HULL KR HERITAGE AUGUST 2021

HULL KR HERITAGE
  NEWSLETTER
    AUGUST 2021

1996 – TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ON
     ROGER PUGH – CLUB HISTORIAN AND HERITAGE COMMITTEE

Rugby League has had many significant changes over the years, but it can be justifiably argued that none
have surpassed those of the summer of 1996, when a complete reorganisation of the league structure
accommodated the introduction of the European Super League, and the introduction of summer rugby.

It is not my purpose to evaluate the success or otherwise of these changes – peoples’ views will depend
on their individual perspective anyway, and a large part of today’s rugby league audience will have known
nothing else. I simply offer a recollection of how it was before, and the way in which the change was
implemented.

Those who did not watch rugby league before 1996 will have no recollection of making a journey to
Oldham on a misty lunchtime, only to hear on the radio en route that fog had descended on the Pennines
and the game was off; a freezing afternoon in the main stand at Featherstone when a short pass to Steve
Hartley and his breath-taking sprint to the line made you forget the cold for a few precious seconds; the
smell of Bovril in the Well on a night-match at old Craven Park; or the sight of players so caked in mud
that they had to change jerseys at half-time. All these things, and the eagerly anticipated Christmas or
New Year derby games, were largely consigned to memory after the 1994/95 season.

For 1995/96, a shortened season was arranged to realign the seasons in time for the summer rugby and
Super League launch in March 1996. There were 32 teams in two divisions at the end of 1994/95 – for
1995/96, an additional team was added, Chorley Borough, and the teams split into three divisions of
eleven teams; each playing 20 games in total. The top ten Championship (first division) clubs at the end of
1994/95, plus London Broncos (who finished 4th in the second division), formed the Centenary
Championship. The bottom six from the Championship, plus the top six from the second division (except
London) formed the Centenary First Division; and the remaining second division clubs, plus Chorley,
formed the Centenary Second Division.

Because it was only a short season, there was no promotion and relegation at the end of 1995/96, so the
eleven Championship clubs, augmented by Paris St Germain, became the 12 inaugural Super League clubs
in 1996. The only other changes were that in the new second division, a new club was admitted in the
shape of South Wales, whilst Highfield morphed into Prescot Panthers.

Hull Kingston Rovers did not come out of the reorganisation well. In 1993/94 they were relegated from
the Championship into the second division, where they finished up eighth out of 16 at the end of
1994/95. This meant that they ‘missed the cut’ and were consigned to the third tier of British rugby
league for the first time in their history – worse still, the absence of promotion meant that they remained
there in 1996.

But the Robins did escape from the Second Division at the earliest possible opportunity – and in some
style. In 1996, they won the division by six clear points, scoring 1,009 points and conceding just 294, and
losing only one league game (21-18 away at Leigh) in the process. It is interesting that only Rovers and
Leigh (who finished just below half-way in seventh place) of the 12 second division clubs have since made
it to Super League, and five are no longer in the professional ranks at all.

Rovers’ new Papua New Guinean signing, Stanley Gene, made a huge impact, scoring 27 tries in his 23
appearances. Ever-presents in the side over the 25-game season were joint top-try scorer (with Gene)
Gary Atkins; fans favourite forward Paul Fletcher, who made nine of his appearances at centre; hooker
Shaun Hoe; and New Zealand loose-forward and captain Sam Stewart. Despite missing one game, Mike
Fletcher kicked 151 goals, which added to his four tries, gave him 318 points. Centre Rob D’Arcy missed
two games and was third in the club try-scoring charts with 23 at one-a-game. A strange quirk of fate was
that winger Richard Oliver scored five tries at Chorley, then three in his next match, and never played for
the club again.

Overall, since 1996, we have seen the development of the game into something faster – not without skill
as some old traditionalists would argue, but where the skills have changed subtly to reflect the way in
which the game has evolved. The players are now athletes – taller, stronger and faster than before – and
the variance in physiques of the players in different positions is far less marked. Rule changes have taken
place at a far greater pace too – invariably aimed at making the game faster still.

It took our own club another ten years before promotion back to the top tier was achieved in 2006 – and
there have been several ‘ups and downs’ along the way. We can only speculate what the next 25 years will
bring – at Craven Park and beyond!

HERITAGE EVENINGS ARE BACK
   KEITH POLLARD - EX PLAYER HERITAGE COMMITTEE MEMBER

GAMES GONE BY FILM NIGHT JULY 2021

A small but appreciated gathering attended our first Heritage Evening event for nearly a year.

The showing of Rovers first Super league match was the occasion but with time constraints only twenty
minutes of the first half was viewed allowing us to see Rovers first super league try scored by Scott
Murrell.

We moved on to the second half with the score at 8 – 6 to Rovers and witnessed a tense and thrilling
game of rugby. Wakefield scored from a penalty and a drop goal leaving the leading by 9 – 8 with only
minutes remaining Rovers exerted more pressure with Morton failing to score in the corner but a mistake
by Wakefield on the restart gave Rovers one last chance which, shunning a drop goal attempt, eventually
a superb pass from Chris Chester to Ben Cockayne resulted in the full back scoring near the posts. Gareth
Morton converted leaving Rovers victorious in their first super league game.

An interesting debate followed on how that victory impacted on the remainder of that season. Although
they went on to win 3 of their next 4 matches it was generally agreed that the first victory was the most
important. Of the seventeen players that night, twelve had played in the Championship the previous
season and it was felt that the new signings of O’Neill, Cooke, Hardman and Lovegrove was instrumental
in securing super league status with victories at Salford and the 42-6 win at the KC stadium.

It was pointed out the number of players on view how many had gone on to be coaches in the game
today, the likes of James Webster, Danny Ward, Chris Chester, Ben Cockayne, Jason Netherton, Rhys
Lovegrove. With Scott Murrell actually still playing with Keighley.

The next Heritage Evening is Wednesday 25 August 1900 Roger Pugh is going to lead a discussion on
Hull KR half backs Or Come and join us for future evenings we meet the last Wednesday of the month
starting at 1900. We also have a Heritage Group page on Facebook
www.facebook.com/groups/hullkrheritagegroup where you can keep up to date with everything in
bygone days.

HKR HERITAGE OPEN DAY
 LOCATION: HULL COLLEGE CRAVEN PARK HOME OF HULL
   KINGSTON ROVERS, PRESTON ROAD, HULL, HU9 5HE

TOUR TIME – AVERAGE TIME OF THE TOUR IS 90 MINUTES

   Tuesday 14 September 13;00 Adult Only

   Thursday 16 September 18;00

   Saturday 18 September 14:00 Wheelchair Access

Pre-booking required 'Call 01482 780908 to book your place'

We are limited to 30 people per tour, so please book on so you are not disappointed.

BOOKING OPENS 1ST SEPTEMBER TO 17TH SEPTEMBER 09:00 - 17:00

Hull Kingston Rovers are offering a unique opportunity to peel back the curtain and peek
into Hull College Craven Park for an ultimate rugby league experience.

The unique behind the scenes tour will give people the opportunity to walk in the footsteps
of the club’s heroes visiting the club facilities including the gym, changing rooms, media
room and corporate hospitality.

Visitors will have a chance to see the impressive facilities in the Colin Hutton North Stand

During the tour, you will learn about the club’s proud history and heritage as well as the
backstage operations of match days.

There will be some welcome surprises on the way.

You will have access to areas that are not usually open to the public.

In parts of the stadium tour there maybe areas that people with mobility issues might find
difficult so we would need to know in advance so we can accommodate your needs.

Please note all dates and times might be subject to change dependent on fixtures and
Government Covid19 guidelines.

JOHN WILSON
                 BRYAN LEASON - HERITAGE COMMITTEE MEMBER
John Wilson was born in Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland on 18 November 1876.

John’s involvement with Hull Kingston Rovers started in the 1907/8 season when he became a club director,
joining at the same time the club’s Team Management and Ground Committees. Two years later, he joined the
Finance committee and also took charge of the newly formed reserve team. In 1910/11, John was nominated
as Rovers’ representative on the Yorkshire County Committee. Two years on, in 1912/13, he was elected as a
member of the Northern Union Management Committee and, during that season, also deputised as Rovers’
secretary during an illness to long-serving club secretary George Johnson. John also acted as Rovers’ Vice-
Chairman in 1913/14.

When normal rugby competitions were resumed in 1919 after the First World War, John was elected as
Rover’s representative on the Northern Union, and he was also elected chairman of the Union’s Yorkshire
County Association. The following season, 1920/21, he was again elected as Vice-Chairman on Rovers’ board;
this time to the club’s legendary chairman, E.W. Brown.

In 1920, John was named as one of the two tour managers for the 1920 Great Britain Lions tour to Australia
and New Zealand, when he actually played in a match because the team was shorthanded! On his return from
the tour, he was appointed as the first paid secretary of the then Northern Union (the Rugby Football League
from 1922), a position he held until his retirement in 1946. As secretary of the Rugby Football League, he was
instrumental in taking the Rugby League Challenge Cup to Wembley and, in 1933, for taking the rugby league
game to France. That year, he took an England team to play an Australian team in Paris, as a result of which
rugby league was played domestically in France for the first time, in the following year. One of his final acts
as rugby league secretary was to negotiate with the Secretary of State for War, the Rt Hon Jack Lawson,
himself a Whitehaven man, to make travel arrangements for the 1946 Great Britain tour of Australasia. As a
result of this, the team travelled on the aircraft carrier, HMS Indomitable, and thus the tour party became
known as ‘the Indomitables.’

John Wilson, Rovers director, back row, 4th from left.                        R.L. secretary

The Respected authority on the history of rugby league, Professor Tony Collins, views John Wilson as
arguably the best ‘chief executive’ the RFL has ever had. Collins refers to the fact that, in addition to his best-
known successes of taking the cup final to Wembley and taking the game into France, he also steered the
game successfully through the great economic depression of the 1930s.

Away from rugby league, John Wilson took up cycling at the age of 35, when he joined Hull Thursday Racing
Club. In his first race, the Eric Myers Shield 50-mile handicap, he made fastest time of 2 hrs 33mins 2sec to
win the trophy. In 1912, he won the Yorkshire 50-mile Championship from a representative field of twenty-
five of the county’s best performers. Also that year, he won the Classic 200-mile Polytechnic Olympic Time
trial in 11hrs 15 min 10 sec. His cycle weighed 21 lbs, and John, a rather tall man, weighing 11st 4lbs, paid
tribute to the training organised for him by Rovers’ trainer Ernest Gill. After this success, he was selected to
represent Scotland in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Only one cycling race was held at those
Olympics – a 200 mile race that remains the longest ever Olympic cycling event. On poorly surfaced roads,
covered with sand and stones, and with rutted hilly sections, John Wilson came fourth in the team race and
16th in the individual race.

John Wilson with the 1920 Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand.

As posted in Rovers programme 30th November 1957.

HULL KINGSTON ROVERS LOOKING BACK SESSIONS
                     CLIFF BUCKTON - LIFE LONG SUPPORTER

As a keen Rovers’ supporter who has been exiled from Hull for 50 years, I’ve always tried to take
advantage of different ways to follow the club in order to keep in touch and supplement the rare
occasions when I get to see them live. This has involved various media over the years but the internet
really transformed things with things like fans forums, podcasts and HullKR.TV. The most recent
innovation is Zoom calling, and this has been embraced by the Hull KR Heritage Group.

Anyone can now join in the regular Looking Back Zoom sessions to discuss a particular issue of interest.
These have covered many topics including local derbies, Cup Finals, favourite away games, etc, and have
brought back many happy (and a few unhappy) memories. Participants have been of a large range of ages,
and included ex-players, historians, collectors and ordinary fans enabling us to discuss a broad range of
experiences, supplemented by photos, old programmes, and memorabilia. This has provided an
opportunity to have a rummage through some of my old collection, which also brought back a lot of old
memories.

Although active participation is encouraged, this is entirely optional, and some may prefer to just watch
and listen, and learn a bit about the history of our great club.

Looking Back sessions are scheduled to take place once a fortnight and everyone is welcome to join.
Contact me at Ian.watson@hullkr.co.uk if you are interested in joining in or have a topic you would like to
include in the future.

Looking Back Rovers Overseas Players This is the team in 1912-13 featuring F Boltman in the back row of
players. This seems very likely to be Pierre Boltman, Rovers’ first overseas player.

THE WORLD OF SHIRTS
                 MIKE CARTER - HERITAGE COMMITTEE MEMBER

It's time for another shirt review and this time we look back to 1999/00 and discuss what Hull Kingston
Rovers wore at the end of the 20th century. Rovers kits were manufactured by Avec during this time
period through a 4 year spell from 1998 to 2001. Avec produced some lovely kits for the Robins, so let's
take a closer look at these two.

The home shirt was all-over white with a red breast band. It featured very minimal detail and was clearly
designed with simplicity in mind. The shirt has a turnover collar and placket with a single button and
reinforced stitching at the base. This was a very difficult time for Hull KR; the club wasn't able to find
suitable sponsorship in time for it to be printed on the replica shirts and so remained without a front shirt
sponsor. The shirts worn by the team featured sponsorship from now club owner Neil Hudgell and his
solicitor firm. This was applicable to both the home and away shirts.

On the reverse of the shirt, it featured the wordmark 'ROVERS' in the position that we've now become
accustomed to seeing a player's name. Surnames didn't appear on Rovers shirts until 2007, so it was quite
common for this space to be filled in another way prior to our Super League status and the many sponsors
we now see on shirts.

The home shirt is made from 100% cotton and is quite heavy wearing. A lot of people do miss this look
with the modern-day replicas being made more commonly from polyester.

I think you could be forgiven for believing that the 1999/00 away shirt was a home shirt from this era.
The shirt is all red with a white breast band. Within the band is two red pieces of piping that break the
band up into three sections. Naturally, you'd assume that it is a home shirt. We hadn't had many red
alternative shirts before 1999, so this wasn't common. However, we have seen this more recently with our
red alternative shirts in 2004, 2014, and 2019. We have some lovely sleeve detail that incorporates Avec
branding. I'm a sucker for sleeve detailing on shirts, so this look on the 1999/00 away shirt really appeals
to me. As with the home shirt, it also features a turnover collar, but on this occasion, there is no placket.

The back of the shirt is plain, with no detail or branding. Unlike the home shirt, the away shirt is 100%
polyester which I find really interesting as it's rare to have two shirts from the same year made using
different materials.

I'll be back in the next newsletter with another look at another pair of Hull KR shirts, but until then, for
more Hull KR shirt-related content, please check out Hull KR Shirts on social media or visit
www.hullkrshirts.co.uk.