Hull City Association Football Club was founded in 1904. After playing a full season of friendlies and entering the FA Cup in preperation, the club entered the Football League for the 1905/06 season. The first ever league game was against Barnsley at Anlaby Road, which resulted in a 4-1 win for The Tigers.
Indeed, Anlaby Road was one of many grounds that have been occupied by City since 1904. The club has also played at Skircoates, The Circle, The Boulevard, and of course Boothferry Park.
The old Anlaby Road ground.
Over the years the City have never reached the top flight. The nearest they came was in...
Hull City's best cup run was in the 1929/1930 season. Wins against Plymouth, Blackpool, Manchester City and Newcastle took the Tigers to a semi-final with Arsenal. The final seemed within grasp as City took a 2-0 lead, only for the Gunners to claw back to 2-2. And sadly, in the replay, 1 goal was enough to see the Londoners through.
However, perhaps the game to have captured the imagination of the city of Hull the most was the 1949 FA Cup 5th Round tie with Manchester United. 55,019 packed in to Boothferry Park to see the visitors edge a 1-0 victory.
Stan Pearson is pictured scoring the only goal of the game for United.
The team at the team of the Manchester United game was perhaps the greatest City team ever. Managed by player manger Raich Carter, and also including Billy Bly, Ken Houghton and Bill Harris, the 11 were an amazing mix of skill and determination.
The legend - Raich Carter
Another real contender would be the 70's era of Ken Wagstaff, Chris Chilton et al. Waggy and Chillo developed a legendary partnership up front, and the team thrived once more.
Ken Wagstaff in action against Portsmouth
The FA Cup quarter final against Liverpool in 1989 was another high profile game. The Reds were in their prime and a line-up including John Barnes, Ian Rush and Peter Beardsley descended on Boothferry Park. However, the Tigers were undaunted and nearly pulled off a shock result, leading 2-1 at half time only to lose 3-2.
More recently, financial troubles have been the major talking point. However, in the last few years City have played Liverpool, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle in cup competition, giving the supporters and players momentary glimpses of life at the top of the Football League.
Now, Adam Pearson is in charge at the club, and Brian Little is in control of the playing side of things. Hopefully, at last, Hull City will again reach the heights they once reached.
Thanks to Images Of Sport - Hull City Football Club for the photos. |
