You might not have met them but there are at least a few on here. It appears that Hull FC have lived totally rent free in the brain of a couple of posters on here for years. It’s quite sad, monotonous and boring really.
What gets me is the very posters who moan about people calling Hull a rugby town declare the rugby club as our biggest rival… like, what…
Yes, I struggle with that. I've seen them suggest a few times that City's crowds are hampered by having Rugby League clubs nearby. As someone with no real interest in Rugby League, to me that seems generous to what is really a very minor sport. It plays up the idea that they are a significant presence which in turn makes Hull sound like a bit of a backwater where this niche game is massive.
Look at our history with them. As for 'rent free', nail on the head, but it's not only in my head where this is nearer the truth than you can imagine. It may be sad, montotonous and boring to you and kempton, but for supporters like me with long memories and past experiences with them, it is of my opinion that they are the enemy within and we have more rivalry with them than any Football League club based on that.
Your preaching to the converted about the size of the RL game to me. City's crowds are hampered by having two RL club's nearby, and theirs are by us. Look at the facts over the years, when our gates go up, theirs go down. Because both sports are competing for the same audience, sponsors, press coverage etc. Didn't you see the huge banners draped along the walkway to Argyle Street when we first reached the Premier League? Something on the lines of....'buy a pass for Hull FC, so much cheaper than Premier League football, etc etc' Have you forgot when Fc rebranded themselves as 'Hull's Premier Sporting Club' or when they dropped the RL from their name and simply called themselves Hull Football Club? Or when the HDM tried to pass off HKR as 'the Manchester United of RL'? or when, under Adam Pearson, Fc contacted all City's sponsors and tried to offer them a better deal if they switched to RL? RL is a very minor sport these days nationally, but not in this city it isn't. Can you honestly read the local newspaper and listen to the local BBC radio station and then say that RL is not reported as 'a significant presence, where this niche game is massive,' in this area?
2022 Hull FC Highest 16,999 Average 10,763 2022 Hull KR Highest 10,300 Average 7788 2021-2022 Hull City Highest 18,399 Average 12,888 City maybe the best supported club but rugby is the bigger sport in the city, fact. End of.
Minority sport, up until recent history played along the M62 corridor, and with periods of no relegation, load of shyte to me, but what's one man's rubbish is another man's gold
Exactly this. I started as a coach with Hull KR but having been born and raised in Hull the passion for the club, the sport and the rivalry was not a surprise to me, however they have a very dedicated and loyal bunch of fans, far superior to the Black and White side in my experience, and I am not sure they worry too much about Hull City. Some of them I know go to both but I genunely dont know a Black and White that goes to City reguarly. I then moved to Doncaster which probably has about 10 Rugby League fans and even when we signed some fairly high profile RL players we could go on nights out without a single person knowing who they were. It is a complete waste of time. Its only when you go elsewhere you realise how much RL matters in this City. My father in law who played for both Hull Clubs cannot walk down the street in Hull without multiple people stopping him for a chat. I then did 3 seasons with Featherstone where literally everybody who lives in that village is a Rovers fan and the majority attend at least the odd game each season. It is changing slightly now due to new builds and its location for commuting however it is the best example of a 'Rugby League area' you will ever get in my mind. Some Fev fans would go to Leeds Utd but aside from it being on in the pub I dont think that many bother with football. 14 years later I ended up in London at a club where the situation was similar to Donny, hardly anybody south of Leeds gives a ****e. Rugby League has never been so unpopular and the 'strong' areas are now starting to really struggle. Cumbria is about done and the Super League Clubs are barely surviving financially. Clubs outside of Super League are predominanlty running at huge losses and going bust in some cases. One of them owes me a small fortune so I am trying to help them just so I get paid!! These experiences showed me Hull is very special in that it has been able to sustain a Football Club and 2 x Rugby League clubs for 100 years. Apart from Wigan, Leeds and Bradford there is no other area like it in the Country where RL, or even Union clubs, are able to survive alongside a football team with both or all 3 posting very decent crowds and playing near the top of their sport. Bradford cant even say that anymore and I am stretching it calling Wigan Athletics crowds decent. I cannot understand though why people need to be 'one or the other' and why there is such bitterness towards each sport. I appreciate it goes both ways but for me if you dont like RL then just ignore it. There are a lot of people in the area that love it and I am not sure they do make a difference to the crowds at City too much. There are some floaters, of course there are, but if City continue to improve on and off the field they will post 20k crowds week in week out without the need for some Airlie birds to make the transition.
RL is a dying sport tbh. I’ve never been to watch either KR or FC play before because it’s never interested me. My only gripe is with RL fans in this city (usually FC fans) who make it a point about how much they hate City and want us to fail. Quite a lot of them ‘support’ Leeds United and FC. Very strange. Be like supporting City for football and Leeds Rhinos for rugby. Other than that, I don’t care what they do.
Growing up in Brid, RL wasn’t apparent, and I would have considered speedway as being one of the bigger rival sports in Hull as much as RL, although that changed as speedway declined and the rivalry between Hull and KR seemed to peak when they played at Wembley. As a City fan from the mid 70s it’s only ever been football for me.
Leicester has a pretty big football and rugby club at the top of the game, both of which have excellent support.
Hull City have been in existence since 1904. One season's average attendances mean very little. But are you agreeing that our rivals are both the rugby league clubs in this city?
No. I care about either rugby league club about as much as I care about Hull Stingrays. I will leave it to you to list all 3 clubs average attendances since the dawn of time, the most recent full season is the most relevant to this discussion today though.
