Hull City – Acun Ilicali says Hull’s lawyers will pursue legal action if they fail to win promotion in today’s Championship playoff final against Middlesbrough. While Hull make one change with Mohamed Belloumi replacing the injured Kyle Joseph, Middlesbrough respond by st
For Acun Ilicali, the football isn’t the only thing on the line.
As Hull City prepare for the Championship playoff final against Middlesbrough. the club’s owner has been speaking in a way that makes it clear he believes the stakes go beyond 90 minutes. On BBC Radio Humberside. Ilicali said he intends to take legal action if Hull fail to win promotion “this afternoon. ” framing it as a question of “justice” if promotion doesn’t happen.
“Our legal team says that we have to go for action, that’s for sure … so we have no doubt about it … all we want is justice … if justice is broken, nobody will enjoy football,” Ilicali said.
He then pushed further. questioning the fairness of how the competition has unfolded for teams he believes should have been treated differently. He asked why. if “action” could be so significant that a team is removed from the playoffs. officials didn’t instead adjust the competition earlier—by not allowing a team to play the semi-final. investigating. and removing Southampton. He also questioned why Wrexham are out now, saying, “Put Wrexham in and continue the competition.”.
“For me, an eliminated team put back … also our lawyers say this and that’s their opinion too … is an incredibly wrong decision,” he added.
Ilicali’s comments came with a line that sounded part strategy, part self-control: he said he could talk more only because the players were already in the stadium and wouldn’t be hearing him. “I didn’t want to make their focus disturbed,” he said.
Inside the stadium, though, the focus shifts to the line-ups. Hull make one change from the starting XI selected for the semi-final second leg win at Millwall. Kyle Joseph is injured, and Mohamed Belloumi comes in.
Middlesbrough also make one change following their turbulent game at Southampton. Alan Browne replaces the stricken Tommy Conway. Hayden Hackney is on the bench, hoping to make his first appearance since picking up a calf injury in March.
Hull’s starting XI is: Pandur, Coyle, Egan, Ajayi, Hughes, Giles, Slater, Crooks, Belloumi, Millar, McBurnie. Their substitutes are Phillips, Lundstram, Hirakawa, Drameh, Hadziahmetovic, Gelhardt, Dowell, Koumas, McNair.
Middlesbrough’s starting XI is: Brynn, Brittain, Targett, Fry, McGree, Whittaker, Ayling, Strelec, Browne, Morris, Malanda. Their substitutes are Wildsmith, Hackney, Gilbert, Silvera, Castledine, Edmundson, Hansen, Ibeh, Sarmiento.
The build-up carries history that doesn’t soften the moment. Hull have fond memories of this kind of day—twice. Dean Windass beat Bristol City in 2008 with a long-range howitzer, and Mohamed Diamé found the top bin with a curler to beat Sheffield Wednesday in 2016.
Middlesbrough, too, have been here before. They won the second-ever of these playoffs in 1988, beating Chelsea in a two-legged final. In doing so, they “inadvertently turned Stamford Bridge into a war zone,” a reminder that the atmosphere around these fixtures can spill beyond the match itself.
But Middlesbrough’s more recent playoff record has been grim. They’ve been defeated in the semi-finals in 1991, 2018 and 2023, and they lost a final to Norwich City in 2015.
The contrast between the season and the finishing line also sharpens the tension. Millwall and Southampton were the in-form teams during the Championship run-in. winning five and eight of their last ten matches respectively. while Hull and Middlesbrough both managed only three. The playoff setup leaves it at a sixth-versus-fifth battle for a place in next season’s Premier League.
Hull’s season turnaround is part of why this match feels like more than redemption. They avoided relegation to League One last year by the skin of their teeth, then “turned things around admirably” and timed their run almost perfectly.
Middlesbrough, for their part, looked close to automatic promotion for large portions of the season, finishing just five points away from the goal they were chasing.
Their head-to-head moments underline how quickly fortunes can swing. Middlesbrough beat Hull 4-1 on Humberside at the start of December, then Hull won 1-0 on Teesside at the end of it.
Kick-off is at 3.30pm BST.
It’s a final with everything riding on it—promotion, momentum, and the kind of public belief that can harden into grievance in the hours after the whistle.
Hull City Middlesbrough Championship playoff final Acun Ilicali Mohamed Belloumi Alan Browne Kyle Joseph Tommy Conway Wembley promotion