Meet Hull City's Acun Ilıcalı - The Premier League’s most UNUSUAL owner! - The Sports Agents

Meet Hull City's Acun Ilıcalı - The Premier League’s most UNUSUAL owner! - The Sports Agents

Author: Global September 17, 2026 Duration: 41:45

The story of Hull City owner Acun Ilicali is one of the most extraordinary in the Premier League...

TV star turned media mogul turned football club owner, Acun is a force of nature — and in this special episode of The Sports Agents, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman meet the man himself, live and direct from Istanbul.

This is the story of a man who lost his parents in a tragic car accident, saw his marriage collapse, faced financial ruin in his early twenties — and somehow emerged to create a global media empire.

Acun tells us about the energy of the people which drew him to Hull City, how he inherited a club divided from its supporters, and how he set about rebuilding that bond.

It’s been a wild ride for Acun & Hull City, from surviving relegation to League One on goal difference to winning promotion to the top tier and upsetting the Premier League’s big boys - expect passion, energy and the ultimate underdog story in this very special episode of The Sports Agents.

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Every weekday afternoon, Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall gather to make sense of the noise. Their The News Agents isn't a simple bulletin; it's a conversation between three of the UK's most experienced journalists who have seen the machinery of government and media from the inside. This daily podcast from Global focuses on the forces shaping our world, dissecting the headlines from Westminster and beyond with a sharp eye for what really matters. You'll hear them pull apart political strategies, question the official narrative, and trace the connections between today's breaking story and its deeper roots. What sets this show apart is their collective tone-a blend of genuine expertise, natural scepticism, and the occasional necessary laugh at the absurdities of the news cycle. They provide context where others just provide clips, aiming to answer the persistent "why" behind the "what." Tuning into this podcast feels like getting a direct, unfiltered briefing from colleagues who know the landscape intimately, making the complex flow of daily events not just comprehensible but genuinely engaging. It’s analysis designed for anyone who wants to move past the soundbites.
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