 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | West Hull Amateur Rugby League Football Club |
| Colours | Green and Gold |
| Founded | 1961; 64 years ago (1961) |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| Competition | National Conference League |
West Hull A.R.L.F.C. is an amateurrugby league football club fromKingston upon Hull, currently playing in theNational Conference League Premier Division. The team plays their home matches at West Hull Community Park and their strip colours are green and gold.
The club was formed in 1961 as Birds Eye A.R.L.F.C., named after the local factory where most of the players came from. Following the formation of theBritish Amateur Rugby League Association in 1971, the club was renamed to West Hull A.R.L.F.C.[1]
In the 1973–74 season, the club won the inauguralBARLA Yorkshire Cup competition, defeating Illingworth in the final. In 1976–77, under the name Cawoods, they won theBARLA National Cup for the first time with a 10–3 win against National Dock Labour Board (now known asHull Dockers). The following season, they became the first amateur team since 1909 to defeat a professional side when they won 9–8 againstHalifax in the first round of thePlayers No. 6 Trophy.[2]
In 1986, the club was one of ten founder members of theBARLA National Amateur League (now known as theNational Conference League).[3] The club won the National League championship for the first time in the 1988–89 season.
In 1996, West Hull reached the fifth round of theChallenge Cup, becoming the first amateur club to defeat professional opposition twice in the same year. The team won 35–20 in the third round tie againstHighfield, followed by a 10–6 win in the next round againstYork in blizzard conditions atThe Boulevard.[4] The club went on to dominate the game at amateur level over the next few years, winning fiveNational Conference League championships between 1997 and 2002.
In 2005, the club was relegated from the NCL Premier Division, but returned to the top flight a year later after finishing the 2005–06 season as champions of Division One.[5]