It’s our 156th birthday today! To celebrate, hullfc.com takes a look at a timeline of the history of the club.
1865 – Hull Rugby League Football Club were founded by a group of schoolboys from York, including Anthony Bradley who was a former pupil of Rugby School whilst Reverend Scott and his sons made up the nucleus of the team.
1895 – The club broke away from Rugby Union and became one of the founding members of the Northern Rugby Football Union, playing their first official game in a 3-0 victory over Liversedge.
1895 – Hull FC relocated to The Boulevard down Airlie Street and subsequently the nickname ‘Airlie Birds’ was coined.
1908 – Hull reached their first ever Challenge Cup final and were beaten 14-0 by Hunslet.
1913 – Hull broke the world record transfer fee by paying £600 for Billy Batten plus a wage of £14 per game.
1914 – The club win their first ever Challenge Cup final, beating Wakefield 6-0. Jack Harrison VC also scored a record 52 tries in this season.
1917 – Harrison VC died whilst serving in the First World War and was given the Victoria Cross for his services.
1920 – Hull won their first ever Championship, with Batten scoring the only try in a 3-2 victory over Huddersfield.
1921 – They secured back-to-back Championships by beating Hull KR in the first time the two Hull clubs met in a final.
1924 – The Black and Whites won the Yorkshire Cup final for the first time.
1936 – A record 28,798 filled the Boulevard against Leeds.
1939-1945 – The Rugby Football League is halted by the outbreak of the Second World War.
1949 – Roy Francis became the first ever professional black coach in any sport in Britain.
1952 – The first ever time Australia toured and played against Hull FC, with the Kangaroos winning 28-0.
1956 – Hull earn their first Championship victory in 20 years, beating Halifax by a single point.
1957 – Hull are crowned European Club Champions.
1958 – The second Rugby League Championship in three seasons came to Hull after 20-3 victory over Workington.
1963 – The legendary Johnny Whiteley became player-coach after 13 seasons with the club and plays for another two before hanging up his boots.
1968 – FC play in their first Championship final under Whiteley which ended in a 17-10 defeat to Wakefield.
1970 – Hull FC win the Yorkshire Cup for the first time in 46 years.
1977 – Hull are crowned Division Two Champions and go to back in the top-flight but are relegated the following season.
1978 – Arthur Bunting becameHull FC coach and his famous ‘Golden Years’ began.
1979 – The famous ‘Invincibles’ team won every game in the league season.
1980 – Hull win their first and only BBC2 Floodlit Trophy, beating Hull KR in the final.
1982 – The year of the famous 1982 test against Australia when Hull FC came close to beating arguably one of the best Kangaroos touring teams of all-time.
1982 – At Elland Road, Hull win the Challenge Cup for the first time in 68 years after a memorable victory over Widnes in a replay.
1983 – Hull ended the 25-year wait for a Championship and Peter Sterling joined the Black and Whites.
1982-1985 – Three successive Yorkshire Cup victories in a row for Hull, making it five trophies in three years for Bunting.
1991 – Hull win their first Rugby League Premiership title in the new system.
1996 – A switch to summer rugby league sees the Black and Whites outside the first Super League line-up.
1997 – Hull FC move into Super League after winning the First Division at the first time of asking.
2001 – Hull finish in Super League’s top three and Kirk Yeaman makes his debut for the club.
2002 – Hull moved from The Boulevard to the KCOM Stadium.
2005 – Hull triumph in arguably the most memorable Challenge Cup final of all time against Leeds Rhinos in Cardiff.
2006 – First ever Super League Grand Final appearance for Hull were they were beaten by St Helens.
2008 – Second Challenge Cup final in the Super League era and again beaten on the final stage by Saints.
2011 – Adam Pearson takes over the club.
2013 – Challenge Cup runners-up again, this time at the hands of Wigan Warriors.
2015 – Club celebrates its 150th birthday.
2016 – Hull win the Challenge Cup at Wembley for the first time in their history as they defeated Warrington Wolves – their fourth success in the Cup.
2017 – The Black and Whites created even more history by retaining the Cup for the first time in their history, overcoming Wigan Warriors at Wembey
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