Club Historian Bill Dalton looks back at some of the brothers who have represented Hull FC throughout the club’s history.
I recently completed reading the new biography of Clive Sullivan “True Professional” by James Oddy, and it brought to mind that Clive’s elder brother, Brian, also came to The Boulevard only months after Clive had made his sensational debut in December 1961.
The very fact that Brian was the elder of the two, created a situation that when Brian passed his 11+, and moved onto the local Grammar School, the vacancy of the captaincy of the School rugby union team passed on to Clive.
It can be assurmed, therefore, that Clive’s leadership qualities were already apparent. He went on to gain selection for the Cardiff Schools representative team, appearing alongside future rugby league international Colin Dixon, who eventually came north to Halifax and who played alongside another Welshman of great repute, Johnny Freeman, another winger who emanated from the same area of Cardiff as Clive.
Brian was spoken of by Clive that he was faster than he himself and he was destined to follow Clive to Hull.
He made his debut for the first team in April 1962. He went on to make 62 appearances, scoring 22 tries, including five in a match against Featherstone in August 1964. Clive weighed in with a brace in that 37-16 success for the Airlie Birds.
However, Brian wasn’t able to hold a regular place in the team. Although he was arguably faster than Clive, exemplified by scoring a remarkable try in an ‘A’ team Derby match at the old Craven Park from within his own in-goal area, he was essentially just that – a speed merchant.
Whereas Clive had all the attributes of a the great winger he proved to be. He had speed, a sidestep, the swerve and he would go inside looking for the ball to relieve his forwards of some work, just as our modern wingers do nowadays.
Brian was, of course, academically gifted and a later university education saw him move into a successful career away from rugby league. Clive and his family were very proud of his achievements.
There have been some 29 pairs of brothers who have played in Hull’s first team, ranging from the early Northern Union days (George
Barker) through to the Super League era when Richard and Graeme Horne each up over a century of appearances.
Other notable brothers who had the distinction of over a century games apiece, racked particular during the more successful periods
in the club’s history include Ned and Gregor Rogers (1906 to 1925), George and Lawrie Barlow (1930’s), Jim and Bill Drake (1951-1964) and Jim and Alf Macklin (1960’s, 1970’s).
When Hull won the Championship Final in 1958, the victory in the Final was achieved with an all-Hull born pack of forwards which included Captain Johnny Whiteley and brother Peter.
More recent additions to the list include brothers Tom & Jack Briscoe, with third brother Luke never making a senior appearance for the club, as well as the likes or Richard and Graeme Horne, James and Liam Cunningham, and Bobby and Harry Tyson-Wilson.
To my certain knowledge, there has been only a single example whereby three brothers have played – that of Harold, Ted and Arthur Bedford, spanning the World War II years through to 1956.
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