Hull City Triumphs Over Millwall in Championship Playoffs

The numbers were ugly before a ball was kicked. Millwall had never won a home leg in the Championship playoffs. That unwanted streak is still alive – and now feels heavier than ever.

Hull City walked into The Den with history of their own, the memory of successful playoff runs in 2008 and 2016 tucked under the arm. They walked out with another, a 2-0 first-leg win that leaves them 90 minutes from Wembley and leaves Millwall staring at another year of what-ifs.

Hull weather the storm, then sharpen the edge

Millwall arrived as the form side, unbeaten in six and strong at home, but they spent the opening exchanges under real stress. Hull pushed high, forced corners, and asked questions. One of those almost brought the breakthrough: Charlie Hughes rose well and guided a header towards the far corner, only to watch it slide agonisingly wide.

Millwall escaped. They knew how close they’d come. Hull had scored seven away league goals in the opening 15 minutes this season – only champions Coventry managed more – and the Lions were fortunate that the early storm passed without damage.

That scare jolted the hosts. The tempo changed. Femi Azeez burst into life, drilling a shot from a tight angle on Millwall’s first genuinely dangerous move. The Den responded, noise rising, belief flickering.

From there, Millwall took control of the half. Thierno Ballo, already involved in the game’s physical battles – his challenge forced Kyle Joseph off with an ankle injury – nearly turned enforcer into match-winner. A cross from the right flashed across the six-yard box, Ballo stretching desperately, but the final touch never came. Inches, nothing more, kept Hull level.

Old habits, new punishment

Millwall’s record this season told its own story: 20 of their 25 home league goals conceded had come after the break. The pattern almost repeated itself three minutes into the second half.

Hull sliced through with the kind of move that wins playoff ties. Regan Slater drove forward, threaded a clever ball into Oli McBurnie, and the striker went for the near post. Tristan Crama read it, blocked bravely, and Millwall breathed again. It was a warning. They didn’t heed it.

As the hour mark approached, Alex Neil moved first. The Millwall manager, chasing only his second win in seven meetings with Hull, turned to his bench. Among the changes came Alfie Doughty. The decision backfired almost instantly.

Barely a minute after Doughty’s introduction, Hull struck with precision. Matt Crooks, head up and unhurried, drilled a searing pass out to Mohamed Belloumi on the right. The Algerian took over, cutting infield with purpose. Doughty couldn’t get tight, Anthony Patterson couldn’t get near the shot. Belloumi wrapped his left foot around the ball and bent it into the far corner, a clean, ruthless finish that silenced The Den and underlined why he would later be named Man of the Match.

Hull suddenly smelled blood. Millwall wobbled.

Barry Bannan, a man with playoff medals from 2010 and 2023 in his locker, then made the kind of error that haunts experienced players. He surrendered possession cheaply in a dangerous pocket of space, Belloumi again alert to the opportunity. The winger slipped in Liam Millar, who had time and room to punish Millwall further. Jake Cooper refused to allow it, hurling himself across to deflect the shot over the bar. For a moment, it felt like a turning point.

It wasn’t.

Gelhardt seals it, Hull close in on Wembley

With 12 minutes left, Cooper’s earlier heroics were wiped from the narrative. Hull struck again, and this time the move carried the swagger of a side that believes this is their year.

Belloumi, tormentor-in-chief on that right flank, took charge once more. He gathered the ball, glanced up, and with the outside of his boot threaded a devastating square pass into the path of substitute Joe Gelhardt. One touch, one look, one finish. Gelhardt drilled low into the bottom-right corner. Patterson got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out.

That was the tie’s emotional breaking point. Millwall had no response. The energy drained from the stands, the urgency from the pitch. A team that had finished “best of the rest” in the regular season suddenly looked miles away from the Premier League.

The final whistle didn’t just confirm defeat on the night. It underlined a familiar, painful reality. Millwall’s wait for top-flight football goes on, stretching back to their relegation in 1990. Another season, another playoff blow, another summer of reflection.

Hull’s story feels very different. They have never suffered elimination in the Championship playoffs, and this performance did nothing to disturb that record. A year ago, they were scrambling for survival on the final day. Now they stand one strong display away from the Promised Land, with Wembley on 23 May looming into view and their confidence sharpened by a ruthless away win.

The margins in playoff football are thin. Hull, led by the brilliance of Mohamed Belloumi and the cold finishing of Joe Gelhardt, made them look wide open. The question now is simple: can anyone close them again before Hull walk through to the Premier League?