Their first game came September 1895, when a record crowd of 8,000 witnessed the ‘Airlie Birds’ defeat Liversedge in the very first season of Northern Union Football.

The Black and Whites, as they were to become known because of their famous contrasting irregular hoops, was one of the original clubs to apostatise from the RFU. The hoops soon went from famous to feared by most club’s, as Hull FC proved themselves as one of the driving forces in the early years, making three consecutive Northern Union Cup Finals between 1908-1910.

In 1913 they paid a world record £600, plus an astounding £14 per match, to Hunslet for three-quarter Billy Batten. A year later the investment had paid dividends as the Airlie Birds won their first Challenge Cup, beating Harold Wagstaff’s stupendous Huddersfield in the semi-final and Wakefield Trinity in the f inal. In 1920, Batten was once again prominent in Hull’s first ever Championship final, scoring the only try in the 3-2 victory over Huddersfield. Also at that time, Jack Harrison, set the current Hull FC try scoring record for the number of tries scored in one season, bagging 52 tries in the 1913/14 season.

“The early 1920’s were bittersweet years for the club. In 1920 Hull lost the Yorkshire Cup Final 2-0 but went on to win the Rugby League Championship in 1921, both against arch rivals Hull Kingston Rovers.”

Hull couldn’t emulate the successes of 1914, losing a further two consecutive Cup Finals in 1922-23 to Rochdale and Leeds respectively, but the Yorkshire Cup and the top of the league table were some consolation.

After winning the Yorkshire League in 1926-27, Hull went through a lean spell that lasted almost a decade. Eventually though, the club were soon back on the map when they secured their third Championship title in 1935-36, beating Widnes 21-2 at Fartown, Huddersfield, with club record points scorer Joe Oliver scoring two tries and kicking five goals.

They also won the Yorkshire League that season, having been runners up in the previous year.

Before the Second World War broke out, Hull were runners up in the Yorkshire Cup in 1938-39 and runners up again in the Yorkshire League in 1940-41.

It was this period that also brought about the club’s famous anthem, Old Faithful, now heard on the terraces every single game.

The song was initially adopted back in 1936, when on September 26th, Hull claimed a narrow 13-12 victory against Wigan at the Boulevard.

Overjoyed with such a dramatic win, the Hull fans began to sing the former chart topping cowboy song Old Faithful and as they say, the rest is history!