Hull F.C.

Early years

The club was formed in 1865 by a group of ex-schoolboys from York, most notably Anthony Bradley, who had been at Rugby School. The founders used to meet at the Young Men's Fellowship, at St. Mary’s Church in Lowgate. The vicar at that time was the Reverend Scott and his five sons made up the nucleus of the team. The club immediately took on members who were plumbers and glaziers. Soon another team, Hull White Star, was formed and the two clubs merged. Hull Football Club was one of the first clubs in the north of England to join the Rugby Football Union.

Hull F.C., then nicknamed the All Blacks, were one of the initial 22 clubs to form the Northern Union after the acrimonious split from the Rugby Football Union in 1895. The club moved from East Hull to the Hull Athletic Club at the Boulevard in 1895, and subsequently played their first ever match there in September of that year. 8,000 people turned out to witness the first club's match in which Hull F.C. beat Liversedge.

The early years of the Northern Union saw Hull F.C. prosper, and their black and white irregular hooped jerseys, which they adopted in 1909 became one of the most famous and feared strips in the league. Between 1908–10, Hull F.C. lost three consecutive Challenge Cup Finals. In the first; they failed to score against Hunslet who would go on to win All Four Cups whilst in the second they failed to score against Wakefield Trinity. In the third final of 1910, they held Leeds to a 7–7 draw at Fartown, Huddersfield but were heavily beaten in the replay held two days later.

In 1913, they paid a world record £600, plus £14 per match, to Hunslet for Billy Batten, one of only seventeen players, and the only representative from Hull F.C., so far inducted into the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. A year later the Airlie Birds won their first Challenge Cup, beating Huddersfield in the semi-final and Wakefield Trinity in the final held in Halifax. Playing alongside Billy on that day was John "Jack" Harrison VC, MC who scored a try. Harrison scored 52 tries in the 1914–5 season, a club record that still stands. Twelve Hull F.C. players were killed during the First World War.

Australian Jim Devereux became the first player to score 100 tries for Hull.

In 1920, Batten was once again key in Hull F.C.'s first ever Championship Final, scoring the only try in the 3–2 victory over Huddersfield.

The early-1920s were bittersweet years for the club. In 1921, Hull F.C. lost the Yorkshire County Cup but won the county championship, both against rivals Hull Kingston Rovers. Hull F.C. could not match the successes of 1914, losing a further two consecutive cup finals in 1922 and 23 to Rochdale Hornets and Leeds respectively, but they managed to win the Yorkshire County Cup in 1923 and finish top of the league.

In the early 1930s, Hull F.C. had a full back and goal kicker called Joe Oliver. Oliver was so dependable with the boot that the crowd at one match spontaneously started singing the Gene Autry song, Old Faithful at him. Hull F.C. supporters adopted the song as their battle cry from then on.

Hull F.C.'s record attendance was set in 1936 when 28,798 turned up for the visit of Leeds for a third round Challenge cup match.

Post-Second World War

The 1952 Kangaroos visited the Boulevard on Monday 8 September. They had opened their tour with a victory at Keighley two days earlier, and they continued their winning run with a 28–0 victory over Hull F.C..

In 1949, the black Welshman Roy Francis became the first black professional coach in any British team sport, when he coached Hull F.C..

Hull F.C. team won the league championship in 1956 when Colin Hutton kicked a last-minute penalty in the final against Halifax at Maine Road, Manchester. Hull F.C. won the play-offs again in 1958, against Workington Town. They also won the European Club championship in 1957 and lost in the cup finals at Wembley in 1959 and 1960. These triumphs healed the wound of two successive Yorkshire County Cup Final defeats in 1955 and 1957. They lost in two further Challenge Cup finals to Wigan and Wakefield Trinity in 1959 and 1960. All these reverses, when one hand had been grasping so many trophies, gave Hull F.C. a steely resolve and a thirst for success.

Johnny Whiteley became player coach in October 1963. When Roy Francis retired as Hull F.C. coach in 1965, Whiteley took over as coach. Hull F.C. lost to Wakefield Trinity 17–10 victory in the 1968 Rugby Football League Championship final at Headingley on 4 May 1968. Whiteley resigned in 1970 to coach Hull Kingston Rovers. Ivor Watts was then appointed coach from 1970–1971 of which Hull F.C. won 28 matches and lost 17.

With the coaching appointment of Arthur Bunting in 1978, Hull F.C. began a period of dominance. Hull F.C. won all of their 26 Division Two matches in 1978–79, the only time a club has won all of its league matches in a season and returning to the top flight. The Airlie Birds lost the 1980 Challenge Cup final against Hull Kingston Rovers 10–5 and never won at Wembley until 2016. It was reputed that a makeshift sign was left on the A63 (the major westerly road out of Hull) that read "last one out turn the lights off!" due to most of the city travelling to Wembley for the final. In 1982, Hull F.C., crushed by Widnes in the Premiership Final, avenged the defeat with an 18–9 Challenge Cup replay win at Elland Road.

Hull F.C. eventually won the league in 1983 and also reached the Premiership final, the Challenge Cup final and the Yorkshire County Cup Final, but the latter trophy would be their only reward from the three finals. They lost to Featherstone Rovers at Wembley in one of the great Challenge Cup final upsets and they also lost the Premiership final three years running.

The signing of Australian Peter Sterling, a 2006 inductee into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame, maintained HullF.C.’s strength, and Bunting’s men went to their third successive Yorkshire Cup beating Hull KR 29–12, but were edged out in arguably the greatest ever Challenge Cup Final in 1985 by Wigan at Wembley Stadium with a score of 28 to 24 in Wigan's favour. The game was played in front 99,801 fans, the rugby league attendance record for Wembley. A number of subsequent coaches, such as Brian Smith (1988–90) failed to deliver consistent success. Hull F.C. lost the Premiership final in 1989 to Widnes, but two years later returned to beat them 14–4 at Old Trafford under coach Noel Cleal.

Royce Simmons moved to England to coach Hull F.C. for two seasons from 1992 to 1994. In June 1993, financial trouble forced Hull F.C. to put seven players on the transfer list and Royce Simmons ran five marathons to raise money to pay for players from Australia.

Summer era

In 1996, the first tier of British rugby league clubs played the inaugural Super League season and changed from a winter to a summer season. As the sport in Britain entered a new era, controversy was sparked in the city of Hull when it was suggested that Hull F.C. should merge with Hull Kingston Rovers to form 'Humberside'. Hull F.C.'s shareholders gave the idea general approval but it was ultimately resisted. The club like many other rugby league clubs re-branded and became known as the Hull Sharks. It is unclear who came up with the 'Sharks' as a nickname but for a nautical city it was a fairly obvious choice. Hull Sharks finished below the cut-off point of 10th in the existing top flight and so were excluded from the new Super League.

Phil Sigsworth joined the club in 1996 and coached them to the First Division championship title and promotion to Super League in 1997. However, the club struggled to gain a foothold in the competition under new manager Peter Walsh. The renaming was unpopular with the supporters, and the club spiralled in to financial difficulties and went out of business. Hull Sharks closed and was taken over by the recently formed expansion team Gateshead Thunder at the end of 1999 (with the backing of the Super League). The Association of Premiership Clubs blocked proposals for the newly merged company to enter a Hull-based team in the Northern Ford Premiership and so Hull F.C. closed and Gateshead Thunder took over the traditional Hull F.C. identity in Super League and moved its home games to The Boulevard. Most of the Gateshead playing squad moved to Hull along with their Board and ex-St. Helens coach Shaun McRae who remained at the helm until 2004.

After 107 years at the Boulevard, Hull F.C. moved in January 2003 to a £44 million state-of-the-art council-owned Kingston Communications Stadium, more commonly known as the KC Stadium and the rejuvenation of the club continued. Although they are joint tenants at the stadium alongside the city's football club Championship side Hull City : the two teams sharing use of the stadium, Hull F.C. have been forced to play a cup match away at Doncaster to avoid two matches clashing. Shaun McRae left the club to return to Australia at the end of the 2004 season; he was replaced by former England coach John Kear, who had previously been McRae's deputy.

In his first season at the club, Kear led Hull F.C. to the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final for the first time since 1985. Hull F.C. defeated Leeds 25–24 in a thrilling final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to lift the trophy. Paul Cooke's 77th minute try, which was converted by Danny Brough gave Hull a 1-point lead, which they held onto after Hull F.C. captain Richard Swain charged down a drop-goal attempt from Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield in the dying seconds of the match.

John Kear left Hull F.C. on 3 April 2006 after a disappointing start to the season, which saw Hull F.C. lose four out of their first seven league games and also their defence of the Challenge Cup being ended at the first hurdle against the Bradford Bulls in a 23–12 defeat, to be replaced by Australian Peter Sharp who was recruited from Parramatta Eels where he was assistant coach. Between 14 April – 15 July 2006 Hull F.C. won 13 matches in succession, including a 27–26 defeat of the league leaders St Helens on 8 June 2006. The last time they beat St Helens on their ground was 18 years ago. This run ended in defeat at Harlequins RL on 23 July 2006. Hull F.C. managed to finish in second place, their highest league position in the Super League era. They lost to the league leaders St. Helens in the first Grand Final playoff game, but succeeded in reaching the final by defeating the reigning champions Bradford. Over 20,000 Hull F.C. fans travelled to Old Trafford, but again they lost out to the Saints, this time by 26–4. The overall attendance broke the Grand Final record, mainly due to the stadium's recent expansion.

For the 2007 season, Hull F.C. signed five players: Matt Sing (a prolific National Rugby League try-scorer and Australian representative), Hutch Maiava, Willie Manu, Danny Tickle and Wayne Godwin. Also, the Hull Football Club v Hull Kingston Rovers derbies are back for the 2007 season due to Rovers' promotion from National League 1. The first of four of these derby matches was played on Easter Monday, 9 April 2007, at the KC Stadium. The game was played in front of a sell-out attendance of 23,002 and ended with a result for the Black and Whites who had been struggling early in the season. The final score was 22–14 with Sid Domic crossing the line for the Airlie Birds in the final seconds.

On 23 April Paul Cooke, stand-off, controversially resigned from Hull Football Club to join Hull Kingston Rovers. Cooke claimed he was out of contract as he had not signed the contract that the club had offered him. Following his departure, club chief executive David Plummer resigned. His replacement James Rule has come in for much criticism.

Hull F.C. have endured a poor 2008 season and on 19 May 2008 the club dismissed coach Peter Sharp. A week later they appointed his assistant Richard Agar as his replacement. John Sharp has since been named as an addition to the Hull F.C. coaching staff. Hull F.C. finished a poor 11th in the League in 2008, falling far short of the fans expectations, although a Challenge cup final appearance and a successful franchise application ensured the season was not a complete failure. The club announced that Australian test forward Michael Crocker will sign for the club on a three-year contract from the start of the 2008–09 season. Fullback Chris Thorman has signed a one-year deal for 2009, after leaving Huddersfield. Matty Dale, Matt Sing and James Webster were released at the end of the season. Former HKR favourite – Webster having only played one game.

In March 2009 Michael Crocker was denied a visa to come to England to play for Hull F.C.. Hull F.C. announced four big name signings for the 2010 SL season: Craig Fitzgibbon, Mark O'Meley, Sean Long, and Jordan Tansey (although Tansey arrived at the club towards the end of the 2009 season, having been released early from his contract at Sydney Roosters). Several long serving players left the club at the end of the forgettable 2009 season, including Paul King, Graeme Horne, and Gareth Raynor.

Super League XV started well with five wins from the first seven games, the two losses coming away against Crusaders and Wigan Warriors. F.C. beat Hull K.R. 18–14 in the first derby of the year at Craven Park, but then followed a period of one win from five games, in which the team were convincingly knocked out of the Challenge Cup by Leeds. Hull F.C. finished the regular season in 6th place, however a convincing 21–4 home defeat to rivals Hull Kingston Rovers brought an early end to their playoff campaign.

On 22 July 2011 it was confirmed that Hull City's Head of Football Operations, Adam Pearson had purchased the entire shareholding of the club together with his close friend Mikey Drake and they had taken over full control from Kath Hetherington. In a statement on the club's website, it was also confirmed that James Rule would continue as chief executive.

Richard Agar left the club at the end of the 2011 season and was replaced by Australian Peter Gentle. The 2012 season was a largely transitional one, with high player turnover and many injuries hampering the side's progress mid-season, however the club finished a respectable 6th in the regular season. They went on to convincingly beat Huddersfield in the first round of play-off games but fell to defeat away at Warrington in the preliminary semi-finals.

For the 2013 season, Hull F.C. again finished 6th in the regular season and beat Catalans at home in the first round of the play-offs but were comprehensively beaten 76–18 by Huddersfield in the second round. Hull F.C. also reached the Challenge cup final for the first time in 5 years but were beaten 16–0 by Wigan. On 24 September 2013 Hull F.C. announced the departure of Peter Gentle with two years still remaining on his contract. It is thought the record loss to Huddersfield in the play-offs along with the poor performance at Wembley were the main factors behind his demise. The next day Hull F.C. announced that 34-year-old assistant Lee Radford will become Head Coach from 2014 and Andy Last would step up to become Lee's assistant. Also former player Motu Tony becomes the new director of football, replacing outgoing director Shaun McRae.

In 2016 a promising beginning to the season was crushed with a 46-6 loss to Widnes. After this coach Lee Radford was locked out of the changing room. After this Hull endured a 10-game winning streak and finished on top of the Super League Table. Hull FC finally won at Wembley in 2016 with a win over Warrington in the Challenge Cup. After this Victory Hull ended their season by Finishing 3rd in the Super 8's, Hull later lost to Wigan in the Semi-Finals of the Play Offs.

1895–2002: The Boulevard

Hull F.C. moved into The Boulevard shortly after the formation of the RFL. Between 1904 and 1905 the ground was shared with Hull City A.F.C. and speedway also took place during the 1940s, 1970s, and 1980s, and also had a greyhound track in 2007. The Boulevard also host many international rugby league games. Like a number of grounds at the time, the pitch at The Boulevard was surrounded by a Motorcycle speedway track that was also later used for Greyhound racing.

2003 – present: KCOM Stadium

In 2003 Hull F.C. moved into the KC Stadium, renamed KCOM Stadium in 2016, which they share with Hull City for a second time in their history. The record attendance for a rugby league ground was 23,004 in 2007 when they played local rivals Hull Kingston Rovers.

Hall of Fame

The following players have been inducted into Hull F.C.'s Hall of Fame:

Bill Drake · Chris Davidson · Gary Kemble · Richard Horne · Greg Mackay · Ivor Watts · James Leuluai · Jim Drake · Keith Boxall · Mick Crane · Paul Prendiville · Richard Swain · Tevita Vaikona · Trevor Skerrett · Billy Batten · Jim Kennedy · Joe Oliver · Clive Sullivan · Peter Sterling · Garry Schofield · Mick Scott · Arthur Keegan · Tommy Harris · Paul Eastwood · Phil Bell

Captains

1895 to 1896 – Cyril Lempriere

1896 to 1897 – Charlie Townend

1897 to 1898 – Cyril Lempriere

1898 to 1900 – Herbert Wiles

1900 to 1901 – Jack Townend

1901 to 1902 – Tom Stitt

1902 to 1904 – Harry Taylor

1904 to 1905 – Jack Ritson

1905 to 1906 – James Harrison

1906 to 1907 – A. E. Freer

1907 to 1909 – Harry Taylor

1909 to 1910 – Billie Anderson/Billy Anderson

1910 to 1912 – George Connell

1912 to 1913 – Ed Rogers, Billie Anderson/Billy Anderson, Herb Gilbert

1913 to 1915 – Herb Gilbert

1915 to 1919 – Billy Batten

1919 to 1921 – Jim Kennedy

1921 to 1922 – Jim Kennedy, Billy Stone

1922 to 1923 – Billy Stone

1923 to 1924 – Edgar Morgan

1924 to 1925 – Jim Kennedy

1925 to 1928 – Eddie Caswell

1928 to 1930 – Harold Bowman

1930 to 1931 – Joe Oliver

1931 to 1933 – George Bateman

1933 to 1936 – Joe Oliver

1936 to 1939 – Harold Ellerington

1939 to 1945 – No fixed captain

1945 to 1946 – Charlie Booth

1946 to 1947 – Freddie Miller

1947 to 1948 – Ernie Lawrence

1948 to 1949 – George Watt

1949 to 1950 – Ernie Lawrence

1950 to 1955 – Roy Francis

1955 to 1957 – Mick Scott

1957 to 1965 – Johnny Whiteley (Bill Drake deputy 1962…63)

1965 to 1971 – Arthur Keegan

1971 to 1974 – Clive Sullivan

1974 to 1975 – Chris Davidson

1975 to 1978 – Brian Hancock [1]

1978 to 1980 – Vince Farrar

1980 to 1981 – Steve Norton, Charlie Stone

1981 to 1985 – David Topliss

1985 to 1987 – Lee Crooks

1987 to 1990 – Dane O'Hara

1990 to 1992 – Greg Mackey

1992 to 1994 – Russ Walker

1994 to 1996 – Steve McNamara

1996 – Gary Divorty

1997 – Andy Fisher

1998 – Alan Hunte, Gary Lester [2]

1999 – Karl Harrison

2000 to 2001 – Tony Grimaldi

2002 to 2004 – Jason Smith

2005 to 2006 – Richard Swain

2007 to 2009 – Lee Radford

2010 – Sean Long

2011 – Craig Fitzgibbon

2012 – Andy Lynch

2013 to present – Gareth Ellis

Honours

Major titles

Other titles

Past coaches

J Gray 1895–1900

W Wright, C Hunter 1900-3

H Coates 1903 to 1908

J Lewis 1908–12

Sid Melville 1912–27

Edgar Wrigley 1927–31

Edward Caswell 1931–46

Ted Tattersfield 1946–9

Roy Francis 1949–63

John Whiteley 1963–70

Ivor Watts 1970–71

David Doyle-Davidson 1972–73

Clive Sullivan 1973–74

David Doyle-Davidson 1974–77

Arthur Bunting 1978–85

Len Casey 1986–88

Tony Dean & Keith Hepworth 1988

Brian Smith 1988–90

Noel Cleal 1991–92

Royce Simmons 1992–94

Tony Gordon 1994

Phil Windley & Russ Walker 1994–95

Phil Windley 1995

Phil Sigsworth 1996–97

Peter Walsh 1997–99

Steve Crooks 1999

Shaun McRae 2000–04

John Kear 2005–06

Peter Sharp 2006–08

Richard Agar 2008–11

Peter Gentle 2012–13

Lee Radford 2014–

Player records

Most tries in a match: 7 by Clive Sullivan vs Doncaster, 15 April 1968

Most goals in a match: 14 by Jim Kennedy vs Rochdale Hornets- 7 April 1921, Geoffrey "Geoff" 'Sammy' Lloyd v Oldham – 10 September 1978, Matt Crowther v Sheffield Eagles – 2 March 2003

Most points in a match: 36 by Jim Kennedy vs Keighley, 29 January 1921

Most tries in a season: 52 by John "Jack" Harrison VC, MC, 1914–15

Most goals in a season: 170 by Geoffrey "Geoff" 'Sammy' Lloyd, 1978–79

Most points in a season: 369 by Geoffrey "Geoff" 'Sammy' Lloyd, 1978–79

Consecutive Tries: 11 by John "Jack" Harrison VC, MC, 1914–15 & Richard Horne, 2006

Career records

Most goals: 687 – Joe Oliver 1928–37 & 1943–45

Most tries: 250 – Clive Sullivan 1961–74 & 1981–85

Most points: 1,842 – Joe Oliver 1928–37 & 1943–45

Most appearances: 501 – Edward Rogers 1906–25

Team records

Highest score: 88–0 vs Sheffield Eagles, 2 March 2003

Highest against: 71–0 vs Bradford Bulls, play-offs 2005

Highest attendance: 28,798 vs Leeds, 7 March 1936

Fastest ever try in both codes of rugby: 9 seconds by Lee Jackson for Hull F.C. in the Yorkshire County Cup semi-final against the Sheffield Eagles at the Don Valley Stadium, 1992 This World Record Archived 17 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine. still stands today

Only team to have won every single league game in a season: 1979 Division Two

Most consecutive Super League victories: 13 games, (14 April 2006 – 15 July 2006, beating Huddersfield, Wakefield, Catalans, Wigan, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, St Helens, Harlequins, Castleford, Catalans, Salford & Warrington).

Also made their first super league grand final but lost to St Helens in 2006

Season summaries

(Note: From 2015 onwards, Super-8s games are included in the number of matches played. Play-offs refer to knock-out round after 30 rounds)

Season in progress