UK Stadiums: MKM Stadium, Hull, England
MKM Stadium in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, is the home ground of Hull City Association Football Club. It has a capacity for 25,586 spectators. Hull City share the MKM with Hull Football Club, one of two rugby league teams in the city. In addition, the ground has also been a venue for music concerts.
Stadium
Similar to the Brick Community Stadium in Wigan, City fans have witnessed many name changes over the last decade. Originally named the KC Stadium, the venue was renamed the KCOM Stadium in April 2016 following a sponsorship agreement with KCOM Group, a local IT service provider.
The stadium adopted its current name after securing a five-year sponsorship deal with MKM Building Supplies. When hosting UEFA competitions, it is referred to as the Hull City Stadium.
MKM was completed in 2002 at the cost of £44 million. The current owners are Hull City Council and the ground is operated by the Stadium Management Company. During construction, the project team evaluated more than a dozen locations, both within and outside the city before choosing The Circle in West Park.
The decision was influenced by factors such as transportation guidelines, central government planning policies, existing athletic facilities, the site's separation from residential areas, and council ownership. The opening match saw the fixture between City and Sunderland in a friendly. Hull's Steve Melton scored the only goal in what fans saw as a positive omen.
Design
The all-seater stadium features a single-tier, asymmetrical bowl design with a seating capacity of approximately 20,000, complemented by a second tier on the West Stand that accommodates around 5,000 spectators. This brings the stadium's total capacity to 25,586.
The North, East and Sound areas all have designated single stands but the West is divided into two. The East stand is officially known as the Chris Chilton to commemorate Hull's greatest goalscorer. Corporate hospitality is offered through 28 executive boxes between the two tiers of the Cranswick PLC West Stand. The stadium is managed with 57 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras providing impeccable security.
Located in West Park, the stadium is the first in England to be constructed within a parkland setting. In a 2005 poll conducted by Drivers Jonas and voted on by fans nationwide, the MKM was rated the best in the Football League for comfort, services, and view.
Hull City's league game attendances at the stadium have consistently averaged over 16,000 per full season, except during five years between 2017 and 2022. During this time, protests against Egyptian-English businessman Assem Allam's ownership and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced crowd numbers. Now in the charge of Acun Ilıcalı, a Turkish entrepreneur, the average home attendance increased to 21,980 in 2023-24.
Due to allocated segregation between home and away fans, the stadium's full stated capacity cannot be reached. As a result, the record attendance at the MKM Stadium stands at 25,030, set on May 9, 2010, for Hull City's final match of the 2009-10 season against Liverpool, which ended in a 0-0 draw.
Club History
Hull City was founded in 1904 and admitted into the Football League the following year. They were a solid Second Division outfit until relegation in 1930. Indeed, they have found most success in the third tier, crowned champions on four different occasions, with the latest being the 2020-21 season. Nicknamed The Tigers, the club are yet to finish first at Championship level but achieved promotion by securing second in 2012-13. In the following campaign Hull went on a fairytale FA Cup run only to be prevented at the final hurdle by Arsenal.
Recent History
Since its inception, the club have spent five seasons in the top flight, all in the Premier League era. Hull have achieved three promotions to the promised land, having Steve Bruce at the helm twice and Phil Brown in charge of the unforgettable 2007-08 campaign. Bruce also saw his side reach the 2014 FA Cup final. Hull were 2-0 up after only eight minutes but an Aaron Ramsey effort in extra time completed a comeback in a devastating loss for the Tigers.
Other modern-day managers include Marco Silva, now at Fulham, and Leonid Slutsky, a CSKA Moscow great but bitterly disappointing in Yorkshire. For 2023-24, unheralded Liam Rosenior took his team to a seventh-place finish, narrowly missing the play-offs. However, days after the league season, owner Acun Ilıcalı inexplicably sacked the ex-BBC pundit due to different interpretations of football philosophy. Rosenior is currently in the hot seat of Strasbourg in Ligue 1. As of writing, City are in the relegation zone and are facing an uphill battle to avoid the drop.
Boothferry Park
Between 1946 and 2002, Hull called Boothferry Park their home. The ground opened with a match against Lincoln City. Sergeant J.T. "Tommy" Brooke, a detective and mounted officer with the Hull Police escorted the players onto the pitch riding a white horse. Sergeant Brooke was also a veteran of the First World War and the Battle of the Somme. 55,019 spectators witnessed Manchester United come to town in a 1949 match, which proved to be record attendance for the now-defunct ground.
Famous Former Hull Players
Ken Wagstaff is undoubtedly the most beloved figure among Hull City supporters. Also regarded as a legend at Mansfield Town, Wagstaff is the only player in Football League history to be voted as his club's best player of the century at two different clubs. Wagstaff played for Hull City from 1964 to 1975, scoring 197 goals for the club.
Ian Ashbee is another Hull icon. Signed by manager Jan Mølby in June 2002 while the team was in the Third Division (now known as EFL League Two), he endured a tough start to his Hull career, being sent off on his debut. However, his no-nonsense playing style quickly won over both fans and management, and he became a firm favourite. Both Mølby and Peter Taylor appointed him team captain. Ashbee was instrumental during Hull's double promotion in the mid-2000s, eventually featuring at Premier League level for two seasons.
Younger fans may have fonder memories of Dean Windass, a local lad. The 2008 Football League Championship play-off final will always be remembered for his remarkable volley, whizzing past Adriano Basso in the Bristol City goal. He scored his final Premier League goal at age 39, making him Hull City's oldest-ever goalscorer. Windass disclosed that he had attempted suicide twice in January 2012, after struggling with alcohol and depression following his retirement from playing.
Andrew Robertson & Harry Maguire
In recent memory, Andrew Robertson and Harry Maguire made great strides while playing for the Tigers. Robertson was an unknown quantity at Dundee United and Queen's Park before Hull decided to purchase him in 2014. His performances in 2016-17, which ended in relegation from the Premier League, caught the keen eye of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. Safe to say it was a shrewd piece of business conducted by the German coach.
Maguire first came out of the woodwork as a promising prospect at his boyhood club Sheffield United. Since his departure to Leicester in 2017, he has received heavy criticism on social media, to say the least, but remains an integral figure for Man United and England.
Current West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen produced impressive numbers in Hull City colours for three seasons running in the Championship before his big move in January 2020. This mid-season sale was one of the key factors in Hull finishing bottom and relegation to League One in 2019-20.
Other cult heroes include Tom Huddlestone, Robert Snodgrass and the South American pairing of Abel Hernandez and Geovanni.
Access - Getting There
The nearest major railway station to the ground is Hull Paragon. From here it is an approximately 20-minute walk to the MKM Stadium.
Hull Paragon has trains to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria via Leeds, with some services continuing to Liverpool Lime Street.
There are also trains to Beverley, Bridlington, Cottingham, Halifax, Scarborough, Sheffield, and York.
Trains into London terminate at King's Cross.
There are buses to the ground from Hull Paragon Interchange: Stagecoach bus number 2 leaves from Bay 6 (every 10 minutes); East Yorkshire bus 66 departs from Bay 7. There are also bus services from Cottingham, Hessle and Willerby.
Address: West Park, Hull HU3 6HU
Nearby Hotels
Some recommended hotels within easy reach of the station include the 3-star Holiday Inn Express Hull City Centre close to St Stephen's shopping centre. The ibis Hull City Centre is also very central.
The Park Hotel & Apartments is a 4-star hotel on Park Street within easy walking distance of the stadium.
See here for a complete listing of hotel accommodation in Hull.
Text by Joji Imamiya
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