Hull City was founded in 1904, giving a major footballing city a professional association-football club of its own. The team adopted amber and black from the beginning, and the local press soon supplied the nickname that has endured ever since: the Tigers. City entered the Football League in 1905 and spent its early decades mostly in the second and third tiers. An FA Cup semi-final in 1930 was an early landmark, but sustained national prominence remained elusive. After the Second World War, chairman Harold Needler and player-manager Raich Carter helped create a new sense of possibility at the purpose-built Boothferry Park. Huge crowds followed the 1948-49 Third Division North champions, establishing a bond between club, port city and wider East Yorkshire that would survive less prosperous times.
The strongest side of the club's mid-century history emerged under Cliff Britton. With Andy Davidson providing extraordinary durability and Chris Chilton, Ken Wagstaff, Ken Houghton and Ian Butler supplying attacking quality, Hull won the Third Division in 1965-66. Chilton became the club's record scorer, while Davidson set its appearance record. The Tigers challenged for promotion to the top flight in the following years but never quite completed the climb. By the late 1970s decline had set in, and the 1980s and 1990s brought repeated movement between the lower divisions, financial trouble and fears for the club's future. That difficult period made the revival after 2001 all the more striking. A move from Boothferry Park to the modern stadium now known as the MKM Stadium provided a new home, and Peter Taylor led consecutive promotions in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
The breakthrough came under Phil Brown in 2007-08. Dean Windass, a Hull-born forward in his second spell with the club, volleyed the only goal against Bristol City in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. At the age of 104, Hull City had reached England's top division for the first time. A remarkable opening to the 2008-09 Premier League season helped the Tigers survive, although relegation followed a year later. Under Steve Bruce, City returned in 2013 and achieved its greatest cup run. Hull led Arsenal 2-0 in the 2014 FA Cup final before losing 3-2 after extra time, then entered European competition for the first time in the following season's UEFA Europa League qualifiers. Relegation in 2015 was followed by another Wembley play-off victory in 2016 and another one-season stay in the Premier League.
The years after 2017 again tested supporters, but the 2020-21 League One title restored second-tier status. Turkish media entrepreneur Acun Ilıcalı took ownership in 2022, beginning another chapter for a club accustomed to sharp changes of fortune. After surviving in the Championship on goal difference in 2024-25, Hull produced an unexpected promotion challenge the next season. They finished in the play-off places and defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 at Wembley, Oli McBurnie's goal returning the Tigers to the Premier League for 2026-27. Hull City's story is therefore less a tale of accumulated trophies than of endurance, civic identity and sudden, memorable ascents: amber-and-black teams repeatedly emerging from difficult periods to carry Hull back onto the national stage.