Prince Abdullah sends message to former Sheffield United trio after Hull City promotion
Former Sheffield United trio John Egan, John Lundstram and Oli McBurnie helped Hull City win promotion to the Premier League on Saurday.
Former Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah Bin Mosaad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has congratulated former Blades John Egan, John Lundstram and Oli McBurnie after they helped Hull City seal promotion to the Premier League.
The Tigers ended their nine-year absence from the top flight of English football with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in Saturday’s Championship play-off final at Wembley.
McBurnie, who joined Hull from Spanish club Las Palmas last August, was on hand to score the winner, capitalising on a mistake by Middlesbrough goalkeeper Sol Brynn with 95 minutes on the clock. It marked his 19th goal of the season across all competitions.
The striker, who spent five years at Bramall Lane before departing in 2024, was one of the signings of the season in the Championship, meaning it was fitting that he struck to seal an unlikely promotion for the Tigers, who were widely expected to be fighting relegation this season after finding themselves under a fee restriction ban last summer.
Although McBurnie was the one who dominated the post-match headlines after scoring the winner, fellow former Blade Egan played just as important a role, producing an excellent defensive showing. Lundstram was introduced deep into added time, replacing another former Blade in the form of Regan Slater.
Prince Abdullah, who sold the Blades to COH Sports in December 2024, took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to congratulate Hull owner Acun Ilıcalı and the former United contingent on the Tigers sealing promotion, writing: “Congratulations to Acun Ilıcalı, to all our ex-Blades, John Egan, John Lundstram, and especially to my dear buddy Oli McBurnie.”
Hull sneaked into the final play-off berth on the final day of the season, beating Norwich City 2-1 at the MKM Stadium via a McBurnie brace, after a six-game winless run threatened to derail their top six aspirations.
Sergej Jakirović’s side then got the better of Millwall over two legs, winning the second leg 2-0 at The Den, to progress to the final at Wembley. They were originally scheduled to face Southampton in the capital, but the Spygate saga saw them expelled and resulted in Middlesbrough, who had been beaten 2-1 by the Saints over the two legs of their respective play-off semi-final, reinstated.