The Premier League is English soccer’s promised land. The world’s richest domestic soccer competition is where most players want to play and where they want to stay. This is what it looked like at the very moment when Hull City clinched a place in next season’s top flight.
Hull City hit the jackpot on a dramatic final day of England’s Championship (second division) campaign on Saturday. The Tigers secured a promotion to the Premier League, an achievement which will see at least £120 million ($187 million) flow into the club’s coffers in the coming years. While fans and neutrals might not share in the wealth, Hull City players were in a giving mood.
After a disappointing 2-2 draw against Cardiff City took the Tigers’ promotion hopes from their hands, Hull City’s players gathered in the tunnel at KC Stadium to watch the final 15 minutes of Watford’s injury-delayed game against Leeds United.
A Watford victory would have consigned Hull to a third-place finish, leaving the promotion playoffs as the sole route to the first top division. But Leeds’ Ross McCormack scored the game-winning goal in injury time and clinched second place — and automatic promotion to the Premier League. The goal and subsequent end of the game sparked wild celebration among Hulls players, particularly dance machine Ahmed Elmohamady.
It was one of the most dramatic moments Hull City manager Steve Bruce has ever seen, Sky Sports reports.
“I have said for weeks there would be twists and turns,” Bruce said. “I have never experienced anything like the last 10 or 15 minutes.
“The 10, 12 minutes was just ridiculous and having to wait. We’ve seen people in tunnels, people walking in corridors, people hiding in toilets, it was just really incredible.
“And for Leeds to score, it was just remarkable and just shows you how difficult a league this is.
Watch the moment when Hull City ended a three-year exile from the Premier League in the video below.
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