Martin Batchelor

Martin Batchelor was born in April 1956, he attended Hymers College in Hull, he enjoyed his 1970s rock music and he went on to work in the hospitality and software sales industries.

But that doesn’t really scratch the surface of the man, who died on 26 August 2026. He had two great loves in his life. His wife Karen, with whom he settled in their Oxford home under a sky full of red kites. And Hull City. His second love was Hull City.

Martin was a collector. He collected football programmes, he had one for practically every post-World War Two match that Hull City played, and a good number for earlier matches too. His generosity meant he shared images of those programmes online with the Tigerbase website dedicated to Hull City matches throughout the club’s history – this repository of programme images has now been dedicated in Martin’s name. Many was the time Martin gleefully chatted with his partner-in-acquisition James Chestney during the half time break at the MKM Stadium – James wrote a lovely piece about Martin that was printed in the programme for last weekend’s Aston Villa home match.

Martin was a participant, he got involved. He went to practically every Hull City match for thirty or forty years, arranging his holidays in Greece around the international breaks and travelling ludicrous distances from Oxford to faraway night matches in Sunderland, Burnley or Swansea. He turned up in good cheer, often fuelled by a pint or a gin, and gave the referee and linesman hell. He supported the Tigers with a passion and consistency that few of us can match, he cheered the team to some of the greatest highs of the last twenty years. He emphatically earned the right to enjoy those moments.

Martin was a man who did good things for other people. For over ten years he was the fulcrum of the operation that sourced away match tickets for Hull City Southern Supporters. He dutifully ordered and paid for the tickets, striking up a positive relationship with the people in the Hull City Ticket Office that will remain his legacy for many years to come. He waited an inordinate amount of time for the money to be collected so he could pay off his credit card, he never grumbled no matter how long that wait might be. And he dished out the tickets by post and by hand in an operation that was truly remarkable – from the intricate seating plans that put friends together and put distance between the few of us that may fall out from time to time, to the lovingly tailored envelopes that dropped on your doormat and created that “I’m off to the match!” frisson of excitement.

Martin did so many good things in his life. We members of Hull City Southern Supporters got a big chunk of his generosity. He was a lovely man and we miss him terribly, but we remain glad that we got to know him and received his help and wisdom. Rest in peace Martin.