Hull City 1-1 Crystal Palace
Football League Championship
30.4.11
Admission: Adults: £24-£26 Children: £10-£12
Programme: £3
Attendance: 20,407
Capacity: 25,586
Seated: 25,586
Covered: 25,586
Town: Kingston Upon Hull
Floodlights: Yes
Shop: Yes
Step: 2
Having visited the Keepmoat Stadium 8 days earlier for the relegation battle between Doncaster and Palace, the contest was still on at full time. However going into this game Palace were safe. In midweek they had beaten Leeds United and with two matches left, they were 6 points clear with a large goal difference. This meant the away crowd wasn't as big as it could have been. We had booked tickets in advance having expected Palace to not beat Leeds. We found seats with plenty of space in the North Stand. The crowd was still very big despite the events in midweek.
Hull City took the lead after half an hour with an Anthony Gerrard goal. It seemed Palace would finish their away season a low as they headed into the last 5 minutes still 1-0 down. However with 3 minutes to go Ibra Sekassa, a player I had never heard of came onto the pitch with Dougie Freedman presumably just wanting him to get a few minutes to play in a league game. However he surely didn't expect Sekassa to poke a scrambled ball home from close range just a few seconds later. It was his first touch in a senior football match. The Palace supporters went beserk. This goal sealed a point and Palace's Championship status for the 2011-12 season. The final whistle eventually went to start the celebrations.
Hull City have been at the KC Stadium less than nine years after leaving Boothferry Park. The stadium is not disimilar to Brighton's new Amex Stadium and Ireland's Aviva Stadium. It is a bowl set out but with a very modern roof and seat set out setting it apart from the Darlington Arena and the Keepmoat Stadium. The West Stand has a second tier with a few thousand more seats. The stadium is shared with Hull FC RLFC meaning the word 'HULL' is spelt out on the seats.
And so it was back onto the M62 before a trip up the A1 to North Yorkshire. So ends my 2010-11 season which saw me visit 18 new grounds. Not as many as I would have hoped but with the 2011-12 season ahead this doesn't concern me at all.
Hull City Matchday Pictures:
