The Tigers will be backed by a sold-out crowd under the MKM Stadium lights
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
18:00, 12 Feb 2026
Lewie Coyle with students at St George's Primary School after handing out Hull City vs Chelsea tickets
View Image
Lewie Coyle with students at St George's Primary School after handing out Hull City vs Chelsea tickets(Image: Hull City AFC)
Hull City duo Lewie Coyle and Matt Crooks have handed out a bunch of tickets for Friday night's FA Cup glamour-tie with Premier League Chelsea.
Coyle visited St George's Primary School off Anlaby Road, just yards from the MKM Stadium, on Thursday morning, to hand out 10 pairs of tickets to young fans who may not have otherwise been able to see the much-talked-about clash under the lights.
Midfielder Crooks came up with the plan, with both him and club captain Coyle, who penned a new long-term contract on Wednesday, paying for 20 tickets for youngsters, their parents and carers to witness the sold-out cup tie.
It's just another example of the terrific work City as a club does for their community, and the fine dressing room spirit that has played such a big role this season.
"That was something that me and Matt spoke about," City's skipper told Hull Live, before revealing how many personal requests he'd had for the reunion with Liam Rosenior. "To be fair to Matt, he came to me when we were sorting the Chelsea tickets, as you can imagine, there's a crazy demand.
"Off the top of my head I had requests for about 25, 26 tickets. Naturally, everybody wants to come to this. I'm very fortunate that I probably have 20 people who come to watch me every single game, so it's not as if it's just purely for the Chelsea game. Of course, you get a few cheeky requests which I've politely said no to. I'm very fortunate that I've got incredible backing from family and friends who come to most games.
"Crooksy mentioned it to me, he said, 'How do you feel about between me and you buying 20 tickets and giving them to 10 kids and 10 parents or carers that probably wouldn't be able to come to the game or would never normally be able to come to a football match for whatever circumstance.'
"I just thought, do you know what, that epitomises what Crooksy is, what this group is. I didn't think twice about it. So me and Crooksy purchased 20 tickets. We've just decided they're going to a number of kids from a school around the area of the stadium, that wouldn't usually have access to be able to just go to a football game for a number of reasons."
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search. Help us stay visible by adding us as a Preferred Source in your search settings
"For us as a group, for us as a club, for me and Crooksy, to do things like that I think that's what it's all about. If it puts a smile on somebody's face for the 90 minutes of the game or that whole evening, then that's what life's about, little moments like that, that hopefully they take with them, they cherish, and they remember for the rest of their lives."
Here at Hull Live , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don't miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
Article continues below
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK!Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page