It’s true: there are no football fans quite like Hull City football fans. With a rich and tenacious history dating all the way back to 1904, Hull City is today one of the best-loved football clubs in all of the English Football League. But there’s a lot we bet you never knew about the beloved Tigers. And we’re about to share some of these with you.
For the love of football and the Hull City Tigers.
About That First Shootout
Few people know this, but Hull City FC was involved in the very first penalty shootout ever played in England. Unfortunately, the Tigers lost England’s first ever penalty shootout to Manchester United. This happened in 1970 during the semi-final of the Watney Cup. And even though the Tigers lost the shootout, Hull City will forever be connected to a pivotal moment in English football.
About That FA Cup Final
The famous Tigers on April 13, 2014, reached their first ever FA Cup Final. Sadly, every member of the FA Cup Final squad has since left the club. And sadder still, this also happened to be the day Hull City FC lost the FA Cup to Arsenal at Wembley. Before the 2014 Wembley FA Cup appearance, Hull City had never competed in either an FA Cup final or a League Cup final.
About Those Fans
League games were right up until the 1960s played on Christmas Day. The only two teams exempted from Christmas-Day-play were the Tigers and Grimsby Town. The reason for the special exemption were the fans; and more specifically those fans who had worked in the fishing industry and needed to be at work in order to keep making a living.
About The Crest
Hull City in 2014 became one of only a handful of English League teams to play without the club’s name on its crest. The club’s name was only reintroduced in 2019 when a whole new crest was revealed for the 2019/2020 season.
About Tiered Success
The Tigers in 2008, after ten years spent at the very bottom of English Football’s 4th tier, temporarily moved to the top of the Barclays Premier League. 2008 was a year among years for Hull City, what with the club during that particular year having lost only a single opening league matches out of a total of 9 played.
About That First Game
The Tigers didn’t always wear signature amber, white, and black. In their very first game ever played together as a team, Hull City wore white shirts, black socks, and black shorts. Their first game was played against Notts Country.
About That Trip
The Tigers in 1984 boldly declared that they would play the first-ever footie match on the surface of the moon. Chairman Don Robinson even took the squad to Cape Canaveral during an American tour. As for why Hull City’s dreams about playing on the moon were never realised, Robinson later admitted to having failed to procure a team to play against.