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Good morning, everyone! Hull City’s return to the Premier League hasn’t been bad, has it? 5 games: 2 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss, and in 8th place. Including a famous win over Manchester United and a draw at Stamford Bridge, the Tigers have been the surprise package in the opening few weeks of the new season.
As it is a decade on from the club’s last PL campaign, and since 10 is a nice round number to do a countdown from, I have decided to take a look at ten different players who have contributed to City’s eventual comeback. This article isn’t for reviewing the likes of Keane Lewis-Potter, Jacob Greaves, or even Oli McBurnie. Their impacts are all well-documented and appreciated among the City faithful. Instead, I am unearthing the inputs of those who may be easily forgotten, or are well-known but still underrated.
A few of these could be eyebrow-raising to some, I suppose that’s the point of this article. You may disagree with me, though that’s the wonderful nature of having different points of view!
Without further ado, let’s get stuck in:
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🟩 2-0 vs Manchester United, 🟩 0-1 @ Coventry City, 🤝🏻 0-0 vs Aston Villa, 🤝🏻 2-2 @ Chelsea, ❌️ 2-1 @ Newcastle United
Hull City’s opening 5 Premier League 2026/27 results!
#10 Gavin Whyte (2021)
A somewhat forgotten loanee, Whyte enjoyed a successful brief spell in black and amber, when he moved here on loan from Cardiff City. Aiding the League One title win, Whyte netted 4 goals in 20 appearances, including a brace vs Bristol Rovers as City went 14 games unbeaten from late February to early May. The winger also managed to score vs Accrington Stanley and Northampton Town, asserting himself as a regular performer for Grant McCann in wrapping up 1st place.
Speedy and energetic, Whyte was a useful mid-season acquisition to help put us ahead of our fellow promotion contenders. Unfortunately, The Tigers’ attempt to sign Whyte for the following campaign was thwarted by the club’s financial constraints - the Northern Irishman ended up on loan at Oxford United instead.
Due to the covid pandemic, the City faithful never saw Whyte play in person, someone who would’ve no doubt endeared himself to the crowd otherwise. As of writing this article, Gavin now plays in Ireland for Derry City.
#9 Josh Magennis (2019-22)
Signed from Bolton Wanderers in 2019, striker Magennis joined for what would be a tough period for the Tigers in 19/20. We all know how that campaign ended, it wasn’t pretty. The Northern Ireland international only managed to net 4 league goals himself, as Grant McCann’s men finished rock bottom of the Championship.
The 2020/21 League One season would prove to be much different, though, for both City and Magennis. The experienced forward had a fantastic year, firing in 18 league goals, forming an integral part of that deadly attacking trio with Mallik Wilks and Keane Lewis-Potter. Scoring a particularly crucial, headed brace in a 2-2 draw vs Sunderland, Magennis sent City to the brink of an immediate return to the 2nd tier, winning the League One Player of the Month for April 2021.
Finishing just behind Wilks as top goalscorer for the Tigers’ first title-winning campaign since 1965/66, Magennis made a remarkably strong impression to ensure the club didn’t get stuck at 3rd-tier level. It didn’t quite work out for Josh in the Champ again the following year, eventually leaving for Wigan Athletic in January 2022, but the striker’s goals in that League One winning season cannot be dismissed. He ended up being a great asset for City in that facet, putting us in a position for Acun Ilıcalı to take the reigns.
#8 Reece Burke (2018-21)
A permanent signing from West Ham United, Burke came to East Yorkshire as a young 21-year-old looking to develop his footballing career. By his departure in 2021, he had certainly done that at EFL level.
A consistent cog at centre-back, Burke initially built a solid partnership with Dutchman Jordy de Wijs. The pair could be really formidable, certainly across their first 18 months together. Things did derail during the Tigers’ early-2020 tumble, as the club were relegated to League One, but Burke would remain loyal for that 3rd-tier campaign.
Registering 35+ appearances for a 3rd consecutive year, Burke played a pivotal role in City’s L1 success, contributing to the 2nd-best defence of the division - based on goals against (38). Even though he would leave for Luton Town prior to 2021/22, Reece was a very competent CB for City, maybe overshadowed by the emergence of Jacob Greaves, as well as the covid period in general.
1) Manchester City ⛵️ (15pts) 2) Arsenal 🔫 (12pts) 3) Brighton & Hove Albion 💙 (10pts) 4) Brentford 🐝 (9pts) 5) Leeds United 🦚 (9pts) 6) Liverpool 🔴 (9pts) 7) Everton 🍬 (9pts) 8) HULL CITY 🐯 (8pts) 9) Newcastle United ⚫️ (8pts) 10) Chelsea 🔵 (7pts) 11) Ipswich Town 🚜 (6pts) 12) Manchester United 😈 (5pts) 13) Nottingham Forest 🌳 (5pts) 14) Sunderland 🐈⬛️ (4pts) 15) Crystal Palace 🦅 (4pts) 16) Aston Villa 🦁 (4pts) 17) Bournemouth 🍒 (3pts) 18) Coventry City 🐘 (3pts) 19) Fulham ⚪️ (2pts) 20) Tottenham Hotspur 🤍 (2pts)
The Premier League 2026/27 standings after 5 games. Hull City are 8th!
#7 Callum Elder (2019-23)
Arriving in East Yorkshire from Leicester City, left-back Elder was a tremendous servant for the Tigers across his 4-years at the club. A consistently available presence in defence, Elder was as reliable as they come in that department, someone you could depend on putting in a solid, honest shift most weeks.
That particularly came to fruition during our League One adventures. The Aussie had an amazing season, amounting 10 assists in league action, going on to appear in the 3rd-tier Team of the Season. I think this is overlooked for Elder’s City career, certainly when compared the likes of George Honeyman, who memorably also made that XI.
Even at Championship level, Elder held his own. He maybe wasn’t as deadly as Ryan Giles going forward, for example, but he was a steady option for a City side re-establishing itself in the 2nd-tier. It shows with Callum’s later moves to Derby County and now Lincoln City, that this remains true to this day. A consummate professional.
I generally believe Elder is remembered fondly in Hull, but his overall contribution does feel slightly underappreciated.
#6 Matt Ingram (2019-24)
There’s a theme emerging with the 2019 summer transfer window! Matt Ingram was another picked up when Grant McCann moved here as manager. Initially serving as backup to George Long for 19/20, Ingram would replace the former for the majority of the League One year, keeping 16 clean sheets in 38 games with a save percentage of 70.3% (fbref.com).
Retaining no.1 spot for 2021/22, before competing with Nathan Baxter, Ingram maintained a solid save percentage of 73% over 29 matches (fbref.com). The High-Wycombe born GK was one of few bright sparks during those early season struggles, making various, super saves to keep the Tigers in matches. Whilst it didn’t work out as intended, his emergency loan to Luton Town at the end of that year showed his capabilities, with the Hatters involved in a play-off fight. Ingram would continue to share starting duties with Baxter in 2022/23, and then Karl Darlow, posting another respectable save percentage of 73.2% across 22 league apps (fbref.com).
With Ryan Allsop’s arrival for 2023/24, and Liam Rosenior’s playing style highly-favouring Rocky’s brilliant distribution ability, Ingram would feature much less for City - only making 10 appearances that season. During the following summer, Ingram exited East Yorkshire after 5 years, moving down south to Oxford United.
Overall, I think Matt was an excellent servant and shot-stopper in HU3, putting in plenty of heroic performances between the sticks. His distribution, especially in Rosenior’s system, wasn’t the best, but Ingram was a reliable figure during the club’s rebuild back to the Championship. In my opinion, our most underrated ‘keeper in the last 10 years.
The only team to not concede in the 2026/27 Premier League?🤔👀 Hull City 🐯
Hull-City: the only club to not concede after 3 Premier League games. Not a bad effort for the ‘worst team in the division.’
#5 Sean McLoughlin (2019-25)
An excellent example of developing a young player into a proper Championship pro. That’s what the Tigers managed to accomplish with Irish centre-back Sean McLoughlin. First joining the club as a 22-year-old from Cork, McLoughlin had limited gametime in his opening 2 years, spending a period on loan in Scotland with St. Mirren.
However, ‘Maka’ made a marvellous impression for Grant McCann’s strugglers during the 2021/22 season, drafted into regular action from November 2021 and winning Hull City Player of the Month in December 2021. After the CB’s introduction that campaign, City’s defensive solidity and overall form noticeably improved, as the club clambered away from relegation. A consistent man-mountain in both a 2 and 3 CB system.
Strangely back on the bench to begin 2022/23, the Tigers’ defensive record worsened dramatically, keeping 1 clean sheet in the first 19 games. As Liam Rosenior took charge, Maka found his way back into regular action, again helping to stabilise City’s back line and move us out of drop zone danger. The Irishman would win Hull City Player of the Month 2 more times in December 2022 and February 2023, before being rewarded with a 3-year contract extension in April 2023, such was his fantastic impact on the team’s upturn in fortunes (once again!).
Featuring in half of the 2023/24 league matches, McLoughlin would play in 37 further 2nd-tier games for 2024/25, filling in bravely at LB to help City to eventual safety that year. A professional in every sense of the word. Concluding his East Yorkshire career with a move to Blackburn Rovers in July 2025, Sean was a key character during the early years of Ilıcalı, a reliable no-nonsense defender who got on with it. I feel he was underutilised at times and an underrated leader in the dressing room, shown by his captaincy of Rovers during various periods last campaign.
#4 Alfie Jones (2020-25)
Probably a more controversial inclusion in terms of being completely “unsung,” I still feel Alfie Jones’ time at the Tigers goes under the radar. A consistent presence across the early 2020s, Jones played 191 total games for City, a regular starter under Grant McCann, Shota Arveladze, Liam Rosenior, Tim Walter, and Rubén Sellés.
Steady if not spectacular, the now Canadian international formed a terrific partnership with academy star Jacob Greaves, which really came into fruition during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons. Jones even won Player of the Season for 2022/23, awarded by Rosenior, such was his impressive impact at centre-back.
Also deployed as a CDM during his earlier campaigns in HU3, Jones was versatile and a top Championship defender on his day. His 2024/25 season felt slightly more up and down, but he was a major part of a defensive unit which virtually kept us up, given the serious attacking struggles that year.
Making his mark at Middlesbrough to begin 2025/26, Jones unfortunately suffered an ankle injury that ruled him out from December. I’m intrigued to see how he gets on at ‘Boro and for the rest of his career, because his upside is very strong at 2nd-tier level.
“A consistent shining star, Belloumi just has that IT factor at Hull City. Scoring 2 critical goals at Chelsea to fire the Tigers back into the game, Mohamed has also been active across the Aston Villa and Newcastle United matches, notching an assist against the latter." 🎯 "Averaging an 8.1 match rating in September, City’s no.10 is always capable of delivering something special. Definitely a player who is Premier League material, who will be difficult to keep at the club at this rate.” 😅
Mohamed Belloumi is my Hull City September 2026 Player of the Month!
#3 Kyle Joseph (2025-26)
Departing the Tigers in the summer, like Jones now at ‘Boro, the story of Kyle Joseph in black and amber is a marvellous one. Initially signing from Blackpool for £2.5M in January 2025, Joseph struggled to make an instant impact, appearing 16 times but failing to register a single goal contribution. There was a decent proportion of criticism that came KJ’s way, labelled as a League One level player who was a waste of money. Thinking back to that period, I remember having doubts that the investment in Joseph was smart business.
Fast-forward to the 2025/26 season, Joseph stepped up and became a different animal. Featuring over 46 matches, including the Millwall play-off games, KJ gained 13 goal contributions (8 goals + 5 assists) - a marked improvement on his early days in East Yorkshire. Only behind Oli McBurnie and Joe Gelhardt in that metric, it was also KJ’s energy which was infectious on the rest of the team. Whenever he was present on the pitch, I felt a different level of general intensity from the whole group. His lack of minutes during City’s April struggles was strange to me, because of his engine and that newfound impact in direct goal contributions.
Nevertheless, Joseph’s popularity quickly skyrocketed amongst fans, another figure who I would describe as a proper Hull City player. Sergej Jakirović really helped to get the best out of him, too, operating effectively anywhere across the front 3. When it was further revealed that he was carrying an ankle injury, during the back end of that 2024/25 campaign, he secured even more admiration for how he played through it in the Tigers’ battle to survive.
Given the large number of promotion heroes from 2025/26, it’s sometimes easy to forget the contribution of certain individuals. I feel Kyle Joseph is still in that bracket, it was such a shame that he missed the play-off final through injury. Letting him go in the summer was harsh, but a much needed profitable one for City to stay compliant with PSR. Not a bad tenure in the end from the Shaggy and Scooby-Doo impressionist!
Hull City have confirmed that Head Coach Sergej Jakirović has signed a new 2-year contract with the club, including an option of a further year 🤩 No need to elaborate too much. Fully-deserved and then some. Congratulations Sergej!
Speaking of Sergej, it’s great to see him sign a new a 2-year (+1) contract extension!
#2 Lewie Coyle (2020-Present)
Probably one of the most ‘marmite’ players in recent Hull City history, you can probably see where I am going with this one. Lewie Coyle has been a staple of the Tigers’ XIs across the last 6 years, first signing from Fleetwood Town in 2020, going on to make over 200 appearances in black and amber so far.
Normally, such a record would be well-received and respected, but Coyle’s presence in City colours has always felt like a case for division within the fanbase. Many praise and appreciate what Coyle has contributed to the club in his time here, whilst various others believe he isn’t up to standard in terms of his footballing ability - even at Championship level. That’s left Lewie to bear the brunt of a lot of criticism, across the last couple of years in particular.
I understand those who don’t think Coyle is good enough, and there’s nothing wrong with debating or pointing out the captain’s weaknesses. He’s not the most gifted technical player I’ve ever seen. However, the level of criticism and general abuse he’s received at times has been incredibly harsh and over-the-top.
He hasn’t helped himself at times, notably where he has been out in town after a couple of poor results, which has only added fuel to the fire. But, does that warrant some of the vitriol he’s exposed to? Coyle is one of the first names that comes to mind in terms of commitment to the club and a never-say-die attitude. He’s played through various injuries, including broken ribs and fractured eye-sockets, even wearing scrum caps to make sure he is on the field for the team.
I appreciate you need quality too, especially now at Premier League level. But, he doesn’t nearly get enough praise from some fans for the overriding positives he brings to the table. Don’t forget the camaraderie he clearly adds to dressing room behind the scenes, supporting new signings like Ozan Tufan settle in, also earning credit from Oli McBurnie in the latter stages of last season’s promotion campaign. That leadership is why he’s captain and has remained so for the previous 4 years.
Ultimately, he wouldn’t continue to get picked under Sergej Jakirović if he wasn’t deemed good enough. I don’t expect Coyle to start every week in the top-flight, with the promising Brooke Norton-Cuffy waiting in the wings for more minutes, but they will fight it out fairly to earn that RB/RWB starting position.
More often than not, I believe Lewie held his own in the Championship years. He had many performances where he got on with the job quietly, but effectively, not getting the credit he deserved. His performances in the play-off games are a prime example.
He is always under the microscope, so criticism of any mistakes is inevitable and never goes missed. Again, it’s fine to point out flaws in his game, but some comments posted across social media are sensationalised and disrespectful, rather than constructive. I don’t think that is a fair way to treat someone who has given so much to the club and wider city - more than many have or ever will. A Premier League promotion winning captain.
Konstantinos Tzolakis #19 Hull City shirt graphic.
Before revealing my number 1 unsung hero: just how good has no.1 goalkeeper, Konstantinos Tzolakis, been? Incredible business by the Tigers!
#1 John Egan (2025-Present)
He’s only been a Hull City player for around 20 months, but John Egan has made such an exceptional impact that it feels like he’s been here much longer! The Republic of Ireland international has turned out to be an incredible piece of business, signing from Burnley in January 2025.
Helping keep the club up in the Championship, Egan quickly became an integral piece of the defensive jigsaw the following promotion season, featuring 45 times across the league and play-off games. Despite Sergej Jakirović’s initial first-choice centre-backs being Charlie Hughes and Semi Ajayi, Egs made himself undroppable through his consistency and reliability, with both Hughes and Ajayi missing key periods through injury. In fact, Egan ended that campaign as our most-used CB.
Now 33 and soon to be 34 in October, questions were asked whether Egan could maintain his starting position for the Premier League. He surely won’t have the legs! Well, after 5 games, many of those doubts are currently erased. At the heart of the centre-back trio, Egan has been astonishing, leading the defensive line to 3 consecutive clean sheets to start the season. Winning aerials, making crunching tackles, organising at set-pieces - Egan’s been doing it all. So far, there are no signs of the Irishman slowing down, recently awarded with a 2-year contract extension (+1 option).
That leadership characteristic has become something synonymous with John. Alongside Lewie Coyle, the pair have formed a close bond both on and off the pitch, taking charge of the dressing room to rally the group forward. He’s an integral part in the attitude of the team, and put it this way, I’d love for him to remain at the club in some sort of coaching capacity after he retires. There’s only a handful of players that have that effect on me - John Egan is one of those.
He does get his flowers more often now, but overall, I believe these contributions have somewhat remained underrated - amidst the excellence of the wider team. We are very lucky to have him in HU3.
Everton F.C. 🍬 (H) - Sun 11th @ 2pm (BST), Fulham F.C. ⚪️ (A) - Sat 17th @ 3pm (BST), Brentford F.C. 🐝 (H) - Sun 25th @ 2pm (GMT), Ipswich Town 🚜 (H) Sat 31st @ 3pm (GMT)
A reminder of the Tigers’ October 2026 matches!
There we go, a very long babble over! If you’re reading this, thank you very much for sticking through! I’ll be writing some shorter and more bearable articles in the near future, I promise (I’ll try).
Everton at home on Sunday, as our latest PL journey continues. The October run of fixtures feels crucial to keep up the early-season momentum. It’ll get more difficult for us than it has been, so be sure to stick with the team - they need our support.
Up The Tigers graphic!
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