Ian Ashbee's wonder goal lifted Hull City from the basement and began a 10-year adventure to the Europa League

Tigers face Slovakians AS Trencin in third-round qualifier

Hull have come from the basement to European football in a decade

Ashbee's goal against Yeovil Town in 2004 clinched promotion



Hull City debut in Europe on Thursday night but the surrounds will feel hauntingly familiar, a backwater venue with a capacity which barely breaks 10,000.



For it was just over a decade ago that The Tigers finally ended an eight-year exile in the bottom tier on a murky May afternoon at Yeovil Town.

Since then they have journeyed from England’s lowest league – via the Premier League and an FA Cup Final – to the Europa League, and from the brink of liquidation – via salvation – to celebration.



Volcanic Ash: Ian Ashbee celebrates his goal against Yeovil back in 2004

Green envy: Hull will be turning out in the Europa League

They take on Slovakian side AS Trencin in their third-round qualifier at the Stadion pod Dubnom in Zilna.

It was Ian Ashbee who scored the promotion-clinching goal at Huish Park in 2004 and, while the green seats and intimate setting of Zilna will be the same, he believes the club has come an unimaginable distance since that day.

‘If someone had said to me back then that I would be watching Hull in Europe then I would have laughed, I would have told them they’d been drinking,’ Ashbee – the man who went on to captain the club in all four divisions - told Sportsmail.



‘Yes, the potential was there and it always was a much bigger club than League Two, but they nearly went out of business. They were difficult times.

‘But my goal (a 20-yard curler into the top corner) set the whole thing off, they had been desperate to get out of the bottom division and from there we had momentum. It was the most important day of my career.’

Turning point: Ashbee's goal triggered Hull's rise through the leagues

Fast forward 10 years – three promotions, one relegation and seven managers – and Steve Bruce is leading the club on their maiden odyssey.

There is, however, one striking similarity between the team of today and that of 2004 – a British core.



Bruce has recruited wisely this summer. Three Englishmen – Tom Ince, Jake Livermore and Harry Maguire – and two Scotsmen – Robert Snodgrass and Andrew Robertson – have been added to the likes of Tom Huddlestone and Republic of Ireland striker Shane Long.

Defenders Maguire, 21, and Robertson, 20, arrived only this week from Sheffield United and Dundee United respectively. Theirs is an exciting, young squad reared predominantly on these shores.

Best of British: Harry Maguire and Andy Roberton have signed on the dotted line at Hull City

‘Steve is a top man,’ Ashbee added, ‘I know the lads really like him and he is attracting top players to the club. Some of the signings have really put a marker down. A lot of clubs were after the likes of Tom Ince but Hull got him and that’s huge.’

Andy Dalton – editor of the Amber Nectar fanzine - will be among the 600 Hull fans in Zilna. His journey started at 2am on Wednesday.



Like all away days, it took in the M62. He was headed for Luton – just as he had been for a League One fixture in 2005 – only this time his destination was the airport, not Kenilworth Road. From there to Kosice in the south east of Slovakia and then by train across country to Zilna in the north west. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Man with a plan: Steve Bruce has set his sights on reaching the Europa League group stages

‘My first game was in Division Two in 1990 – I never thought I’d be checking train timetables in Slovakia 24 years later,’ said the 32-year-old. ‘But supporting your club should be fun, it should be an adventure and exciting. We’re all on a massive high right now and who knows where it will end?’

But what about the lows? ‘I remember an away game at Shrewsbury on December 28 in 1998,’ he said with the unerring authority of a man who bears the scars of that perilous period when the club faced winding-up orders on an almost weekly basis and the gates to Boothferry Park were locked.

‘We got beat 3-2 and we were 12 points adrift at the bottom of Division Four. That was the lowest point. But all that does is make you appreciate what we have now.’

Rick Skelton, who writes the From Boothferry to Wembley blog, agrees. ‘We nearly went bust a few times,’ said the 34-year-old.



European adventure: Bruce and Jake Livermore in the pre-match press conference

‘It took us a good few years to scrape our way out of the bottom division but once we did it all took off and this now is just incredible.’



From hard miles to air miles, Hull must now negotiate Trencin and one more opponent before Europa League football – and the prospect of romantic names such as Inter Milan - becomes a regular fixture at the KC Stadium this season.

Ashbee, now retired, went on: ‘I still live there and Hull is a city going places; City of Culture for 2017, Premier League and now Europa League football. The city is buzzing and the people are rightly proud. It has put us on the map again.’