The Hull Daily Mail is enjoying a circulation boost and spike in web hits as result of its Hull City FC coverage.

This is the first time in the club’s 104-year history that it has played in the top tier of English football and it has stunned the football world with its performances and victories.

After surprise wins against big-money teams such as Arsenal, up to 4,000 extra copies have been snapped up by Tigers’ fans revelling in the club’s debut Premiership season.

Meanwhile, unique visitors to thisishull.co.uk have also increased to 830,000 a month – a jump of about 51pc compared to this time last – and print sales are up 0.1pc period on period.

Deputy editor David Bourn said: “Without a shadow of a doubt it’s had an effect – on an average Monday when there’s been a weekend game, copies have been up around 3,000.

“A couple of times that has peaked at 4,000 after the victories over Tottenham and Arsenal. Year on year, that’s quite remarkable.”

David said the editorial team continued to focus on multimedia as well as print.

The website carries a live match commentary blog for fans to follow, attracting around 30,000 visitors, and Hull City has allowed the paper to film press conferences and upload them to its website.

Reporters have been covering away games in person rather than relying on agency copy with the paper also getting the fans’ views on one of the travelling coaches.

Back in August the Mail launched its fans pledge, calling on supporters to back the team through thick and thin, and ‘The Match’, an eight-page pullout published after weekend games.

David told HoldtheFrontPage that last night’s visit of second place Chelsea was the first time The Match would be printed for a midweek game.

A team of about 12 editorial staff were on standby in the newsroom to produce a brand new front and inside pages had Hull secured what would have been a famous victory but they lost 3-0.

All is not lost though as Hull City has the chance to bounce straight back on Saturday when they travel south to face European champions Manchester United.

Comments

David Wright (30/10/2008 13:14:27)
Pleased to see the Hull Daily Mail doing as well as their football team (before playing Chelsea, that is!)
Reading Evening Post have been producing an 8-page special since Reading FC kicked off in the Premier League in August 2006.
We did it for every game, home and away, for two years.
But, unlike our friends at Hull, it was produced by a staff of only three or four, even though we had a deadline of 12 midnight – and Reading did not kick off home games until 8pm.
It was a fantastic team effort by my staff.
Since Reading’s relegation, we have continued to produce an 8-pager on a Monday, but not for midweek games. How can you find 8 pages of copy and words for a 1-0 defeat at Burnley on a Tuesday night!
But, hopefully, the Royals will be back in the Premier next season playing against teams like Hull and we will be able to return to 8 pages midweek.
David Wright
sports editor