Imagine making only your second senior appearance in a Hull Derby, on Christmas Day! That was the case for the late great Johnny Whiteley MBE back in 1950.
Having made his senior debut just two days earlier, Whiteley faced the prospect of going up against FC’s bitter rivals on December 25th, with Christmas Day fixtures a regular occurrence until the 1960s.
For a 19-year-old, whose only previous playing experience was with Hull Boys Club, the Hull U16’s and a bit of Rugby Union whilst he was with the Military Police, the Hull derby against arch rivals Hull KR was a culture shock.
The Christmas Day match at the Boulevard ended 3-3 – a rare Hull Derby draw.
Speaking in 2019, Whiteley said: “I wasn’t really physically equipped to play, all the teams had huge packs and at 19 I didn’t exactly feel big in them days!
“Prior to signing for Hull a month earlier, I had played for Hull Boys club and then Rugby Union in the army but then when I came out of the army, Hull signed me and put me straight into the first team.
“I remember going out there and taking some big hits and remember thinking, Christ, how am I going to cope with this for the rest of my career!”
The game fell at a time when the Hull derby was often played over the Christmas period and for Whiteley, he couldn’t have wished for a better present.
“As a Hessle Road lad, to play at Christmas for Hull and against Rovers, what a memory.
“It was a Christmas Day match and to walk out there for Hull Football Club was like all your Christmas’ coming at once.”
It was also a time when players and coaches were at one with the supporters, all heading to the Boulevard together and sharing a drink or two after the match. A great position to be in if you had won, but not so good if you found yourself wandering to the ground with some Hull KR supporters or worst still, you had lost!
“Back then you rubbed shoulders with everyone, you walked to and from the games with them, you would head down Hessle Road and have a couple of pints in Halfway House!
“Rovers also had Alec Dockar, England’s loose forward, so I was getting verbals from the East Hull people as well about going head to head with him, so all these little things building up to this first derby match was something else.
“But I had a decent game and came through the baptism of fire and it built the foundations for some extremely special years for me and it was great to hold my own with Alex, he was a wonderful man and someone who became a friend.”
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