The 150th anniversary of the founding of Hull FC is now officially underway and supporters will soon be able to join the celebrations with the unveiling of the opening FC150 events.
The beginning of the New Year marks the start of the Black and Whites 150th anniversary year, the first of many FC150 event that aim to celebrate the club’s illustrious past throughout 2015 is almost upon us.
Kicking off the campaign Hull FC will take on Lincoln in a unique replay of the Airlie Birds first ever competitive fixture back in 1866!
A team consisting of the club’s U19’s stars will go toe-to-toe with the University of Lincoln at Bishop Burton College on Saturday 31st January, Kick off 12.30pm with all supporters invited to attend the special event.
Dovetailing with the beginning of the U16 Scholarships season as Steve Crooks’ side kicking off against Warrington Wolves at 3pm to form a double header on the afternoon, the event is set to bind together the past and present of Hull FC, as the club continues to build a future beyond 2015 therefore encompassing a main aspect if the campaign.
More details about tickets for the fixture will follow soon on hullfc.com.
Meanwhile the grand opening of the FC150 Exhibition located at the Street Life Museum is just weeks away, with a remarkable archive of Hull FC memorabilia awaiting supporters.
As well as this fans will have the chance to log their dearest memories of the Black and Whites in a very special collection at the Museum called the “Memory Wall”.
If you have any items or images you feel would be suitable for display in the Exhibition please contact Hull FC Heritage Officer Ash.Foster@hullfc.com.
Before then supporters will also be able to attend the ‘X factor’ type final of the FC150 Poet Laureate competition, in which the six finalists will be vying to become the honorary club poet for the year.
Taking place on Thursday 29th January from 6pm at The Open Space in the city’s Central Library, the event will see the finalists present their entries to an esteemed judging panel made up of BAFTA winning playwright John Godber, Dave Windass playwright behind the Clive Sullivan biographical play ‘Sully’, Head of FC Voices Pete Allen and Hull FC Director of Communications, Media and Marketing James Clark.
Tickets for the event are free but supporters must confirm their attendance by contacting Ash Foster, or by calling 01482 327200 (option 0). This will be the first in a number of literature based events that we will be working with Central Library on throughout the year.
Also on the agenda in the next couple of months is a BBC Radio Humberside special Heritage edition of Sportstalk and the FC150 Legends Dinner in which a handful of exciting names from the club’s past are hoped to be in attendance.
Director of Communications, Media and Marketing James Clark commented, “The year is finally upon us and we are extremely excited about the number of events planned across 2015, that we hope will celebrate such a huge milestone for Hull FC.
“It’s been fantastic to see everybody at the club buy into the FC150 campaign in the lead up to the year, and we now look forward to sharing many memories with supporters over the next 12 months.
Already the Faithful have shown their overwhelming enthusiasm to embrace the FC150 campaign, most prominently in the phenomenal number of 2015 home and away shirts sold prior to Christmas.
Such was the combined popularity of the heritage themed home jersey and the Steve Prescott inspired away shirt, all previous sales records were paled into insignificance with over 6,500 fans getting their hands on the jerseys in anticipation for the season ahead.
Two high profile launches which saw the Black and Whites trending nationally on Twitter and included a number of iconic individuals from the club’s past including Arthur Bunting, Johnny Whiteley and David Doyle-Davidson, to spark the campaign into life.
Similarly since launching in early September last year, the Faithful 13 has proven to be equally popular with supporters who have voted in their droves for their ultimate Hull FC side.
Set to be released throughout 2015 exclusively in the club’s match day programme The 18th Man, Airlie Birds fans have less than a month to put forward their nominations.
To vote, supporters simply have to text “HULL”, followed by their name and the name of their favourite three players.
For example, "HULL John Smith Johnny Whiteley, Clive Sullivan, Richard Swain"
Black and Whites supporters can check out the full list of events planned so far, as well as a host of exciting blogs features and statistics on the dedicated FC150 site by clicking here now.
The Hull FC 150 campaign has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, with a grant of £53,500 ensuring the club can deliver a fantastic series of events throughout the year.
