Football League World
·19. November 2024
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·19. November 2024
Hull City supporters will have enjoyed Jarrod Bowen's England exploits as much as West Ham fans
Hull City are currently enduring a tough Championship campaign, and sit level on points with the relegation zone a third of the way through the campaign.
Tigers supporters will now be questioning the decision made by owner Acun Ilicali to dismiss former boss Liam Rosenior at the end of last term, and replace him with current boss Tim Walter.
Under Rosenior's stewardship last season, the Yorkshire club missed out on a play-off spot by just three points, whereas since Walter has taken the managerial reins, fans will now be more worried about whether their side can stave off the threat of relegation.
It has been a disastrous start for a boss who was seemingly appointed to guide the club into a top-six spot, but has instead mustered just three league wins in 15 attempts.
Things were looking up for the Tigers when they picked up three consecutive wins in late September and early October, including a 4-1 triumph over Cardiff City.
But Walter's men have not tasted victory since a 3-1 win at QPR all the way back in early October, and have produced a dismal run of form which has supporters looking nervously over their shoulders.
The November international break has brought some well needed respite from their Championship struggles for everyone involved with the club, while England's emphatic victory over Ireland gave the Tigers faithful a particular moment to savour.
With no Championship encounter for the Tigers, the Hull faithful will have tuned in to watch the Three Lions take on Ireland at Wembley on Sunday.
It was an enjoyable afternoon for all England supporters, as the national team emerged as emphatic 5-0 winners, and marked a successful end to Lee Carsley's tenure as interim boss, to seal promotion back to UEFA Nations League A.
Wembley also witnessed a special evening in which four different players scored their first ever Three Lions goal, with Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis all finding the back of the net after record goalscorer Harry Kane had made it 1-0.
West Ham supporters will have been delighted to see their star man Bowen score his first ever goal for his nation, with a sweeping finish following a clever set-piece routine, while Tigers fans will have enjoyed it just as much.
Bowen is best known globally for his exploits in a West Ham shirt, as he has played for the Hammers in the Premier League since joining from the Tigers back in January 2020, in a deal worth around £20m.
He has produced some impressive returns for the Hammers over the years, such as the 20 goals and 10 assists he notched in 44 appearances across all competitions last campaign.
Furthermore, Bowen etched himself into European football history when he scored a 90th minute winner for West Ham in the 2023 Conference League final, as the London outfit emerged victorious over Serie A side Fiorentina.
But the Tigers should be handed enormous credit for the role they played in the forward's development, after they signed him from non-league Hereford back in 2014.
After initially struggling for the Yorkshire outfit in the Premier League, as they were relegated from the top-flight following a tricky 2016/17 season, which was the Englishman's first at professional senior level, Bowen proved himself to be a dangerous player at Championship level.
During the 2018/19 season, despite the fact that the Tigers finished just 13th in the second tier, he scored an impressive 22 goals, as well as creating four assists.
He then scored 16 goals, and made seven assists in 29 appearances during the 2019/20 Championship campaign, which was enough to convince the Hammers to snap up his services.
After Bowen proved his worth in a Tigers shirt, supporters of the second tier club have every right to be just as proud of his maiden England goal as their Hammers counterparts.