19th
century
Hull Kingston Rovers began in 1882 when a group of boilermakers in the
Hessle Road
area of
Hull
came
together to start a team, Kingston Amateurs. The club colours were agreed to be
red jerseys with a blue band across the chest, white shorts and red socks.
Their first ground was a piece of wasteland in
Albert Street
, the club started playing
in the
Hull
and
District league in the Autumn of 1883.
By 1885 Kingston Amateurs had played at three grounds,
Albert Street
,
Anlaby Road
and finally Chalk Lane. The
club name was also changed to Kingston Rovers as they entered the Times Cup in
the 1885/86 season.
A number of clubs joined the league and the club entered the new
Hull
and District rugby union cup, losing to
Hull
A in the final. The
club won its first trophy in the 1887/88 season by winning the Times Cup,
beating Selby A in the final. The Rovers moved to their fourth ground, down
Hessle Road
.
In 1888/89, 6,000 fans turned up to the cup game against
Hull
A at the
Holderness Road
ground, which ended as a
draw. The Rovers went through the next season losing just two games, defeating
Britannia in the Times Cup final.
Rovers beat
Hull
for the first time in 1889/90, and moved to their fifth ground, again down
Hessle Road
. In
1892 Rovers played out of the Boulevard. They lost to
Bradford
in the first round of the Yorkshire Cup.
The Red and Whites won the Times Cup for the third year running in 1891/92
beating
York
A
in the final. Rovers entered the Yorkshire Cup for the first time and they were
knocked out by Dewsbury in the second round.
1892 saw Rovers play at the Boulevard and leased the ground for three years
from the following season. Only one away win was recorded this season and six
home wins, Rovers lost against
Bradford
in the
first round of the Yorkshire Cup.
In 1895 the Northern Football Union was founded, when the leading rugby
union sides in the North of England broke away to form a league of their own,
comprising 22 clubs. Rovers did not join the new organisation and were instead
promoted to the second division of the RFU finishing joint second. They moved
to their first ground in
East Hull
in
Craven Street
off
Holderness Road
. In
1896/97, they were denied a place in the first division when several sides
resigned but when a club from the West Riding of Yorkshire dropped out and
Rovers moved up.
Hull KR amalgamated their resources with Albany Soccer Club (later to become
Hull City A.F.C.). Rovers won the Yorkshire Cup for the first time beating
Shipley 11-5 in the final. The club also won the league competition and beat
the rest of the league 26-8 in a challenge match. Rovers applied to join the
Northern Union
and played their first match under the new
code in 1897/98.
Rovers were elected into the Yorkshire Second competition replacing Heckmondwike
in 1898/99 winning all 17 matches. A club record of 19 consecutive league
play-off and cup wins was set in 1899/1900. Hull Kingston Rovers were admitted
into full membership of the Yorkshire Northern Union and finished 6th out of 16
beating
Hull
8-2
in the first local derby in front of a 14,000 crowd.
Related Items
HULL KR
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