beat Millwall 2-0 on aggregate in the Championship play-off semi-final
Skipper Lewis Coyle (right) was part of the special scenes at full-time between players and fans at The Den, and he spoke to Daily Mail Sport ahead of the play-off final on Saturday
Yet upsetting expectations has become a hallmark of Sergej Jakirovic’s Hull side and now, after a season spent defying predictions, the Tigers are one game away from ending their nine-year absence from the Premier League.
The contrast with 12 months ago could hardly be greater. Hull survived relegation on goal difference after a chaotic campaign and began this season under a cloud having been hit with a three-window transfer fee embargo for late payments relating to previous signings – later reduced to two on appeal.
What has followed has been an outstanding turnaround under Jakirovic, who arrived last June having never coached in England.
‘The main difference is belief,’ Coyle says. ‘After last year it would have been easy to say: “let’s stabilise and aim for mid-table”. But the lads that were here knew we shouldn’t have been where we were. Even with the restrictions, we didn’t let that deter us from our goal of making the play-offs.
‘Then the manager said we’re not just making the play-offs, we’ve got a chance to get to Wembley and go one step further. You saw that belief against Millwall, and it will be the same until the final whistle at Wembley.’
Coyle is full of praise for Jakirovic, whose bold tactical switch to a back five in the second leg helped blunt Alex Neil’s side. Matchwinners Gelhardt and Belloumi also both started on the bench before changing the tie in the latest example of his impressive in-game management.
Right back Coyle, who grew up in Hull, is closing in on 250 appearances for his hometown club
The 30-year-old has been a mainstay of the side since joining from Fleetwood back in 2020
The 49-year-old Bosnian, who has won titles in Croatia and his homeland, has transformed Hull’s mentality while implementing a more attacking style. The Tigers scored 70 league goals this season after managing only 44 during last year’s struggles.
Jakirovic described the win at Millwall as the biggest achievement of his career and has embraced the Championship – even joking that ‘football rugby’ is sometimes played given the division’s physicality and intensity.
‘First and foremost he’s a character,’ Coyle says. ‘He has us in stitches in team meetings. But when it’s time to work, he’s straight to the point and pulls no punches.
‘This group responds really well to him and there’s a lot of respect for him. When he speaks, people listen. We had issues at the start with the embargo, but he’s built togetherness, and the club did a fantastic job of assembling not just a good group of players, but a good group of men. That’s why I was so proud of everyone at Millwall.’
Jakirovic has also reunited a fractured fanbase after the turbulence of 2024-25, when both Tim Walter and Ruben Selles lost their jobs.
Hull have still endured inconsistent spells – including a six-match winless run before the final day which threatened to derail their promotion hopes – but Jakirovic’s adaptability has repeatedly delivered in the biggest moments.
Not only did the Tigers edge out Millwall, but they beat Southampton (twice) and Middlesbrough during the campaign – and pipped Wrexham and Derby to the final play-off spot on a dramatic last day.
They have overcome doubters and in some respects, the numbers too. Hull finished second bottom in the Championship’s expected points table and had the fourth-worst defensive record, something that has pained Jakirovic at points, although they kept two clean sheets against Millwall.
This season has been an enjoyable one for Tigers fans after they only stayed up in the Championship on the final day of last term (pictured)
Coyle celebrates lifting the League One title in 2021 at the end of his first season at the club
Hull’s squad blends experience and youth. Veterans such as Coyle, John Egan and Matt Crooks have provided leadership, while Leeds loanee Gelhardt – who Jakirovic pleaded the club to re-sign last summer after a previous half-season loan spell in 2024-25 – and former Wigan academy team-mate Charlie Hughes represent the club’s emerging core.
At the top of the pitch Oli McBurnie’s 17 goals, Gelhardt’s 14, and the resurgence of Belloumi following a long-term injury have provided cutting edge.
‘We’ve got so many lads that can make a difference,’ adds Coyle, who signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract in February. ‘We’ve got guys who step up in those moments where others are out, and the fact two substitutes came on and scored at Millwall tells you a lot about us.’
Coyle, who came through the ranks at Leeds, is closing in on 250 appearances for Hull after six seasons that began in League One. Only Regan Slater remains from his first campaign, while Jakirovic is the sixth permanent manager he has played under at the club.
‘I’m incredibly lucky and proud to be close to 250 appearances for my hometown club,’ Coyle says. ‘To captain them is another thing entirely. I wear that responsibility with huge pride and to cap it off at Wembley would be a dream come true.’
For many supporters, Coyle embodies Hull and his family’s ties to the city run deep. Older brother Tommy was a professional boxer who won a Commonwealth title in 2018 and regularly fought in his hometown, his younger brother Rocco is on the books at Hull, and his other brother Joe is a professional golf coach.
Their father Chris was also a beloved greengrocer in the city for more than 30 years until his sudden death in 2022. As a youngster, Coyle worked on the family fruit-and-vegetable stall, Coyle and Sons, and has previously spoken about football becoming his escape after his father’s passing.
‘I think it means more to me,’ he says. ‘I’ve grown up in Hull, it’s all I’ve ever known and I know what football means to people here.
‘It’s a hard-working city that’s not always had an awful lot, so I’ve got that deep-rooted connection. I grew up watching my old man work as hard as he did to give us a platform and a glimmer of hope to achieve our dreams so it means so much to play for this club.’
Hull now return to the Championship play-off final for the first time since 2016 when Steve Bruce guided them past Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. For supporters of Coyle’s generation, though, no memory is more vivid than Dean Windass’ iconic winner against Bristol City in 2008, and he still remembers watching that moment with friends.
‘For a hometown guy like Dean Windass to score that goal and get Hull to the Premier League is what dreams are made of,’ he adds. ‘I was just so happy and those games stick in your mind.’
It is 18 years since Dean Windass’ iconic winner for Hull in the play-off final against Bristol City, a moment Coyle remembers well
Owner Acun Ilicali has been unapologetic in his desire to take Hull back to the Premier League
Hull will take on Middlesbrough in the final after Southampton were disqualified after Spygate
The build-up to Saturday’s final has been overshadowed by the extraordinary Spygate controversy that saw Southampton expelled from the match, and replaced by Middlesbrough, disrupting the Tigers’ preparation.
Coyle spoke to Daily Mail Sport before that decision had been made and insisted the uncertainty would not distract Hull, adding that ‘it’s completely out of our control’, although owner Acun Ilicali questioned on Wednesday whether his side should go straight to the Premier League given Southampton’s disqualification.
‘All we can do is prepare and focus on the task in hand. If anything changes for whatever reason, then, of course, we’re all professional. We’ll react to that in the right way,’ Coyle said.
Should Hull complete the job at Wembley though, it would complete a stunning transformation under Ilicali, who has been unapologetic in his desire to return to the Premier League since buying the club in 2022.
‘I always wanted to be part of a squad that could get Hull back to the Premier League,’ Coyle concludes. ‘The ambition the club has shown in recent years aligns with everything I want to do here.
‘This club has had some really good years, but it would mean absolutely everything to help bring big-time football back to Hull at Wembley – and I think that would probably be the way I would honour my old man.’
