Hull City Association Football Club is under new ownership.
Acun Ilicali has finally completed his purchase of the Championship club, ending an 11-year reign of the Allam family.
Ilicali, a popular figure in his native Turkey having grown his media empire after starting out as a sports reporter, had been in talks with the Allam family since June having first visited the city a month earlier.
It had been hoped the deal would be completed before Christmas, but in a bid to push the deal through, Ilicali flew incoming director of football, Tan Kesler, back to Hull on December 23 and he was at the MKM Stadium on Christmas Day to progress things forward before Ilicali himself watched City's FA Cup defeat to Everton.
Ilicali then revealed live on Turkish TV on New Year's Eve that he had bought the club, seeing City's Instagram followers rise by 50,000 in just two minutes.
Further talks continued before the EFL finally gave clearance for Ilicali to take control, allowing the deal to go through and herald a new era in East Yorkshire.
Speaking exclusively to Hull Live after watching the FA Cup tie from the directors' box, Ilicali said: “I wanted to know how it felt to be there, and again I got more than I was expecting, of course,” the 52-year-old media tycoon said.
“What I know is that the stadium isn’t as full (for Championship games) for regular games, and make this atmosphere the same I think it’s going to be a big driving force to help the team get higher in the league.
“I would expect our supporters to support the team because as I’ve said before, they are a key part of the club and we want to make good things happen for them, we are a family and we need their support.
“It was a fantastic atmosphere, but I want this level of support throughout the season.”
“The warm welcome from the supporters was very important for me, I cannot say I was not expecting it because you get the energy from the supporters on social media, so I know they would welcome me,” Ilicali explained.
“In the restaurant, the supporters were so nice to us when they were talking, they were so positive and I felt the love of Hull City supporters.
“I appreciated it from the bottom of my heart, and I will be fully focussed on making the supporters happy.
“Seeing the stadium full of black and amber colours, plus Turkish flags makes me feel I’m in heaven, this is something which is extremely exciting.
“I’m not only very happy for myself and for the club, but for also the people of my country because this is something very unique.
“We’re going to make this one of the biggest relationships between the city and the country we’ve seen in English football, and I hope it will see City have more and more supporters around the world.
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