HULL RUFC

Hull RUFC were formed on July 1st 1992 as a result of a merger between Old Hymerians RUFC and Hull & East Riding RUFC.  Old Hymerians were formed in 1925 while the Riding could trace their origins to 1901.  The new club took over the tenancy of Old Hymerians ground at Haworth Park and also their league status in North-East Division Two.

Hull had a very successful first league season and finished third in the table behind Doncaster and Driffield.  Hull went into the final league game of the season at Driffield needing two points while Driffield needed only one.  A 6-6 draw saw Driffield take second place.  Doncaster made rapid progress into National League rugby and Driffield eventually consolidated a position in Division North One.

The following season, however, saw the club slump to eighth position after a poor campaign.  1994-95 saw an improvement with a final position of fifth but the following season Hull again finished eighth in a league of thirteen, only to be victims of a league restructure which saw them placed in the newly-formed North-East Division Three.  The following season saw the club make a swift return to their former status the when they won fourteen of their eighteen games to gain promotion as runners-up to Darlington.

Seasons 1997-98 and 1998-99 saw the club finish fourth on both occasions but in 1999-2000 they could only finish seventh.  In yet another league shake-up Hull were relocated to the enlarged twelve-team Yorkshire Division One.

Season 2000-01 saw Hull bottom of the league table at Christmas but the acquisition of former Wales and British Lions fly-half Gary Pearce as a playing Director-of-Rugby was to transform the fortunes of the club.  New players were brought in and the club rose to finish ninth, avoiding relegation in the final match of the season at North Ribblesdale.

Season 2001-02 was Hull’s finest of their short history.  More new players were recruited and the club won the league by nine points, winning nineteen and drawing one of their twenty-two games.  Fourteen consecutive league matches were won and the side was unbeaten at home in all games played.  Promotion was gained to Division North Two East.

Season 2002-03 saw Hull acquit themselves very well at the higher level and they won fifteen league games to finish in third position behind two exceptional sides in Bradford & Bingley and Sheffield.  The club progressed to the final sixteen of the Powergen Intermediate Cup before losing to Cheshire side Lymm.  Hull also progressed to the semi-final of the Yorkshire Cup, losing to Doncaster after wins over Pontefract, Old
Crossleyans and Hull Ionians.  Winger Leroy McKenzie scored 25 tries to beat his own club record of 21 set up in season 1997-98.

The season 2003-04 saw Hull RUFC in awesome form as they swept aside the opposition to win their opening twenty-one league games, ensuring the league title with a 26-20 victory at West Hartlepool on March 6th, with three games still to play.  A 23-22 defeat at Stockton in the final league game of the season denied the club a 100% record but they won the league by eight clear points over Middlesbrough with a 773-245 playing record
Nine existing club records were broken in this highly successful season..

Hull again progressed to the semi-final of the Yorkshire Cup only to lose to National Three side Halifax by 17-7, giving their higher-rated opponents a real fright before losing the game.

Hull RUFC took their well-earned place in Division North One for season 2004-05 following two promotions in three seasons.  The club again needed to adjust to the higher level of rugby but were confident they could succeed in their new division.  By a quirk of coincidence one of the sides relegated from North One after season 2003-04 were Driffield, much to the regret of Hull who would have enjoyed playing league rugby against them once more after a gap of eleven seasons.  However, Hull looked forward to taking on local rivals Hull Ionians, whom they had never played league matches against.

At the beginning of the campaign Hull’s two main concerns were whether the side was good enough to compete at the higher level, and if so, that a season of consolidation with a final position of halfway up the league table would be a good performance.  Both of these objectives were surpassed.  The side won sixteen of its twenty-two games including six doubles, scoring 625 points while conceding 334, having beaten every side in the division with the exception of champions Preston Grasshoppers.

After winning their opening seven games Hull had put any possible relegation fears behind them but they lost their unbeaten record to Hull Ionians who recorded a 24-15 win at Haworth Park in the first ever league game between the two clubs.  Hull got their revenge with a 12-10 win at Brantingham Park four weeks later to regain top spot in the table and the new boys were being talked of as promotion contenders.  The three way battle between Hull, Hull Ionians and Preston went to the final day of the season with the club finally finishing in third position, two points behind their local rivals and six points behind Preston.  They were never outside of the top three in the table and three of the six games they lost were by less than five points.  The two games against Preston showed how close Hull were to winning promotion.  In probably the best game seen at Haworth Park in the whole season Preston won an enthralling match by 34-32, despite Hull scoring five tries to four.  The return game at Preston was equally tense without the same quality of rugby with Preston winning 18-13.

The club profited financially from a good run in the early stages of the Powergen Intermediate Cup.  After beating North Two East side Morpeth away by 40-17 in the qualifying round they had a massive 79-8 home win over West Hartlepool, also of North Two East, in the preliminary round, a club record for a cup game.  The first round brought National League Three North side Tynedale to Haworth Park where Hull gave an outstanding display to win 26-20.  The side had to travel to National League Three North club Cleckheaton in round two where another great display saw them push Cleck all the way before going down 16-15.  In the Yorkshire Cup a first round win at Bridlington by 18-9 gave Hull a plum second round home game against National Two side Doncaster and again the team competed very well before losing 20-10. 

Hull RUFC  viewed season 2005-06 with great confidence.  They knew that they were good enough to put in a repeat performance in North One but realised that this season there would be no newly relegated sides in the division.  Westoe, Caldy, and Huddersfield all came into the division as promoted clubs while Whitchurch and Longton were relocated from Midlands One for geographical reasons.  It promised to be a tough and highly competitive season.

The high hopes for the new season were soon dashed when the club lost their first four opening league games, beginning with a 50-7 defeat at Morley.  The first team were without thirteen players for the opening game after eleven had suffered pre-season injuries.  Things steadily improved after that and the next three games were lost only by a margin of eight points or less, with the side moving from bottom of the table to ninth position without even winning a game.  But with Hull now back at full strength and further strengthened by the signings of  Kiwi fly-half Waylon Tangohau and Springbok No 8 Warren du Plooy the next four league games were won.  The club had now moved up to sixth position, a status they were to hold for the remainder of the season.

In the meantime good progress had been made in the Powergen Intermediate Cup with away wins at Yorkshire One sides Goole and Bradford Salem by 20-0 and 39-19 respectively. The third round saw Hull beat fellow North One side Middlesbrough by 42-10 before being drawn away to Midlands One runaway leaders Rugby.  In a titanic struggle Hull fought back from a 16-5 deficit to win a thrilling game, defeating the highly fancied home side by 23-19.  Their reward for this was another away draw in round five against North One leaders and cup holders Morley who once again proved far too strong and won the game by 35-12.  Once again the cup run had been very lucrative.  

Further league wins over Caldy, Whitchurch and Chester followed before Hull then lost three games in a row.  Gary Pearce resigned after five very successful years in charge and the team gave former forwards coach and new boss Terry Garnett the best possible start with a sensational 19-15 victory over champions-elect Morley.  Morley came to Haworth Park needing a win to take the North One title but it was to be third time lucky for Hull as they got rid of their hoodoo to make the ‘Maroons’ wait another two weeks before claiming the title.  Further wins over Birkenhead by 55-7 and an end of season 64-40 try-fest against Huddersfield saw the club end the season in sixth position with eleven wins and eleven defeats.

The club progressed to the Yorkshire Cup semi-finals for the third time in four seasons with wins at Old Crossleyans and Sheffield Tigers plus a walkover at home to Redcar.  The home semi-final against a very talented Leeds Tykes development XV was lost by 33-19 after Hull had led 7-5 at the break.  The superior fitness and expertise of the young professionals finally won the game for Leeds who went on the defeat Wharfedale in the final.

After losing in the final of the previous season’s Pocklington Sevens the club won the W.S. Fowler Challenge Trophy for the first time by defeating a Fijian-packed Duke of Wellington’s Regiment side by 19-12 in the final.  A new club record was created when winger Danny Smith scored 26 tries to beat Leroy McKenzie’s previous record of 25 which was achieved in the 2002-03 season.  Danny Smith also played for Yorkshire in the end of season County Championship games and subsequently joined National One side Otley. 

Hull faced season 2006-07 in a very similar position to the previous one, a very severe player shortage but one of a permanent nature compared to last season.  Thirteen of the previous season’s squad, nine forwards and four backs, had left the club during the summer months.  Some went into retirement, some to extend their playing days with local junior clubs, and the remainder to join senior clubs, or in the case of the overseas players, simply returning home.  These players had collectively played 270 games for Hull in 2005-06, scoring a total of 54 tries, and a very good side had broken up.  New players had to be brought in quickly and it is much to the credit of Head Coach Terry Garnett and the club committee that seven overseas players were soon signed, some for the start of league rugby and some later on.  The best news for the club was that former Leeds Tykes, Sale, Rotherham and Pau lock forward Chris Murphy had joined the club during the summer after taking up a job in the Hull area.  This was without doubt the most important signing in the history of Hull RUFC and the wheel had turned full circle as Chris had played for Hull as a junior while attending Hymers College, although he had played all of his senior rugby as a professional.  Hull began their third season in North One with a disappointing 33-18 home defeat against Huddersfield but they then beat newly promoted local rivals Beverley 25-12 also at home for their first league points.  An away defeat at Kendal was followed by four successive wins over New Brighton, Penrith, Stockport and Westoe.  Five wins from seven looked a very good start but this was set back by three consecutive defeats against Altrincham Kersal, Birkenhead and Caldy before a home win against Birkenhead Park just before Christmas steadied the ship a little.

The New Year began badly with defeats against Altrincham Kersal and Westoe and although a 6-5 win at Stockport helped things the club were now on the fringes of a relegation battle.  Two home defeats against Penrith and Stockport (the original home game of October 14 being replayed due to an appeal by Stockport against uncontested scrums) made matters more serious.  An away win at New Brighton was followed by defeats at Beverley and Huddersfield but home victories over Kendal by 55-8 and Chester by 43-19 moved Hull up to seventh in the table and their North One safety was assured.  The final league game at champions Caldy was lost 43-17 but Hull remained seventh and were never in the bottom three relegation places at any time during the season.

The club had very little joy in the EDF Energy National Cup when they drew National League Three North side Fylde at home in round one.  Fylde showed their class to race into a 28-0 half-time lead but Hull came back well in the second half to score two tries for a final score of 28-13.  They had better luck in the Yorkshire Cup beating North Two East side Sheffield Tigers 34-3 at Haworth Park in the preliminary round followed by an 11-3 first round win over local rivals Hull Ionians in a dour (some may say dire!) game,  also at home.  An away game to Harrogate in round two saw the National League Two side dominate the first half but Hull got their measure in the second period before losing an entertaining game by 43-28.

In a season which was at times very frustrating the side were plagued by injuries with John Wilson missing all but three games and Dan Martinson missing ten, while Chris Murphy missed five games in the vital mid-season matches.  The squad had to rely heavily on the Second XV players, some of them under twenty years of age, and it was a harsh learning curve to be thrown into level five rugby.  Full credit must be paid to all the players who battled so well to help Hull RUFC to retain their North One status.  

Presidents 
S Saunt (1992-95)
L J Sheppard DFC (1995-97)
R H Gore (1997 - 99)
A B Wilkie (1999 - 01)
J L Beal (2001 - 03)
M A Harness (2003 - 04)
A B Wilkie (2004 - 5)
R C Lewis (2005 - 07)
G Lound (2007 - 09)

Chairmen
R P Ashton (1992 - 94)
J L Beal (1994 - 96)
M A Harness (1996 - 98)
R C Lewis (1998 - 00)
R Gibbin (2000 - 02)
G Lound (2002 - 05)
A B Wilkie (2005 - 08)

1st XV Captains
D A Walters (1992 - 93)
W P Hazelton (1993 - 94)
M Lockton (1994 - 96)
R L Beal (1996 - 97)
J M Oxley (1997 -98)
R L Beal (1998 - 00)
W P Hazelton (2000 - 01)
L McKenzie (2001 - 03)
M David (2003 - 04)
G C Martinson (2004 - 05)
J D Barkworth (2005 - 06)
C Kendra (2006 - 07)
C Murphy (2007 - 08)