Hull City A.F.C. in international football

Boothferry Park (2008 image), Hull's former stadium and scene of victories over Verona and international-laden Lazio in 1973.

Hull's first and only appearance in the Anglo-Italian Cup came in 1973, while Terry Neill was manager. City were one of eight English clubs involved; the others were Blackpool, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Luton Town, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Oxford United.

The Tigers first faced a Lazio team who had played five internationalists in the game, and registered a victory latterly described by the Hull Daily Mail as "unlikely". Ken Knighton and Roy Greenwood scored in the 2–1 win at Boothferry Park on 21 February 1973 in front of 7,325. An away defeat at the hands of Fiorentina in March was next, before City won again at home; this time Ken Houghton joined Knighton on the scoresheet in a match against Hellas Verona on 4 April. Their final match was a goalless draw with Bari on 2 May. Due to lack of interest the tournament ceased after this edition.[1]

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Score
1973	Anglo-Italian Cup	Group stage	Lazio	2–1 (H)
		Group stage	Fiorentina	1–0 (A)
		Group stage	Hellas Verona	2–1 (H)
		Group stage	Bari	0–0 (A)

The Anglo-Scottish Cup was created in the 1975–76 season, after Texaco dropped their sponsorship of the Texaco Cup. The new Cup would use a group stage format in which each team would play the others in the group once, with only the team finishing top of the group progressing. After electing not to enter the predecessor trophy, Hull entered the inaugural Anglo-Scottish Cup. Hull were in Group 2 of the English Qualifiers, with Leicester City, Mansfield Town and West Bromwich Albion.[2] Hull finished bottom of the group, failing to register a win.

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Score
1975–76	Anglo-Scottish Cup	First round	Leicester City	1–1 (H)
		First round	West Bromwich Albion	1–2 (H)
		First round	Mansfield Town	2–1 (A)

City fared better in the 1976–77 tournament. This time, Hull were in Group 4 of the English Qualifiers, with Middlesbrough, Newcastle United and Sheffield United. Hull finished third in the group, picking up one win, one draw and one loss.

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Score
1976–77	Anglo-Scottish Cup	First round	Middlesbrough	2–0 (A)
		First round	Newcastle United	0–0 (H)
		First round	Sheffield United	1–0 (H)

A third straight Anglo-Scottish Cup campaign awaited the Tigers in 1977–78. Again, Hull would compete in Group 4 of the English Qualifiers, which would again feature Sheffield United. The other clubs in the group were Notts County and Oldham Athletic. Hull finished last, picking one solitary point, in a 1–1 draw with Oldham at Boundary Park.

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Score
1977–78	Anglo-Scottish Cup	First round	Notts County	1–0 (A)
		First round	Sheffield United	0–2 (H)
		First round	Oldham Athletic	1–1 (A)

After sitting out the 1978–79 and 1979–80 tournaments, the Tigers returned to the Anglo-Scottish Cup for the 1980–81 season. Again their programme would feature Sheffield United, as they and Hull were in Group 1 with Chesterfield and fellow Humberside club Grimsby Town. An inconsistent City finished third, their record comprising a win (in the Humber derby over Grimsby), a draw and a defeat. This Anglo-Scottish Cup would be the last, with Chesterfield as final champions retaining the trophy, which they hold to this day. In four seasons of Anglo-Scottish Cup play, the Tigers never faced a team from Scotland.

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Score
1980–81	Anglo-Scottish Cup	First round	Grimsby Town	1–0 (H)
		First round	Sheffield United	2–1 (A)
		First round	Chesterfield	1–1 (A)

Tigers fans at the 2014 FA Cup Final, gateway to their maiden UEFA Europa League campaign.

Hull City, under manager Steve Bruce, were beaten finalists in the 2014 FA Cup Final, losing to Arsenal. This saw them awarded a place in the UEFA Europa League, joining fellow English clubs Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.[3]

The Tigers entered at the third qualifying round, and faced FK AS Trenčín, who qualified by finishing second in the Slovak Super Liga. The away leg finished goalless, with Tom Huddlestone seeing his penalty kick saved, before he hit the rebound over the crossbar.[4] In the second leg at the KC Stadium, Hull were behind after only 91 seconds as Tomáš Malec scored. However, goals from Ahmed Elmohamady and Sone Aluko ensured Hull's progression to the play-off stage.[5]

Robbie Brady's brace against Lokeren made him Hull's top European goalscorer.

Their play-off opponents were K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen, winners of the 2013–14 Belgian Cup. Away in Flanders, Hull lost 1–0, with Hans Vanaken taking advantage of a "blunder" by City goalkeeper Allan McGregor.[6] Bruce's team selection was criticised as "indecently weakened", with the same article questioning how seriously the club were taking the tournament.[7] The away leg also saw reports of football hooliganism,[7] with five arrests being made.[8] In the second leg in Yorkshire, Robbie Brady scored twice however Jordan Remacle's goal proved crucial as the Tigers were eliminated by operation of the away goals rule.[9]

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Score
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	Third qualifying round	FK AS Trenčín	0–0 (A), 2–1 (H)
		Play-off round	K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen	1–0 (A), 2–1 (H)[nb 1]

• Garin, Erik (30 August 2001). "Anglo-Italian Cup 1973". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
• Lewis, Tom (20 December 2007). "Anglo-Scottish Cup & Texaco Cup". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
• Buckingham, Philip (29 July 2014). "Europa League countdown: Flashback to Hull City's Anglo-Italian Cup adventure in the 1970s". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
• "UEFA Europa League 2014/15 - Hull City AFC". uefa.com. UEFA. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.