The Turkish Simon Cowell who’s here to save Hull
New Tigers owner is a millionaire celebrity TV tycoon eager to bring the X-factor back to the club
ACUN ILICALI has only just settled on the white leather sofa in the 10thfloor lounge of the Four Seasons Hotel in London when he suddenly bursts into song.
‘We’re singing for England... En-ger-land!’ chants the incoming owner of Hull City. ‘Catch me if you can, ’cause I’m the England man!’
Listening to Ilicali’s rendition of World in Motion, it is obvious life at Hull is not going to be dull. There is, though, a reason why he is performing John Barnes’ rap from England’s 1990 World Cup anthem — and it has nothing to do with him being the presenter of Turkey’s version of The Voice.
‘At World Cups, England are one of the two countries I support, I remember the big success of 1990 and the song they made,’ explains the TV tycoon, who boasts 13.4million Instagram followers and has been dubbed ‘the Turkish Simon Cowell’ for being the brains behind his country’s biggest reality shows.
‘I have always been in love with English football so when I had the power and finance level, I decided to buy a club,’ he says.
‘I wanted to feel this English football fully in my blood. To buy a team was my dream.’
The 52-year-old is set to fulfil that dream in the coming days when he expects to complete his £30m takeover of Hull, ending the unpopular reign of Egyptian Assem Allam after 11 years. But why has the globetrotting self-made millionaire landed his private jet in East Yorkshire?
‘I was checking which club was best for me, I looked at about five,’ says Ilicali, sitting with Sportsmail in an understated black jumper, jeans and white trainers.
‘I knew Hull when they were in the Premier League but I just wanted to go and see where the city was and what it was like. From the minute I landed, everything made me feel good. I loved the stadium and the people. I got such a good vibe from the city.
‘Hull has the Humber Bridge like Istanbul has the Bosphorus Bridge. Even the shirt colours attracted me. I was with my brother and I said, “This is my city and this is my team”.’
Ilicali witnessed his team first hand at the MKM Stadium on Saturday when they lost 3-2 in the FA Cup against Everton.
Grant McCann’s side, who won League One last season, are 19th in the Championship, four points above the relegation zone, but their owner-in-waiting is only looking up not down. ‘In my whole career, I’ve never been unsuccessful,’ says Ilicali. ‘Every year was better than the previous one.
‘I’m most happy when I entertain people so Hull is my new target to entertain these beautiful people. I wouldn’t say that it will happen in one year but our full concentration will be the Premier League starting from next year.
‘That is the first target but, trust me, if we can go to the Premier League, we will not be one of the favourites to be relegated. Our aim will be to push the top six.
‘There is nothing Hull don’t have that Leicester have. I appreciate Leicester’s performance in the last years and we are candidates to be the next Leicester. This team have the potential to win trophies.’ Such ambition will be music to the ears of fans who have stayed away in their droves because of anger at the way the club was run by the Allam family.
‘I am not here to make money,’ says Ilicali. ‘If I do something, it will be for the good of Hull City. We need to make transfers. We want to make, not the most expensive, but the correct transfers and go up.
‘I am also dreaming of making a revolution in football history by taking the fans inside the game. I want to get the fans involved in the club like no club has done before in world football.’
Ilicali wants to keep those plans secret for now but he is open about his ambitions to grow the club’s fanbase in his native Turkey.
He demonstrated what was possible on New Year’s Eve when he announced live on The Voice that his takeover was pending — and Hull’s Instagram account added 100,000 new followers.
‘This is just the beginning,’ he says. ‘We will have more than one million supporters following Hull’s account and we will have 10m Turkish fans just supporting Hull as their No 1 club in England.
‘I am dreaming such crazy things like taking Hull people to Turkey on their vacations, let them enjoy the beauty of my country, and let Turkish people enjoy football in England with this beautiful city.
‘It is going to be a historical time with Hull City and Turkey to have the best relations. Maybe we will tell our grandchildren something that has happened that the world has never lived before.’
‘MY life is one in a million,’ says Ilicali. ‘I married when I was 20. I was a father when I was 21. I lost my parents in a traffic accident when I was 22. My daughter was inside the car. She survived with 15 broken bones. When I was 23, I had a motorcycle accident and my friend passed away near me. When I was 24, I was bankrupt.’
That was when Ilicali made his first foray into football, stumbling into a job as a TV reporter at Turkish matches, where he earned only £12.50 a week. He worked his way up and went on to present a prime-time travel show which made him a household name.
Ilicali then founded his own production company, Acun Medya, buying the Turkish rights for popular shows including Deal or No Deal, Turkey’s Got Talent, The Voice and Dancing with the Stars, all of which he has either been a judge on or hosted, earning the Cowell comparisons. Ilicali also owns a Turkish TV channel and hopes to make a series about his ownership of Hull. ‘You can call me
‘I wanted to feel this English football fully in my blood. To buy a team was my dream’
the Turkish Simon Cowell,’ says Ilicali. ‘But I am one of a kind. I have never seen a TV personality owning a TV channel, a global production company and a football club. I am a different kind.’
It is not just his TV work which makes Ilicali, who will spend his next months filming reality show Survivor in the Dominican Republic, headline news back home.
‘My personal life could be a soap opera,’ he jokes. ‘I’ve had three marriages and have four daughters. Because my personal life is interesting, I have made the most news in Turkey 10 years in a row.
‘But I am proud to say I am in the top five most-trusted Turkish personalities in polls. I am proud to be loved by Turkish people.’
Such love towards Ilicali has already stretched to Hull, judging by the hero’s welcome he received from fans at the Everton match.
‘I was expecting a good welcome from the city but it was more than I expected,’ he adds. ‘It motivates me more. It was my dream to buy a club and now it is my dream to have big success with that club.
‘I am fully focused on how we can make history in British football.’