AROUnD THE
GROUnDSXI
BEST: Boaz Myhill, Sam Ricketts, Andy
Dawson, Michael Turner, Curtis Davies,
Ian Ashbee, Garreth Roberts, Nick
Barmby, Geovanni, Abel Hernandez,
Dean Windass.
WORST: Lee Bracey, Ibrahima Sonko,
Mark Lynch, Neil Whitworth, Shaun
Smith, Steve Melton, Jon French, Simon
Walton, David Jones, Dele Adebola,
Rowan Vine.
PLAYER
B: Nick Barmby [right] is the greatest
footballer ever to come out of Hull.
Returned home in League One for
what looked like a farewell tour,
but went on to win at Wembley,
then played (and scored) in the
top flight again. Also netted the
fastest goal in our history, after
seven seconds against Walsall
in November 2004.
W: David Jones – an alleged frontman
who couldn’t control his legs, let alone
a football. Was allergic to headers and
slower than a milk float, yet he’d been
a Chelsea player early on in his career.
Admin error?
MOMEnT
B: Wembley in 2008, the Championship
play-off final. We’ve been the luckiest
generation in Hull history, fortunate to
see an FA Cup final, European football
and three top-flight promotions – but
nothing will ever top Windass’s winner
against Bristol City to seal that first one
after 104 years of grafting.
W: The Hull Tigers fiasco. I didn’t think
anything could be worse than when we
were 92nd in the Football League, but
the attempted name change tore our
fanbase down the middle and created
unforgivable angst.
GAME
B: Arsenal 1 Hull 2 in 2008. Phil Brown
took his newly promoted team to the
Emirates Stadium and stuck three up
top. It was a suicidal game plan – until
we fought back to win with Geovanni
[above] scoring one of the best goals in
Tigers history. Utter delirium.
W: Hull 0 Hednesford 2 in 1997. The
Match of the Day cameras turned
up even though we were at
home, because they’d sniffed
an upset. We duly delivered
one of the most spineless
defeats you’ll ever see.SIGnI n G
B: Ian Ashbee [right]. Plenty
of contenders from our recent rise
up the leagues, but ‘Ash’ arrived ona free transfer
when we were
in the bottom
tier and captained us to three
promotions. Underappreciated legend.
W: Jimmy Bullard joined for £5 million,
doubling our previous transfer record.
Turned up with a dodgy knee which he
re-injured on his debut and spent most
of his spell unfit. To make things even
worse, he was outstanding when he
did occasionally play.SEASOn
B: 2007-08, when a side that
had just avoided relegation
to League One transformed
into one that reached the top
flight. The signing of Jay-Jay
Okocha for an unbelievable
swansong was the catalyst
for bigger things.W: 2019-20 began brightly under Grant
McCann, then we sold Jarrod Bowen to
West Ham, won one more match and
lost 8-0 to Wigan en route to an absurd
relegation. A shocker.MAnAGER
B: Peter Taylor [below]. After 18 years
without a promotion and eight stuck in
the basement division, Taylor inspired
the club to back-to-back promotions
and stabilised us in the Championship.
He wasn’t as universally loved as you’d
imagine, but no one will ever be
more important to our history.
W: Phil Parkinson endured an
ill-fated stint in 2006, between
Taylor and Brown. He was out
of his depth and tried to change
too much too soon.CHAnT
B: “You’re getting mauled by the
Tigers”, using campy tiger paws.
Opposition fans get so wound up
that this has become a huge hit.
W: “0-1-4-8-2.” Who sings about
a telephone dialling code? Only in Hull.OPPOnE n T
B: Boston. We’ve won all four games!
W: Sheffield Wednesday. A bunch of
big-time babies who think tickets sold
is a measure of success.HARD MAn
B: Billy Whitehurst was the toughest
guy in football, let alone Hull. Tales of
his underground fighting are famous.
W: Barmby. We love our Nick, but he
got into a row with Danny Shittu once;
after offering him out, Shittu got down
on his knees to take him on. Hilarious.
Sorry, Nick.BEST&WORST
Rick Skelton, the avid Tiger behind Boothferry to Wembley, on Windass worldies and the local Scrappy-Doo
HULL CITY
86 July 2022 FourFourTwo