'I’m just a normal kid from Bilton' - Lewie Coyle's proud confession

Coyle joined the Tigers from Fleetwood Town in August 2020 and, in his first season, helped City to the League One title. He has now led his hometown club into English football's top flight.

The 30-year-old passed the two-hundred-appearance milestone for the club in the game against Ipswich Town back in November, a proud milestone for the Tigers skipper.

Throughout all the celebrations since Sergej Jakirovic's side beat Middlesbrough at Wembley, Coyle has been keen to make the most of a special moment, achieved with a special group of people.

"We've celebrated this one well, and I'm sure we'll continue to do so throughout the next couple of weeks because these moments don't come around too often," the skipper told Hull Live. "I'm so, so lucky that I captain a special, special group of men and a special group of staff as well.

"It's not just the players, it's the staff, it's everybody connected to the club and of course, the supporters. If you're sat there and you're enjoying the celebrations, have one for me. If you don't have a drink, I don't know, have a biscuit or something, but just make sure you enjoy it because these times don't come along too often. It's so important that you enjoy it.

"I'm just thinking about enjoying it with the boys, my family, my friends, my partner, my son, and I'll think about the football in a couple of weeks."

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A moment he had dreamed about for years, Coyle got to lead out City onto the City Hall balcony in front of 40,000 fans gathered in blistering sunshine in Queen Victoria Square, and it was one he will cherish long after his playing days are over.

"Incredible," he said of the Bank Holiday Monday celebrations. "I made sure I took some videos and some pictures because you take it in, you absorb it, or you try and soak it in, but I think it's only when you look back in maybe a couple of years or when your career's over and you actually realise how special it is what we've done.

"We united a City. They've been with us all year, but to repay them in that fashion, stood on the balcony at City Hall, and yeah, it's just incredible.

"It's something that I probably struggle to sum up for a long, long time. Not one single person can ever take that away from me. Believe it or not, I'm a Premier League player, and I'll never ever tire of saying that. I captained this side to the Premier League, my hometown club. I couldn't have done it without the boys on my side and the staff. For sure, no one can ever, ever, ever, ever, ever take that away from me."

In the build-up to the Wembley final, Coyle spoke emotionally about his father, Chris, who passed away two years ago, and shared a moment with John Egan at full-time, as the pair both looked towards the sky.

“As soon as that goal went in, I looked at the sky, and I said to him, ‘We’ve nearly done it’. It was hard holding back the tears at the end of the game," Coyle continued.

“He’s the one person that I wanted to be here, he would have been sitting in the stands, we had an empty seat, and we put a programme on it, and I knew he was here in some form, I don’t know what form that was.

“I’m just a normal kid from Bilton in East Hull, and yeah, I’m cast as a Premier League player, which is unbelievable. There are so many people I need to thank, but there’s one main reason I’m here today, and that’s my old man and my mum, and I have everything to thank them for.”

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