Hull City A.F.C.

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Hull City

Full name

Hull City Association Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Tigers,'ull

Founded

1904

Ground

KC Stadium
Kingston upon Hull

Capacity

25,404

Chairman

Manager

League

Championship, 18th





Home colours





Away colours

Hull City Association Football Club are an English football team based at the KC Stadium (Kingston Communications Stadium) in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. They play in black and amber stripes, hence their nickname: "The Tigers".

The highest position Hull City have ever finished in the English football league is 3rd in the Old Second Division, today's equivalent of that is the Championship which the club are currently playing in. They have scarcely done any better in cup competitions, where the best achievement was reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1930.

[edit] History

Hull City A.F.C. were founded on 28 June 1904. For some years prior to this attempts were made to found a football (soccer) club, but in a city dominated initially by rugby league with the likes of Hull FC and Hull KR this proved difficult.

The first season for Hull City consisted of friendly matches; because of the time of founding, City were unable to apply for membership to The Football League for the 1904-05 season. The early matches were played at The Boulevard, home of rugby league side Hull FC. On 1 September 1904, City's debut match took place against Notts County; with 6000 in attendance at the Boulevard, City notched up an impressive start holding the more experienced County to a 2-2 draw.

Hull's first taste of competitive football came in the FA Cup, but they were eliminated, after a replay, in the preliminary round against Stockton, the score was 7-4 on aggregate. After uneasy relationships with landlords, Hull City moved to Anlaby Road Cricket Ground.

[edit] Hull City enter the Football League

Finally, after playing 44 friendly fixtures the previous season, Hull City were entered into the Football League Second Division for the 1905-06 season. Other teams competing in the league that season included the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, as well as Yorkshire rivals Leeds City, Bradford City and Barnsley. Indeed it was Barnsley who they faced in their first game, beating them 4-1. Eventually, Hull would finish fifth.

The following season a new ground was built for Hull City across the road from the cricket ground. Still under the managership of Ambrose Langley, City continued to finish consistently in the top half of the table. They came agonisingly close to promotion in the 1909-10 season, recording what would be their highest ever finish in their history (a record still held today); Hull finishing third, level on points with second placed Oldham Athletic, they missed promotion on goal average by the slim margin of 0.29 of a goal.

Before World War I, Hull reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 1915, beating out West Bromwich Albion, Northampton Town and Southampton, before eventually going out to Bolton Wanderers in a 4-2 away defeat.

Hull City squad of 1936.

[edit] Post-War

In cup competitions, the club's greatest achievement was in 1930, when they reached the FA Cup semi-final. The cup run saw Hull knocking out Leeds United and eventual Champions of the Second and Third Division; Blackpool and Plymouth Argyle respectively. They then knocked out Manchester City, to meet Newcastle United in the FA Cup quarter finals. The first leg at St James' Park finished as a 1-1 draw, but in the replay Hull beat Newcastle 1-0.

The semi-final match against Arsenal took place at Elland Road in Leeds, the game ended 2-2, and was taken to a replay. Arsenal knocked Hull City out at Aston Villa's home ground, the game ended 1-0.

In 1948-49, managed by former England international Raich Carter, Hull City won the Third Division (North), and their new Boothferry Park ground saw a crowd approaching 50 000 for the Christmas Day game against Rotherham United, and exceeding that for the cup tie with Manchester United

Yo-yoing between the second and third tiers of English football, Hull City had promotion seasons from the third to the second division again in 1959 and 1966, winning the third division championship in that latter season. Still, however, top flight football eluded the club. In fact, by the early 1980s, Hull City were down in the fourth division, and financial collapse let to receivership.

The low ebb saw the arrival of unlikely looking saviours in the form of a chairman (Don Robinson) and manager (Colin Appleton) from the footballing outpost of Scarborough FC. Promotion to Division Three followed in 1983, with a young team featuring the likes of future England international Brian Marwood, future England manager, Steve McClaren, fearsome centre-forward Billy Whitehurst, and the prolific goal-scorer Les Mutrie. When Hull City missed out on promotion by 1 goal the following season, Appleton left to manage Swansea City.

Hull City reached the Second Division in 1985 under new player-manager Brian Horton. They defied the odds to stay there for the next five years before finally going down in 1991, by which time the club's manager was Terry Dolan.

[edit] Striving to survive: 1990s

Hull finished 14th in the Third Division in 1991-92, meaning that they would be competing in the new Football League Division Two. In their first season in the rebranded division, Hull narrowly avoided another relegation but the board kept faith in Dolan and over the next two seasons they achieved secure mid table finishes. But terrible form in 1995-96 condemned Hull to relegation to Division Three.

Dolan was fired and replaced by Mark Hateley after Hull failed to get anywhere near the top of Division Three in 1996-97. By this stage, financial problems were taking their toll on the Tigers and it was starting to look as though the club would go out of business before long. And Hull's league form was steadily deteriorating to the point that relegation to the Conference was looking a real possibility - which surely would have meant the death of the club. Hateley departed in November 1998 to be replaced by 34-year-old veteran player Warren Joyce, who steered the club to safety after being anchored to the foot of the table - Hull City fans refer to this season as "The Great Escape". After this feat, Joyce was perhaps unlucky to be replaced in April 2000 by the experienced Brian Little.

Little breathed new life into Hull and managed to get good results out of the players, despite briefly being locked out of Boothferry Park by the bailiffs and with liquidation looking a real possibility. Hull qualified for the Division Three playoffs in 2000-01, and lost in the semi finals. But things could have been much worse - at least the Hull City fans still had a football club to support. A boardroom takeover had eased the club's precarious financial situation and all fears of closure were banished - had the club been relegated to the Conference the previous season, it is extremely unlikely that this takeover would have taken place.

[edit] Rising from the ashes

New Chairman Adam Pearson ploughed funds into the club, allowing Little to rebuild the team with the aim of immediate promotion. Hull occupied the Division Three promotion and playoff places for much of the 2001-02 season, but Little was sacked two months before the end of the season and Hull slipped to 11th under his successor Jan Mølby.

Hull began the 2002-03 season as most people's favourites for promotion from Division Three, but a terrible start to the season saw relegation look more likely than promotion and Molby was sacked in October as the Tigers languished fifth from bottom in the league.

Peter Taylor was named as Hull's new manager and in December 2002, just weeks after his appointment, Hull relocated to the impressive new 25,400-seat Kingston Communications Stadium after 56 years at Boothferry Park. After this move, Hull's attendances were some of the best in the division but their results were rarely this impressive and they were unable to finish above 13th place in the final table.

Hull's new stadium was - and still is - one of the most impressive stadiums outside the Premiership^[1] and it has helped influence an upturn in Hull's fortunes after a decade of misery. The two seasons which followed the opening of the new stadium were hugely successful. Hull were Division Three runners-up in 2003-04 and League One runners-up in 2004-05 - back-to-back promotions - which took them into the Championship, the second tier of English football.

2005-06 was hardly the most exciting season in the history of Hull City football club; it was more a season of consolidation after two successive promotions. Hull finished 18th in the final table - a comfortable 10 points clear of relegation and their highest league finish for 16 years.

[edit] Current season

The successful stint at Hull City saw Peter Taylor's name linked with the Charlton Athletic manager's job before it was given to Iain Dowie. On 13 June 2006, Peter Taylor left Hull to take up the job vacated by Dowie at Crystal Palace, a club at which he had enjoyed considerable success as a player. Phil Parkinson was confirmed as his replacement on 29 June 2006, with Hull paying Colchester (with whom Parkinson was still under contract) £400,000 compensation.

Defender Leon Cort became Hull's first ever million-pound player when he followed Peter Taylor to Crystal Palace for a fee of £1,250,000. Parkinson wasted no time in spending the majority of this money on strengthening the City squad in readiness for the 2006-07 season.

Chairman Adam Pearson has stated his ambition to take Hull into the top flight for the first time in their history^[2] - and he believed Phil Parkinson was the manager to do it.^[3] However, their dismal start to the 2006-07 season was hardly the form of a team attempting to gain promotion, and on 4 December 2006 Parkinson was sacked as manager with Hull in the relegation zone, despite having spent over £2 million on players. Parkinson had achieved two notable firsts, under his management Hull City won for the first time ever on live television and also won a penalty shoot-out for the first time.

Phil Brown was appointed as caretaker manager, and by 4 January 2007 Hull had moved out of the relegation zone and Brown was rewarded with a contract as their new manager until at least the end of the season. They finished March outside the bottom three in 18th place.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Management and Coaching staff

Phil Brown - Manager
Colin Murphy - Assistant Manager
Steve Parkin - First Team Coach
Mark Prudhoe - Goalkeeping Coach
Sean Rush - Fitness Coordinator
Billy Russell - Centre of Excellence Manager
Neil Mann - Head of Youth Recruitment
Simon Maltby - Head Physiotherapist
Liam McGarry - Assistant Physiotherapist
Barry Lowe - Kit Manager

[edit] Current squad

As of 16 March 2007:

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Boaz Myhill
2	MF	Nathan Doyle
3	DF	Andy Dawson
4	MF	Ian Ashbee
5	DF	Danny Coles
6	DF	Michael Turner
7	MF	Stuart Elliott
8	MF	Nick Barmby
9	FW	Nicky Forster
10	FW	Stephen McPhee
12	GK	Matt Duke
14	MF	Ray Parlour
16	DF	Damien Delaney
17	FW	Michael Bridges

No.	Position	Player
19	MF	John Welsh
20	FW	Dean Windass (on loan from Bradford City)
21	DF	Sam Ricketts
22	MF	Dean Marney
23	DF	Sam Collins
24	MF	David Livermore
26	FW	Ricardo Vaz Té (on loan from Bolton Wanderers)
27	DF	Lee Peltier (on loan from Liverpool)
28	MF	Russell Fry
29	MF	Ryan France
33	DF	Matt Plummer
34	FW	Nicky Featherstone
36	GK	Curtis Aspden
37	MF	Ben Wilkinson

[edit] Out on loan

No.	Position	Player
11	FW	Jon Parkin (on loan to Stoke City)
15	FW	Darryl Duffy (on loan to Swansea City)
30	DF	Scott Wiseman (on loan to Darlington)
35	DF	Michael Byron (on loan to Notts County)
38	DF	Tom Matthews (on loan to Halifax Town)

[edit] Managerial history

1904 James Ramster
1905 Ambrose Langley
1913 Harry Chapman
1914 Fred Stringer
1916 David Menzies
1921 Percy Lewis
1923 Bill McCracken
1931 Haydn Green
1934 John Hill
1936 David Menzies
1936 Ernest Blackburn
1946 Frank Buckley
1948 Raich Carter
1952 Bob Jackson
1955 Bob Brocklebank
1961 Cliff Britton
1970 Terry Neill
1974 John Kaye
1977 Bobby Collins

1978 Ken Houghton
1979 Mike Smith
1982 Bobby Brown
1982 Colin Appleton
1984 Brian Horton
1988 Eddie Gray
1989 Colin Appleton
1989 Stan Ternent
1991 Terry Dolan
1997 Mark Hateley
1998 Warren Joyce
2000 Billy Russell
2000 Brian Little
2002 Billy Russell
2002 Jan Mølby
2002 Billy Russell
2002 Peter Taylor
2006 Phil Parkinson
2006 Phil Brown

[edit] Notable players

[edit] Honours

FA Cup

Semi-finalists: 1929-30

Football League One

Runners-up: 2004-05

Football League Division Three

Champions: 1965-66
Runners-up: 2003-04
Promoted: 1984-85

Football League Third Division North

Champions: 1932-33, 1948-49
Runners-up: 1958-59

Football League Division Four

Runners-up: 1982-83

[edit] Coca-cola

In season 2006/07 Hull city has made money because of Coca-Cola. the contest is for football league sides and scottish sides. "The Tigers" have raised over £250,000. They are top of the coca-cola charts. The winner of the money appeared on socceram. Phil Brown (manager) had promised to "bare all" if the they raise more than 100k

[edit] Boothfery park

Hull city played at the ground for around 50 years. The stadium is locally famous. It is know over grown with weeds but it used to hold Hull Citys football. The only use for it know is a supermarket. They are plans to turn it into flats but Hull fans as you can imagine are against the idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boothferry_Park

[edit] KC STADIUM

The Kingston Communications is the home of hull city know. It is shared by Hull FC rugby league club. They are plans to extend it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC_stadium

[edit] Rivalries

Hull Ciys main rivalry is with Leeds United. Back when hull were a very small club the Hull fans were jelous of Leeds United. Now the Hull fans hate Leeds because of Leeds being close to Hull and Hull fans know alot of Leeds fans.

[edit] Trivia

Current England manager Steve McClaren played for Hull City from 1979–1985.
Hull is the largest city in Europe never to have had a club play in the top division of its national league.
Hull City is the answer to the old pub quiz question 'What is the only football club in the country spelled entirely of letters you cannot colour in?'.
Hull City's mascot is Roary the Tiger.
On August 1, 1970 Hull were the first team in the world to go out of a cup competition on penalties. It was against Manchester United in the semi-final of the Watney Mann Invitation Cup.
Hull City were the first team to win at Coventry City's Ricoh Arena, winning 2-0 on the 24th September 2005.[1]
November 23rd 1974 Hull City defeated Manchester United, which gave birth to a new Tiger's supporter in Norway, Haakon Skoge. Skoge is currently one of the Presidents in the Norwegian branch of Hull City's Supporter Club

[edit] See also

Amber Nectar, fanzine
City Psychos, book
City Magazine, the club's offcial monthly magazine

[edit] References

^ Prestigious Award for The KC Stadium. Retrieved on 27 Sep 2006.
^ Hull in print. Retrieved on 26 Sep 2006.
^ thepfa.co.uk. Retrieved on 26 Sep 2006.

[edit] External links

http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/football/SoccerAM.aspx?club=Hull%20City

Hull City Association Football Club
The Club \| Players \| Managers
KC Stadium

Football League Championship, 2006-2007

Football in England

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Premier League	England	FA Cup
The Football League (Champ, 1, 2)	(U-21) (B)	Football League Cup
Football Conference (Nat, N, S)	List of clubs	Community Shield
Northern Premier League (Prem, 1)	List of venues	Football League Trophy
Southern League (Prem, Mid, S&W)	(by capacity)	FA Trophy
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English football league system	Records	FA NLS Cup

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Categories: Football (soccer) clubs established in 1904 | English football clubs | Sport in Hull | Yorkshire football clubs