Today marks the 10th anniversary of Hull City's promotion out of Division Three with a 2-1 win at Yeovil, a famous first step on the road to the top of the English game. Philip Buckingham looks back to a momentous day at Huish Park.
IF EVERY mighty oak is born from a tiny acorn, Hull City first planted theirs in a corner of Somerset 10 years ago today.
Celebrating promotion for the first time in 19 years with a 2-1 victory at Yeovil Town, the Tigers took the very first step on a road that has since brought them Premier League prosperity, a FA Cup final and the mouth-watering prospect of European football.
Bold climbs up the ladder followed in 2005, 2008 and 2013 but without the class of 2004 perhaps none of it would have been possible. Yeovil was City's big bang.
"That promotion was a pivotal moment for the football club," said former skipper Ian Ashbee.
"Everything was in place for us to move forward but that season was when it all started coming together."
May 1, 2004 brought a watershed, a joyous end to the bad old days. During eight years in the fourth tier City had been threatened with extinction and turfed out of their own home.
Only small mercies had spared the Tigers a tumble into the Conference.
A move from Boothferry Park to the KC Stadium at the end of 2002 had begun the revolution under Adam Pearson but supporters still craved tangible progress.
That finally arrived in 2003-04 with one-time England caretaker boss Peter Taylor at the helm.
"We had a big-name manager, who had given David Beckham the England captaincy a few years before, and an owner that wanted to take the club up through the divisions," said Ashbee, who served the club with distinction for almost a decade after arriving from Cambridge United.
"The club was geared up towards climbing through the leagues but there's been plenty of clubs with that ambition and seen it backfire.
"The club hadn't been promoted in 19 years. That's long time without having anything to celebrate.
"But once the KC Stadium was built and there was financial stability, everything was ready to go. All it needed was the team to produce. That season was what set the ball rolling."
In a side steeled by the resolve of Ashbee and Damien Delaney, and fuelled by the goals of Stuart Elliott, Danny Allsop and Ben Burgess, City burst into the Division Three promotion picture from the first month of the campaign.
A sticky patch followed in the run-up to Christmas but seven consecutive wins from Boxing Day left smaller rivals fearful of the waking giant.
As has often been the case, however, the easy route was declined by City.
Despite seemingly clinching promotion with a dramatic 3-2 win at Swansea in the middle of April, draws followed at lowly opponents Macclesfield and Southend.
The chance for promotion then presented itself at the KC Stadium with the visit of Huddersfield Town, but a 0-0 draw against their promotion rivals sent City's fate to be decided 280 miles away at Yeovil on the penultimate weekend of the season.
It would not be easy.
In their first season in the Football League under Gary Johnson, the Glovers were pushing for a place in the Division Three play-offs under a late head of steam.
Doubts were inevitable in the visitors' dressing room but Ashbee said: "I felt as though it was going to happen that day. I just had an inkling.
"We'd messed up in a few games before it and maybe that was just the pressure getting to us.
"The history of this club tells you we've never done it the easy way but with the pressure off us a little bit being away from home it was much more relaxed from us that day.
"We would have preferred promotion to have been sealed at home but none of us wanted to take it to the last day.
"There was a lot of hunger in that dressing room. We just wanted to get it done and not waste the chance."![cityfans]()
The Hull City faithful at Huish Park.
Backed by a travelling crowd of around 2,000 inside Huish Park, not to mention another 2,000 watching a beam-back at the formerly known Vulcan Arena, City did not need long to settle the mood. Once Allsopp was tugged back inside the box, midfielder Stuart Green kept his cool to slot the penalty into the bottom right-hand corner. Allsopp missed a gilt-edged chance to double his side's advantage, hitting the post when clean through, and it appeared a costly missed opportunity when Yeovil levelled midway through the second half with a Hugo Rodriguez header. Only a win would guarantee City's promotion and the stage was set for Ashbee to write his name in club folklore with 14 minutes remaining. Richard Hinds' cross from the right was partially cleared to the City captain and when the ball was returned to him via a heavy touch from Junior Lewis, a sight of goal came on the edge of the box. Steadying himself 20 yards out, Ashbee sent an inch-perfect curler beyond the goalkeeper and into the top corner. A goal almost worth the 19-year wait.![ashbee]()
Ian Ashbee scored the winner.
"Even now I get reminded about it," said Ashbee. "A lad came up to me at the weekend and said he was five when his Dad had taken him to Yeovil. He said he still remembers that goal. "I didn't score many goals so to get one like that was pretty special. A lot of fans mention it to me. It's one of those goals that just sticks in your mind because of what it meant." Twelve months later City were at it again. Under the Pearson and Taylor union, League One held no demons and the Tigers merely passed through on the way to the Championship. There they pitched camp for three years before climbing their Everest with promotion to the Premier League in 2008. Ashbee, Ryan France and Andy Dawson were part of it all, as was the final member of the fab four, Boaz Myhill. For him, though, there was no eclipsing Yeovil. "That first promotion was unbelievable," said Myhill, City's much-loved former goalkeeper. "The first time is still my best memory. That set up everything that followed."
Yeovil Town 1 (Hugo Rodriguez 64) Hull City 2 (Stuart Green (pen) 11, Ian Ashbee 76)Yeovil: Steve Collis, Andy Lindegaard, Adam Lockwood, Hugo Rodrigues, Colin Miles (Terry Skiverton 45), Kevin Gall, Darren Way, Lee Johnson, Gavin Williams, Jake Edwards (Paul Terry 56), Dani Rodrigues (Simon Weatherstone 67). Subs not used: Nick Crittenden, Ryan Northmore Hull City: Boaz Myhill, Richard Hinds, Marc Joseph, Damien Delaney, Andy Dawson, Ryan France, Ian Ashbee, Junior Lewis, Stuart Elliott (Jon Walters 79), Stuart Green (Jason Price 87), Danny Allsopp. Subs not used: Alton Thelwell, Jamie Forrester, Paul MusselwhiteAttendance: 8,760
The Hull City faithful at Huish Park.Backed by a travelling crowd of around 2,000 inside Huish Park, not to mention another 2,000 watching a beam-back at the formerly known Vulcan Arena, City did not need long to settle the mood. Once Allsopp was tugged back inside the box, midfielder Stuart Green kept his cool to slot the penalty into the bottom right-hand corner. Allsopp missed a gilt-edged chance to double his side's advantage, hitting the post when clean through, and it appeared a costly missed opportunity when Yeovil levelled midway through the second half with a Hugo Rodriguez header. Only a win would guarantee City's promotion and the stage was set for Ashbee to write his name in club folklore with 14 minutes remaining. Richard Hinds' cross from the right was partially cleared to the City captain and when the ball was returned to him via a heavy touch from Junior Lewis, a sight of goal came on the edge of the box. Steadying himself 20 yards out, Ashbee sent an inch-perfect curler beyond the goalkeeper and into the top corner. A goal almost worth the 19-year wait.
Ian Ashbee scored the winner."Even now I get reminded about it," said Ashbee. "A lad came up to me at the weekend and said he was five when his Dad had taken him to Yeovil. He said he still remembers that goal. "I didn't score many goals so to get one like that was pretty special. A lot of fans mention it to me. It's one of those goals that just sticks in your mind because of what it meant." Twelve months later City were at it again. Under the Pearson and Taylor union, League One held no demons and the Tigers merely passed through on the way to the Championship. There they pitched camp for three years before climbing their Everest with promotion to the Premier League in 2008. Ashbee, Ryan France and Andy Dawson were part of it all, as was the final member of the fab four, Boaz Myhill. For him, though, there was no eclipsing Yeovil. "That first promotion was unbelievable," said Myhill, City's much-loved former goalkeeper. "The first time is still my best memory. That set up everything that followed."
Yeovil Town 1 (Hugo Rodriguez 64) Hull City 2 (Stuart Green (pen) 11, Ian Ashbee 76)Yeovil: Steve Collis, Andy Lindegaard, Adam Lockwood, Hugo Rodrigues, Colin Miles (Terry Skiverton 45), Kevin Gall, Darren Way, Lee Johnson, Gavin Williams, Jake Edwards (Paul Terry 56), Dani Rodrigues (Simon Weatherstone 67). Subs not used: Nick Crittenden, Ryan Northmore Hull City: Boaz Myhill, Richard Hinds, Marc Joseph, Damien Delaney, Andy Dawson, Ryan France, Ian Ashbee, Junior Lewis, Stuart Elliott (Jon Walters 79), Stuart Green (Jason Price 87), Danny Allsopp. Subs not used: Alton Thelwell, Jamie Forrester, Paul MusselwhiteAttendance: 8,760
