John Cooper, the stadium manager at Hull's multi-million pound sporting mecca, and his staff have also been putting in the hours this summer ahead of the club's top-flight debut against Fulham.

That is because City's promotion meant that, together with the jobs that usually help fill football's close season such as re-seeding the pitch and general maintenance at the stadium that was opened five-and-a-half years ago, the groundstaff also had to contend with the regulations that come with being a member of the Premier League.

The changes have included two new 13-seater dugouts having to be installed along with new seats being squeezed into two corners of the KC, while the media facilities have also been given a complete overhaul.

Under Premier League rules, radio and written press have to be seated separately and all journalists must have access to instant video replays.

It has added up to a hectic summer for the staff at the KC, as stadium manager Cooper explains: "We did start planning before the end of the football season, but it is difficult until you know the club will definitely be in the Premier League.

"You cannot commit money to any changes until then because there is simply no point.

"After the final at Wembley, we had a meeting with the Premier League where they gave us the documentation about what we had to do. After that, it was an eight to 10 week period of organised mayhem but we are there now.

"The good thing from our point of view is the stadium was built with the thought of one day hosting Premier League football in mind, so there has not been too much to do.

"There have just been a few Premier League regulations to comply with such as building a brand new media centre on the ground-floor, updating the press seating and installing wi-fi.

"We also had to install new dugouts, which I have been delighted with because we didn't really have any before.

"We have lost a few seats in the upper tier due to having to position television camera vantage points at the 18-yard line and so on, but the pleasing thing is we have managed to squeeze some new seating into two of the corners.

"It means the difference to the capacity for the new season will be on the healthy side."

As well as the extra work brought about by Hull's promotion, the groundstaff have also had to contend with the laying of a new pitch after deciding last December that the surface needed replacing.

The work was planned for the start of May but had to be subsequently put back because of the Tigers' involvement in the play-offs.

The scheduling of Hull FC's rugby league fixtures through the summer also brought an extra headache.

Despite that, Cooper, who as City's groundsman during the dark days at the turn of the Millennium sometimes had to sleep at the club's former Boothferry Park home to keep the bailiffs at bay, said: "It has been pressure, but what a great pressure to contend with.

"Having been through the dark days at the club, the thought of the big day when City kick off in the Premier League is just wonderful."