Hull City fans are loving what Kamil Grosicki has done ahead of play-off final | OneFootball

The Polish winger was a cult hero at the MKM Stadium during a three-year spell

Hull City have spent the past nine years outside the Premier League, but that could all change come Saturday afternoon as they take on Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

The Tigers have been unfancied to achieve the 'unthinkable' under Sergej Jakirovic, who replaced Ruben Selles as head coach at the MKM Stadium 11 months ago.

Kim Hellberg's side now stand inbetween them and a top-flight return, after they were reinstated into the Championship play-offs at Southampton's expense earlier this week after the South Coast club admitted to multiple breaches of the EFL's 127th regulation regarding unauthorised viewing of opposing teams' training sessions within a 72-hour timespan ahead of kick-off, which included the first leg of the semi-finals at the Riverside Stadium.

It has been a remarkable success story for the East Yorkshire outfit to reach this point, as they were hit with a two-window transfer fee restriction at the start of the season, as well as facing a deluge of injury and fitness issues throughout the campaign to key individuals.

They sealed their passage to the most lucrative game in club football by defeating Millwall at The Den 2-0 in the second leg of their own semi-final, with goals coming from the attacking duo of Mohamed Belloumi and Joe Gelhardt.

As a result, thousands from the East Coast will descend on North London on Saturday, and no doubt they will have the backing of several former players and staff who still hold the club dear to their hearts.

And, although his own season is also not over, former winger, Kamil Grosicki, has received plenty of love from Tigers fans after showing his support.

Hull City fans are loving Kamil Grosicki gesture ahead of Middlesbrough play-off final

Indeed, at 37 years of age, the attacker is still turning out for his hometown club, Pogon Szczecin of the Polish Ekstraklasa, some six years after he departed HU3 for West Bromwich Albion.

Nine-and-a-half years ago, Grosicki was brought to Hull by current Fulham head coach, Marco Silva, for a reported £7m from French outfit, Stade Rennais.

Although he was part of the squad who last suffered relegation from the Premier League to the Championship, the 101-cap international excelled in the second tier under Leonid Slutsky, Nigel Adkins and Grant McCann, as he posted 25 goals and 22 assists in 104 second tier appearances.

Indeed, the prospect of watching Grosicki on one flank and current England ace, Jarrod Bowen, on the other was one of very few that were exciting at the time for City fans during a time of protestation against the club's then-owners, the Allam family, who eventually sold up to Acun Ilicali for £30m in January 2022.

Even though Hull were relegated to League One after a disastrous end to the 2019/20 season following their respective departures, they have since been a revived club in many ways, and Grosicki hasn't forgotten about the individual love-ins he received from supporters between 2017 and 2020.

Taking part in 'Football Shirt Friday' as his current employers trained ahead of a league fixture with GKS Katowice on Saturday, Grosicki was pictured entering Pogon's facilities sporting the Tigers' 2019/20 home strip, with the caption on X reading: 'Good luck tomorrow, @HullCity."

Unsurprisingly, this has caught the eye of many fans, who were quick to reference his adopted nickname of 'Turbo' in replies and quote tweets.

Hull and Szczecin's connections go way beyond Kamil Grosicki

Despite the connection of Grosicki playing for both clubs, Hull and Szczecin's connections go way beyond the dynamic forward, who scored seven times and produced five assists for Pogon this season alone in 32 appearances.

The two cities are 'twinned', which perhaps only adds to the feeling of the club's official account, as well as Grosicki, wishing Jakirovic and his side the best of luck ahead of Saturday's final.

It has certainly been an emotional rollercoaster for City fans since they were last at Wembley 10 years ago for their second triumph in the play-off final over Sheffield Wednesday, and they will hope their current generation of favourites can make it three from three, having never previously lost a Championship play-off match in club history, even though the first of those came just 18 years ago.